David Coffaro Winery and Vineyard Winemaker's Diary Week 26 & 27, 2010

David Coffaro Vineyard and Winery Winemaker's Diary

July 4 - July 17, 2010

Monday July 12, 2010
The fun begins!! We have started bottling today and I will have fun tonight tasting many wines. Pat and I took a trip in the new BMW up to Seattle again to see Susie. The weather was great and we even saw a morning up in Oceanside, Northern Oregon Coast, when the mercury reached 89 at 11am. That day we traveled down the Coast and saw fog and 56 degrees the rest of the way. Since it was our last day we didn't mind. If you want a great restaurant to eat at, try http://www.allorowinebar.com/ in Bandon. The new 2011 535i was fun to drive. If the right driver was behind the wheel this car will take any turn at high speed. Most of the time I played it safe. The most fun I had was passing about 6 cars at 90 miles an hour. This new BMW has plenty of power in an instant.
I will have fun tonight tasting 2007, 2008 and 2009 Terre Melange; the new 2009 Pinot; and 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Estate Zinfandel. I'll probably also open a 2008 Special Bottling Zin. So as you gather we will be bottling about 270 cases of Terre Melange, 368 cases of Zinfandel and 98 cases of 2009 Pinot.
Tuesday July 13, 2010
It was fun last night and will be again tonight. As I stated yesterday I tried three of our newly bottled 2009 wines along with past vintages. I was real surprise by how well the 2009 wines were tasting. As you may know I don't like to describe what I am tasting in flowery prose as some of you are capable of. I just know what I like, but here are a few notes:
The 2009 Pinot has great potential. It is a big Pinot but at this stage the 2006 PInot was complex and layered and Pat enjoyed it.
The 2009 Terre Melange was fuller than the 2005, 2007 and 2008. I preferred it to the 05 and 07 (They have less complexity) but the 2008 with the same great complexity as the 2009 was a little smoother as expected.
The 2009 Zinfandel was a big surprise! I actually preferred it to the 2008 regular bottling (I did not open a 2008 Special Bottling). Both the 2008 and 2009 show the same spice character as the 2007, but the 2007 was still a little fuller than the 2008 and smoother than the 2009. The 2009 has great potential and was already showing great mouth feel. The 2006 is showing better with every month but is still the thinnest of the group.
Tonight I will be tasting the 2009 Petite Sirah and Estate Cuvee along with the past vintages of both: 06, 07, and 08.

Friday July 16, 2010
We have finished bottling!!!!! In all it went smoothly. I will try to relate some of my impressions, after tasting all the wines, but the 2009 Block 4 (Tasting Tonight) and the Zp2C to be bottled in August. But first I want to explain why I haven't posted in the last two days. As you can imagine tasting all these wines is an adventure, but even more so because I woke up Wednesday morning with a slightly scratchy throat on the right side and then again Thursday morning the irritation moved to the other side. Believe me this is rare for me but I was confident I would not get a cold, I consume enough alcohol and garlic to kill any virus quickly. Even so the slight irritation which went away yesterday afternoon might of affected my taste buds so I wanted to make sure to have the right impression and thus tasted many of the wines over again last night.
Also I have had little time in the evening to write since Pat and I started a new TV series and have been blown away by how interesting it is. I think I have mentioned we both enjoy "Lost", (we are behind because I wait for the Blu-Ray) and our most recent discovery in the last two years is "Dexter". I love "Mad Men" but Pat is less enthralled. Now for the new one: Have you heard of "Breaking Bad"? It is real cropping. In ways it is a lot like Dexter. There are only 7 episodes in the first season and we have seen 4 already. I heard the last season just got nominated for an Emmy for best drama. I highly recommend the series.
Now on to the tasting of my 2009 just bottled wines:
The 06 and 07 Cabernets showed better than the 2008 and 2009 as expected. I really think the 2009 will win out in a year or two.
The 06, 07, 08 and 09 My Zin were all showing well. I like My Zin young so if you like smoother wines, try the 06, very impressive.
The 2009 Sera-Sera showed some of the complexity of the 08 and 09 Terre Melange with some added pepper character.
I think the 2009 Estate Cuvee will be by best Estate Cuvee in many years. It already is enjoyable and stands up to the 06, 07 and 08.
The 09 Petite Sirah is a tannic monster. Right now it is not showing the great fruit of the 2008 but I was very impressed.
Until last night when tasting out of the barrel I had thought the 2009 Aca Modot would be my favorite. I want to taste it again tonight because I was surprised that I preferred the 2008, both exceptionable wines.
The 2009 Carignan held up well to the 2008 with more complexity but less body at this time
I tasted 07, 08 and 09 Escuro and was very happy with all three. The 2008 is still the most intense but both the 2007 and 2009 have more complexity at this time.
The 2009 Lagrein is the darkest wine I have seen in all my 41 years of tasting great wine. If you swirl it in your mouth, it is one of the most intense wines. In many ways it is very similar to the 2008 Escuro which contains a good amount of Lagrein.
Tomorrow after tasting the Block 4 tonight I will let you know what my favorite 2009 wines are. Probably Monday I will open all the 2009 wines and compare them to each other instead of older vintages. It will be fun.

Dave
david@coffaro.com

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	*Monday July 12, 2010* The fun begins!! We have started bottling today and I will have fun tonight tasting many wines. Pat and I took a trip in the new BMW up to Seattle again to see Susie. The weather was great and we even saw a morning up in Oceanside, Northern Oregon Coast, when the mercury reached 89 at 11am. That day we traveled down the Coast and saw fog and 56 degrees the rest of the way. Since it was our last day we didn't mind. If you want a great restaurant to eat at, try http://www.allorowinebar.com/ in Bandon. The new 2011 535i was fun to drive. If the right driver was behind the wheel this car will take any turn at high speed. Most of the time I played it safe. The most fun I had was passing about 6 cars at 90 miles an hour. This new BMW has plenty of power in an instant. I will have fun tonight tasting 2007, 2008 and 2009 Terre Melange; the new 2009 Pinot; and 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Estate Zinfandel. I'll probably also open a 2008 Special Bottling Zin. So as you gather we will be bottling about 270 cases of Terre Melange, 368 cases of Zinfandel and 98 cases of 2009 Pinot. *Tuesday July 13, 2010* It was fun last night and will be again tonight. As I stated yesterday I tried three of our newly bottled 2009 wines along with past vintages. I was real surprise by how well the 2009 wines were tasting. As you may know I don't like to describe what I am tasting in flowery prose as some of you are capable of. I just know what I like, but here are a few notes: The 2009 Pinot has great potential. It is a big Pinot but at this stage the 2006 PInot was complex and layered and Pat enjoyed it. The 2009 Terre Melange was fuller than the 2005, 2007 and 2008. I preferred it to the 05 and 07 (They have less complexity) but the 2008 with the same great complexity as the 2009 was a little smoother as expected. The 2009 Zinfandel was a big surprise! I actually preferred it to the 2008 regular bottling (I did not open a 2008 Special Bottling). Both the 2008 and 2009 show the same spice character as the 2007, but the 2007 was still a little fuller than the 2008 and smoother than the 2009. The 2009 has great potential and was already showing great mouth feel. The 2006 is showing better with every month but is still the thinnest of the group. Tonight I will be tasting the 2009 Petite Sirah and Estate Cuvee along with the past vintages of both: 06, 07, and 08. *Friday July 16, 2010* We have finished bottling!!!!! In all it went smoothly. I will try to relate some of my impressions, after tasting all the wines, but the 2009 Block 4 (Tasting Tonight) and the Zp2C to be bottled in August. But first I want to explain why I haven't posted in the last two days. As you can imagine tasting all these wines is an adventure, but even more so because I woke up Wednesday morning with a slightly scratchy throat on the right side and then again Thursday morning the irritation moved to the other side. Believe me this is rare for me but I was confident I would not get a cold, I consume enough alcohol and garlic to kill any virus quickly. Even so the slight irritation which went away yesterday afternoon might of affected my taste buds so I wanted to make sure to have the right impression and thus tasted many of the wines over again last night. Also I have had little time in the evening to write since Pat and I started a new TV series and have been blown away by how interesting it is. I think I have mentioned we both enjoy "Lost", (we are behind because I wait for the Blu-Ray) and our most recent discovery in the last two years is "Dexter". I love "Mad Men" but Pat is less enthralled. Now for the new one: Have you heard of "Breaking Bad"? It is real cropping. In ways it is a lot like Dexter. There are only 7 episodes in the first season and we have seen 4 already. I heard the last season just got nominated for an Emmy for best drama. I highly recommend the series. Now on to the tasting of my 2009 just bottled wines: The 06 and 07 Cabernets showed better than the 2008 and 2009 as expected. I really think the 2009 will win out in a year or two. The 06, 07, 08 and 09 My Zin were all showing well. I like My Zin young so if you like smoother wines, try the 06, very impressive. The 2009 Sera-Sera showed some of the complexity of the 08 and 09 Terre Melange with some added pepper character. I think the 2009 Estate Cuvee will be by best Estate Cuvee in many years. It already is enjoyable and stands up to the 06, 07 and 08. The 09 Petite Sirah is a tannic monster. Right now it is not showing the great fruit of the 2008 but I was very impressed. Until last night when tasting out of the barrel I had thought the 2009 Aca Modot would be my favorite. I want to taste it again tonight because I was surprised that I preferred the 2008, both exceptionable wines. The 2009 Carignan held up well to the 2008 with more complexity but less body at this time I tasted 07, 08 and 09 Escuro and was very happy with all three. The 2008 is still the most intense but both the 2007 and 2009 have more complexity at this time. The 2009 Lagrein is the darkest wine I have seen in all my 41 years of tasting great wine. If you swirl it in your mouth, it is one of the most intense wines. In many ways it is very similar to the 2008 Escuro which contains a good amount of Lagrein. Tomorrow after tasting the Block 4 tonight I will let you know what my favorite 2009 wines are. Probably Monday I will open all the 2009 wines and compare them to each other instead of older vintages. It will be fun.
	Dave david@coffaro.com
	Home \| Read \| Diary \| Tell Us What You Think of Our Diary!