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Looking back at 2009 I can hardly believe it’s over.  With our soft opening in May, our Grand opening in June, to Harvest Festival rounding out the year, 2009 just flew by.  We have finally gotten into a groove but there is always something new and exciting to keep us on our toes.

We are very pleased with the success of our first year (seven months rather) of having our doors open to the public.  All of the local wineries and tasting rooms have been more than supportive.  We couldn’t have done it without their help.  I love that charm of Paso Robles.  We are going to continue to “gussy” up the tasting room and make it a bit more warm and inviting. We hope to get some artwork on our big red wall and feature a different artist a few times a year.  Along with that we will have some evening wine tastings and art showing.

The local restaurant scene has also been supportive and taken interest in Hearthstone.  We have our wines placed on a few wine lists and hope to continue to grow our relationships into the south county.

Our wine club has grown and we thank all of you for your support.  We are looking forward to releasing our 2007 vintage with our new label.  Our release party will be in April hosted at the tasting room.  We can’t wait to meet, greet and revisit.

As for the vineyard, it made it through a cold and wet winter.  We did lose a bit of fruit, but what we didn’t’ lose is turning into some incredible wine.  Paul and Hoy know what it takes to make a quality product and it just continues to get better!

While we were being battered about for a day and a half I thought about the Philippines who really got smacked days before, and took the edge off of this whirling giant of a storm that still had a lot to say many thousands of miles later. The tree crews were out on Vineyard right in the middle of it just to remove the small branches, while a few slumbering giants were toppled or lost a heavy arm or two in the 50+ mile an hour winds that raged on across our hills and valleys. The earth sucked it all up like a giant sponge on a tiny spill- thanks – got more? I was sure my remaining 10 acres of Mourvedre, Zinfandel (especially), Brunello and Cabernet Franc would suffer after 11.5 inches pounded the clusters on a horizontal slant, but it all came through amazingly well, helped along by the following week of 80 degree weather that brought my sugars up to snuff, thankfully!

In all, the harvest year turned out some excellent quality across all our varieties, due in great part to the 35% reduction in crop load from a late spring freeze, which I felt persecuted by all summer and and now I see the light. I am sure the grander purposes at large are unaware of my hopeful schemes.

Hoy.

Harvest marks the end of another season but the beginning of great new wine.  This time of year is the most dirty, sweaty, hard working time of the year for a handful of people in Paso Robles, and all over California for that matter.

The little bit of rain did not detriment Paso Robles fruit at all. Contrary to what many people think, our soil doesn’t stay saturated…especially when we get such little rain and still have warm days. It was all dried up before noon.

We have harvested our Roussanne, Viognier and Pinot Noir. Our small lot of Pinot Noir was picked on September 4 and has just now finished fermenting. It cold soaked for four days then fermentation started. Paul added whole cluster to the bottom of the fermenting bin and crushed whole berries on top of it. This is some pretty intense stuff. It is a very small lot and will definitely be allocated. We are very excited. It will now be pressed and put into new and year old French oak barrels for aging.

After throwing the idea around a bit we decided to make our award-winning Pearl again. We lost quite a bit of our crop from the frost we had in April. The fruit that survived came off the vine at 23.5 and 25.0 brix. It was then immediately pressed into neutral white barrels for fermentation. It has finished and has sweet aromas of ripe apricot and pear with a hint of honeysuckle. We are very excited. Paul may end up putting the Roussanne into new French barrels when the time comes to add a bit more mouth-feel.

The rest of the fruit is ripening slowly as usual. We expect a pile up of harvest in two to three weeks. Our Mourvedre and Cabernet Franc is normally the last to ripen and we expect to pull it in November. Hoy likes the quality all around and is seeing nice, lower yields this season.

Other than this bit of action Paul is trying to take it easy before harvest really gets going in October. Same for Hoy. As for me…I help out with morale support and assist when I’m needed for punch downs. I hold down the fort you know?!

The best way to truly enhance your pallet is to taste as many wines as possible. There is no standard taste in wine. There is generally no right or wrong answer either. However, there are typicities to each variety that make them unique and easier to recognize. Here are the five basic steps to wine tasting that will assist you in developing a better understanding of wine.

The first thing you should notice about wine is the color. The best way to get a real good look at the color is to have a white background and to tilt the glass at an angle in front of it. Color plays a major roll in recognizing if you are about to drink a young wine or an old wine. White wines become darker with age and red wines lose their color with age. White wine may also be different in color because of oak aging and because of difference in variety.

Swirling is the next part of wine tasting. We swirl wine because we love it, but the main reason is to aerate the wine and release vapors from the sides of the glass. As the wine mingles with the oxygen we enjoy its bouquet. Simply put…swirling releases more aromas in the wine.

Next is smelling the wine. This is the most important part of wine tasting and most people do not spend enough time on it. The average person can actually identify over 2000 different scents, and wine has hundreds on its own. Believe it or not, smelling the wine in your glass more than once will give you a much better perception of what your smelling too. Try it! Sniff once, twice then three times. The third smell will give you much more insight to the wine then the first or the second.

Determining the nose of the wine really helps in identifying the wine’s characteristics. I think that most people are still so intimidated by the notion of right and wrong answers that they /we often look to others opinions. I try so hard not to be subjective, so making comparisons to style is more helpful for people, then there are others who just have to know what I smell. It all takes practice.

Now we taste. You can only actually perceive four tastes: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. When you taste wine you should leave it in your mouth for three to five seconds to really let your taste buds work. Be aware of where sensations occur on your tongue while its rolling around in your mouth. Remember there are only four tastes, but there is no salt in wine. That makes it easier right?

Sweet is detected on the tip of the tongue, so it will be recognized right away! Acidity is found on the outer part of your tongue as well as on your cheeks. Typically white wines have a higher and more noticeable acidity content than red wines. Bitterness is tasted on the back of the tongue and not so desirable in wine.

So what is tannin and how do we taste it? Tannin is not a taste but an actual sensation. The sensation of tannin begins in the middle of your tongue and if there is a lot of tannin in the wine it can actually coat your whole mouth and block out the fruit. Other times when a red wine is consumed to young or if it has been aged in oak the tannin will dry your mouth much more.

There is my take on the simplicities of wine tasting. Now, we savor! Enjoy your wine! Maybe take a minute to reflect on what you’ve experienced. What style of wine is it? Was there any sugar  in the wine or how acidic was it? Which characteristic really stood out and did you like it or not? The key to great wine is balance and, if you like it or not. Discovering what it is that you dislike is the challenge.

Simply put, decanting is just transferring wine from the bottle into another container (the decanter) before serving. Sound silly?

So what is decanting all about and when is it necessary if necessary at all? The two reasons to decant wines are to aerate young wines and separate sediment from older wines.

Young wines, particularly red, benefit from decanting by softening more coarse tannins and by revealing more of its flavor. For old wines, decanting separates the bitter or unsightly solids that have dropped to the bottom of the bottle known as sediment.

Wine could also be destroyed by oxygen. Very old wine should be consumed immediately after decanting. Although decanting will separate th

e sediment, too much oxygen will take away the small 15 minute window of pleasure you could have enjoyed from that 1945 Burgundy. If you decide to decant an old bottle of wine, do it immediately before service, not hours ahead of time.

Proper decanting requires forethought and a steady hand. If you really want to get “geeky” with it, there are specific decanters for specific wines. Younger wines benefit from larger bottomed decanters because of the surface area. But, any old carafe and decanter will do the job. For the older wines with sediment, it is beneficial to remove the entire capsule to be able to see the sediment as it reaches the neck of the bottle.

Really…that’s it. Plus, wine looks so much more sophisticated when it’s in a pretty crystal container. Wine tasting 101 still soon to come!

Americans are drinking more and better quality wines each year. The United States consumes more wine than does any other country as a matter of fact. As another matter of fact, did you know that the leading beverage in the United States is actually soda pop?! Grosse right?

So what is wine? Wine is fermented grape juice. That’s it! Easy right? Wrong. There are many other factors that come into play when producing quality fermented grape juice. The most important factors include geographic location, average days of sunlight vs rainfall, angle of the sun and average temperature. Soil is of course another concern as well as drainage.

Mother Nature is probably the single most dangerous element that can effect grape growing. Frost will kill vines and lead to a reduced yield. Grapes that are under ripe, green, herbal or vegetal are a result of not enough sunlight. On the flip side, too much sunlight on the fruit will create wine with high alcohol and have a prune-like character.

All wine fits into one of three main types. These three types are table wine, sparkling wine and fortified wine. Table wine is considered any fermented grape juice with alcohol content above 8 percent. Sparkling wine is the same as table wine but has an additional component of carbon dioxide or CO2. Fortified wines are generally 18 percent or more in alcohol and oh so good!

So now you’re wondering why all wines are so different if there are really only three types. A wine’s style is something different, and there are endless amounts of style to wine. Wine can be full bodies and heavy on the palate, lush, round and full of rich dark berry flavors. Wine may also be light to medium bodied, fresh with bright acidity and have more citrus characteristics. If you can relate to wine in more general terms such as these then you can define its style.

These are literally basic principles and fun facts about wine and wine production. There is an endless amount of wine knowledge out there. Find a good book and just nerd out a bit. It’s fun! Soon to come…Wine Tasting 101.

Last week was our official Grand Opening. I have to say that it was a great success!

On Friday evening we hosted all local hospitality folks for free wine tasting, great local cuisine and Olea Farm olive oil tasting. We featured three of our unique blends and a couple of our single varieties. Our 2006 Grenache was a highlight for sure, followed by our 2004 Syrah and 2005 Slipstone Rhone blend. As limited as our parking is everyone made it here, and home safely!

Saturday was outstanding! We had guests waiting outside our doors before we even opened. Hoy was here with his family to shake hands and talk wine. Paul even joined in on the action and gave each guest a quality experience. From 3:00pm until a little after closing we had the same delicious cuisine of paella, rosemary pork and penne pasta to pair with our wines. Everyone who came through left very pleased with at least two bottles of wine. The entire day was a huge hit!!

Sunday was another busy start with lots of people treating their fathers for the day. As expected traffic lessened toward the end of the day giving all of us a chance to recuperate from the rest of the weekend.

Overall…incredible success! Thank you all for your support!

Here we are…our first ever blog post! Our new tasting room is up and running. We’ve been working diligently to get ready for our Grand Opening and I can say that we are just about there. With any project there are always a few finishing touches that need to be complete, but we’ve got the most important ones in place: wine and glasses.

The greatest part is all of the support from you who have stopped as soon as we put that sign up at the bottom of the drive. We’ve had the chance to work out the kinks but more importantly; we got to spend some time with each of you to provide a quality educational experience.

The wines speak for themselves being hand crafted small lots from 100% estate grown fruit. They are all incredibly well balanced wines with fruit, tannin, natural acidity and well integrated French oak. Our location is unbeatable with an incredible view and picnic area.

The temperature is always enjoyable out here…at least 5-10 degrees cooler than downtown Paso Robles. We are nestled inside the Templeton gap wind tunnel which offers an incredible oceanic influence. Paso Robles has never been separated into smaller sub appellations, but residents and winemakers who know the region are aware of the distinct areas that have differences in weather and soil. The Templeton gap is known for its subtle breezes and cooler evenings (sometimes 40 degrees in contrast to daytime temperature). Because of this drastic swing in temperature our growing season in Paso is longer. More time to mature equals a balanced, ripe fruit to produce our wine with.

Thank you for all of your support and we hope to see you out here again soon!

Check back soon for updates!