Winemaker's Diary for Weeks 44-45, 2023

	October 29 - November 11, 2023
	Monday October 30, 2023 Not over yet!! I asked Catarino if there was still fruit out there and he said Yes!!......So tomorrow we are picking more of the grapes left over from the first pick and it looks like it will be one ton of mostly Old Vine Zinfandel to sell as Dave's Cuvee. That means we will produce about 67 cases. Now, it will cost us about $1400 to pay the warriors to harvest but we can sell the wine on sale for about $144 a case or $9600 gross. Sure it will cost us about another $1500 to put it in the bottle with a label so before taxes we net about $6700 in cash flow. I hate to leave good grapes out in the vineyard!! Tuesday October 31, 2023 Oh, gees, Catarino came in at 1pm and said he had another half ton bin out there in our best section......Block 4.....so I said go and pick the last bin...that meant the Warriors had to stay until 3:30 to finish........they got a good bonus.....more tomorrow, not.......we are finished!!??? Wednesday November One, 2023 This diary is not just about the winemaking during the year to bottling, but also what I think about things happening in my life.......I am now 80 years old and doing real well but........ Sure I am concerned about the 2 wars now going on and I have said before I hate wars, but of course I have no solution.;...... I am not a fan of what the Israelis are doing in Gaza by killing all the innocent but I do understand they are surrounded by countries who do not want them there.......... Israel has kept many Palestinians in a place that is not acceptable for them......like I said!!, I have no solution so just saying I hate War, is not helpful!!!!!!!!!! Love, not Hate...........Why can't we all get along? Crossroads for the Raiders and what about the 49ers?? I love the NFL!! Saturday November 4, 2023 I am depressed about all the people dying in the world by WAR, as I said I can do nothing about it................................................. I always have to think about the Future, like, what am I doing in the next few weeks, leading up to bottling in January, the 2022 16 Month aged wine. We have to find a place to store all this empty Glass which will come in December. Sure we have the new storage Building but it already has Glass we need in January. Soon I will have more to say about the bottling in January....... OK, it is complicated to do Blind tastings. I do it Evey evening and it is COMPLICATED!!! So three days ago I tried a bottle of our Block 4, oh, not just one, but a taste off between a 10 Month Block 4 and a 16 month aged Block 4.........2019.............The first 3 nights I preferred the 16 Month version, it was smoother, but now after 4 and 5 days???? (I want to see how my wines stand up by being open several days..........). OK, I like the 10month after a few days, it is sharper as sometimes I say, but it has more complexity showing the vineyard, hard to explain......Do you like smoother or intense complexity? Sunday November 5, 2023.......70 years to the day when I was 10.5 years old, my Father died in an accident,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,...........wish you were here..................... It is always nice when the Raiders win................ Tomorrow is another day for our Harvest, I know we are done but I have to decided on what all my 20+ wines will be in Barrel......... Yes it is an adventure like everything here........... Monday November 6, 2023 It is hard to explain what we perceive regarding "Intense vs smooth.....complexity". I tasted more of my wine tonight and I will have more to say soon. This will mostly be what I think about Intense vs smooth not maybe what I thought about my favorite wine. I can't wait for when I will get from Jose an account of the barrels we have after the harvest of 75 Tons............. That should produce about 5000 cases what we have produced on average over the last several years. We are selling 5000 cases a year so we do not want to produce more. That said I did taste the Rose and Syrah from a source in Alexander Valley for a friend...........That Rose and Syrah look promising..........I Love making wine!!....too much wine........put it on sale? Pat makes that decision, I only make the wine!! Tuesday November 7, 2023 So many problems here!!!!!! We have a problem with a pump in one of our septic systems.......... We have two Septic Systems and one has a problem with the alarm so we found out we need a new Pump........just money........... So we have someone coming here this week to replace it. Also I mentioned way back I want to install another Powerwall, but it has been a problem! Thus I wonder if it will happen. I Love Tesla and this Powerwall will lower my P G& E bill?......more to come 7+pm.......OK, Tonight I tried our new 3 barrels, this Harvest so 2023 vintage.....A Nebbiolo, a Sangiovese and a Syrah from another vineyard........I will have more tomorrow, but all 3 wines are so different!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wednesday November 8, 2023 The Septic will be replaced tomorrow!! After 2 days now I liked our Nebbiolo and Sangiovese.....The Syrah from the friend was less intense......I like to use that word lately...... Thursday November 9, 2023 Tonight I tasted barrel samples from our new Oak based Sauvignon Blanc with some Chardonnay. I will have more to say about what barrels I liked the most, but like Pat, we like oak lately so stay away from what these wines will untimely become, a lot of oak............ I also tasted the Rose we are making for a friend and it is good, so we will see after racking. We have it in stainless so no oak......... Friday November 10, 2023 Jose gave me his accounting of the barrels we have after the 2023 Harvest. It is complicated just like everything here, so am I getting too old........definitely not for this calculation to decide in what I want for our 20+ blends. So it will take me a week or more to figure it out, somewhat because I gave Jose the next week off and because I need some questions for him......... Otherwise we are through with the Harvest.........Some have said who wanted to do a publication of this diary and they asked me why I used the capital for "Harvest" some times and use "harvest" in lower case, I told them, "Harvest" is the whole thing!! If that makes since for you. My wife says I don't say enough to describe sometimes what I say, only with her, since she never reads this diary. So I leave out things, especially when I describe something............. So, if I have Not lost you.....I start and think in my mind, I want to move on to the bottom line, no extra words........I know it does not make since, but I do know why I use "Harvest" and "harvest" at times in this diary..........SO THE "Harvest" is over we did "harvest" during days and not others......Tomorrow Is Another Day Saturday November 11, 2023 So I spent about 4 hours today to do my Spreadsheet, that will decide what we bottle on our 2023 10 Month aged wine and our 16 Month.........If anyone interested, I can send you the spreadsheet...............My Life is an Open book!! Like I said it is complicated and it will take me another day to figure it out.........OH......tomorrow there is NFL, may not complete it until Monday........As I said Jose has the next week off, after spending so much time during the Harvest. So I may have some questions for him when he comes back...............!! I want everything NOW. That has been my problem over my life, but sometimes I have to be Patient.......what is that?
	Dave For any comments or questions I encourage any of you to e-mail.....david@coffaro.com
	Home \| Read \| Diary \| Tell Us What You Think of Our Diary \| Last Week \| Next Week