Now pouring at Sauce!

Just a quick shout out to Sauce, a beautiful, intimate restaurant on Gough Street that is now pouring our 2007 Russian River Pinot Noir. A fantastic place to dine before the symphony or opera, which are right around the corner -- or just because you're looking for fine food and atmosphere!

See you at the Soiree Des Arts Et Des Vins!

See you this Sunday, November 14th, for the Soiree Des Arts et des Vins, a lovely, eclectic Hayes Valley gathering of 20+ vintners presenting their wines along with music and small bites from restaurants across the city. This event had a very fun, local feel last Spring, a nice time to meet neighbors and the folks behind some of our restaurants and wines.

Wait Cellars will be pouring its 2008 Russian River Pinot Noir. If you like any of the wines you taste, you may then buy them at a special discounted price.

Proceeds from the event benefit the International School.

Pouring at Crushbarrel this Saturday Oct 30 at Fort Mason!

Just a quick post to let you all know that we'll be pouring our 2008 Russian River Pinot Noir at the Crushbarrel Wine Market this Saturday, October 30th, from 12pm to 5pm at Fort Mason. These events ae always pretty fun, and you can buy wines on the spot after you taste -- time to get a jump on holiday shopping?!

Hope to see you there!

2010 Harvest Update!

The last few weeks has been unbelievably hectic. What was a cool, wet season turned real hot real fast at the end of September, everything ripened at once; bins and trucks and crushspace and cool heads were at a premium!



We picked Devoto on Monday 10/4. I was up there with Dean on 10/1, and we hoped the fruit would hold out over the weekend!









The fruit was actually in great shape, mainly due to some proactive farming by Stan (some mild fungicide earlier in the month after the rains, some irrigation before the end-of-the-month heat). Here's Stan with every farmer's trusty tool. I took two tons this year and hope to get more next year.








Here's one of the ferment bins with a punchdown tool sitting on the cap. This year I sorted out about 25% of my tonnage (probably a little overly aggressive) and effected a light crush through the destemmer. Really like the fruit this year, lots of backbone, earthy-cola flavors. Many thanks to Bill Welch (second harvest as a Wait Cellars fruit rat!), Damon Harris, and Ananda and Micki from AGP for helping drive trucks, move fruit, sort, pick jacks, and keep it together during a chaotic day!









Here's a shot of Dean (with some help) dumping one of the bins into the bladder press, the press fractions were tasting all the way up past 1 bar, some nice nutty flavors from the seeds, tannins getting leathery toward the hardest press but still soft, not too bitter.

Amber crush

Some shots of the sort at Amber on Thursday -- a beautiful warm day made a bit stressful due to the crush of everything ripening at once (and everyone needing equipment at once).

Though, here's my Westy resting, appearing very unstressed.





The 115 and Pommard clones were certainly interesting this year with the cool summer and late heat; berries smaller, a bit haggard, some shrivel and minor amounts of rot -- but the flavors were auspicious, nice mature brown, nutty notes from the seeds and stems too.





Yours truly forking some fruit (this is the 115) onto the sorting belt.







Crushing outside on a warm day, dry-ice pellets in the must are good practice to keep spoilage organisms at bay.

Amber Ridge crush today (9/30), Devoto Tuesday

Amber Ridge valley fruit (115 clone) is between 25 and 26 and needs to come off that vine ASAP! Going to do a light crush on a ton and a half up in Napa this afternoon, then put the must into a five-day cold soak. Hoping to do a field mix of 1/3 667 and 2/3 115 but will make that call on the spot.

The Devoto pick I'm putting on Tuesday 10/5, will be in the vineyard Friday taking brix and pH measurements, am expecting an average between 23-24. It's been warm up there though cooling a bit of late on Gold Ridge.

Devoto Field Report 9/17/2010

Was in the vineyard Friday morning, a cooler, overcast day in Sebastopol. Did most comprehensive brix survey to date this year (via refractometer, at left) and was pleased to see much more even readings than last year, though visually the ripening isn't as even as I might like. The average brix was 21.7, up a couple degrees from two weeks ago. Am hoping for a few more weeks of hang time; Stan and I are tentatively putting harvest at October 5th!




Here's a shot of the bird netting over the vines. Working great. Big worry now is rain, we had some Saturday night and we're now weighing our spraying options (against mildew) vs harvest...

Devoto Field Report 9/3/2010

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Finally posting field data for Devoto Gardens from my trip on 9/3! While San Francisco has been shrouded in fog (here's the Golden Gate on my return trip about noon, it was even worse in the morning!), the hills of Sebastopol have been basking in beautiful 80 degree days in September. In general it had been a cold, slow-ripening summer until a heat spike (multiple mid-90's days) in the last days of August.



Stan has been on the ball with natural fungicides throughout the cool summer as well as more aggressive leaf pruning. He irrigated for the first time for six hours just prior to the heat spike too, managing to avoid serious sunburn/shrivel; the fruit is in much better shape than his neighbors. Brix was at 19, ripening has been a tad uneven (some hens and chicks, though not unexpected for these younger vines) though the flavors were auspicious. Here is an example of the green fruit dropped the week of 9/3.


Here's a shot of the netting Stan bought, which went up last week to keep the birds at bay this year!

Am currently putting my pick date on October 6, a few weeks later than last year. The yields look to be about the same as last year. The 2009 fruit, which is still in barrel, is really shaping up to be something special, and this year is already showing more maturity with some focus that I didn't see until later last year.



This shot here of a row in the 828 block highlights something I appreciate about this vineyard: the natural, somewhat unkempt row cover. This is a farmer's vineyard: no sterile, showcase, heavy-chemical or machined landscaping for visual purposes, nothing over-disc'd (Stan discs every other year) possibly creating a hard-pan distressing to young roots -- just a rich, live vineyard you can almost taste!



Oh, and did I mention the organic apples and tomatoes Stan also grows, a bag of which I am always happy to take!

Good times at SF Chefs 2010!

Here we are between Dacalier Wine Company and JAQK Cellars. Well, I'm behind the camera, so the space there with our signature candelabra and logo, 07 and 08 in decanters, is where we were. Very nice event in beautiful Union Square, met a lot of very engaging folks!

Wait Cellars pouring at SF Chef's 2010

Come join us in Union Square in beautiful downtown San Francisco for SF Chef's 2010! There is an entire week of culinary fun and exploration going on; we'll be pouring our 2007 and 2008 at the Grand Tasting from 12pm to 6pm on Sunday August 15th. Why not come check us out?

Ahoy! Check us out on the SS Jeremiah O'Brien!

Come check us out on Saturday July 17th on the historic SS Jeremiah O'Brien as we cruise around the bay, inspect the new Bay Bridge, listen to 1940's music, and enjoy the best of local urban wines and cheeses!

A wine and food cruise in the bay on a WWII Liberty ship does not happen every day, do not miss the boat on this! Click here for tickets and details. We ship out at 10am, returning mid afternoon.

We'll be pouring our 2008 Russian River Pinot, a delicious pairing with Cowgirl's stinky cheeses and a view of the headlands...

2007 Russian River Pinot Wins Medal at 2010 Golden Glass Competition

We're happy to announce the Wait Cellars 2007 Russian River Pinot Noir won a bronze medal at the 2010 Golden Glass wine competition! It was judged against 123 other Pinot Noirs with average pricing in the $30 range, many retailing for much much higher.

Both the 07 and 08 Russian River were showing great over the weekend, we met lots of nice folks, and the entire event was a true pleasure -- not the madhouse that Fort Mason tastings can sometimes devolve into. Tasting through the Italian varietals on hand was a particular pleasure.

What's that, you have no more dark silky 07 on hand? Then get ye to the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant in the coming weeks to taste it by the glass or pick up a bottle!

Wait Cellars pouring June 12th at The Golden Glass!

We'll be pouring our 2007 and 2008 Russian River Pinot Noir this Saturday June 12th at the 2010 Golden Glass wine and food event, sponsored by Slow Food San Francisco.

This is a great event for folks who care deeply about wine and food. There will be over 100 wineries that focus on delivering wines consistent with local, sustainable practices; ditto the food producers under the umbrella of the Slow Food movement.

If you can come, there are a limited number of complementary passes available to Wait Cellars! Click here and use the password "gg2010trade" to see if you can get one:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/603024663

Wait Cellars pouring at June 9th Ferry Building Fundraiser

Hey we'll be pouring our 2008 Russian River Pinot Noir (pre-release!) down at the Ferry Building this Wednesday, June 9th, from 7pm to 10pm, at a fundraiser in support of one of San Francisco's oldest preschools!

The event looks like a lot of good fun: local wines, local beers, local foods, local music, in support of local kids! You can buy tickets online or at the event, please do come join us!

Wait Cellars now available at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant

We're pleased as punch to announce that Wait Cellars' limited-production Pinot Noir is now available by the bottle at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant (FPWM), in San Francisco's historic Ferry Building.

Those who have watched the Ferry Building's transformation over this past decade know that it is now ground zero for locavore's looking for beautiful, locally produced fruit, vegetables, meat, bread, cheese, and yes, wine! If you haven't been, the FPWM is a lovely shop with a huge, eclectic selection of wines, as well as a popular and comfortable wine bar where you can sample ever-changing wines.

The FPWM is currently carrying our 2007 Russian River Pinot Noir. Do stop by and let them know you're happy they're supporting local very limited-production winemaking; and if you buy a bottle, I suggest pairing it with some braising greens and sweet pork sausage from the farmer's market -- delicious!

2007 Russian River Pinot best-seller at Soiree Des Arts et Des Vins

Wait Cellars was pleased to pour this past weekend at the Soiree Des Arts et Des Vins just down the block in Hayes Valley, helping raise funds for a local school raising "global citizens."

Attendees also showed their exquisite taste in wine :). Out of more than 100 wines available, the Wait Cellars 2007 Russian River Pinot Noir was the best-selling wine!

Many thanks to Kelly Zeissner for her stewardship at our table, and to Foggy Bridge for being such a kind table-mate.

Vintner's Market

Here's a (crappy phone) shot of our half-table at this past weekend's SF Vintner's Market at Fort Mason.

Good times! Ton of people moving through the place on Saturday and Sunday, met a lot of nice folks. People loved the Pinots, at least while I was within earshot....

Here's a shot of my view on Saturday. An intimate airplane hangar....







Here's a shot of Raquel at the table, who helped out Saturday afternoon to much applause!







The 2007 was dark and delicious, though next time I think I'll decant -- it was missing some of its more delicate notes. The 2008 was showing very well for a "pre-release" -- many folks found it more approachable than the 2007 (which I find brooding, more complex). The 08 struck nice lean, bright dark-cherry and toasty cola notes with agreeable weight mid-palate. We sold a number of bottles.

Both 07 and 08 are young; they'll continue to get better in the bottle for the next 3 to 5 years; the 07 likely longer, which I think will be a very special wine if I can just stop drinking it now...

Thanks to Rob Barnett and the SFWA for helping process our orders. And it was a true pleasure to be next to the Aver Family Vineyard and the San Tasti palate-cleanser folks!

Join us at the SF Vintner's Market April 10th & 11th!

The SF Vintner's Market looks to be quite a blow-out: http://www.sfvintnersmarket.com

We'll be there, pouring our 2007 Russian River Pinot Noir, as well as pre-release tastes of our 2008! Come join us!

Get $10 off the ticket price by using the promo code "10bucksoff" when you register here: http://sfvintnersmarket.eventbrite.com/

2009: Let it be...

Sat down again last week with Chris and Tom Leaf to taste the 2009 Amber and Devoto in barrel. Was going in thinking about taking the Amber off of wood early (50% is on new Radoux (French Oak)) as it's shaping up with such great flavor. Am also considering a big blend decision with the Devoto fruit: blend in Amber fruit, losing Devoto's Green Valley appellation (in lieu of the larger Russian River designation), but ideally creating a wholly richer and more complex wine.

Ended up deciding to decide nothing. Everything is evolving nicely, two very distinctive and interesting wines, am going to just step back and get out of their way for now. We noticed a little reduction on the Devoto wine (sulfuric compounds, likely a byproduct of fermentation) that some might "clean up" with a drop of copper; but again decided to leave the thing alone, the aromas seemed to blow off quickly and I expect these compounds to combine and resolve themselves in the coming months. Tom Leaf particularly liked the "Oregonian" aromas and taste of the Devoto, a dead-ringer, he claims, for an Oregonian wine whose name I've forgotten. We're all excited to see how it shapes up over the summer.

And the Amber Ridge? Gangbusters: every kind of berry flavor you can imagine bursting out of that wine with spice to boot, it's certainly over the years become much more interesting fruit. Going to leave it in the Radoux for now, which to my taste is giving it some elegance (beyond what Francois Freres, the oak I used in previous vintages, does).

Emerging 2009

Both the Amber and Devoto 09 Pinots quietly went through malo in December, have been tasting and pondering since, both are still moving targets. I've racked them once to pull them off some murky flavors.

The Amber fruit however is clearly something great, like a tight dark musty dr pepper with mushrooms and nuts. I may pull it off oak early this year (April?) to really showcase the fruit.

The Devoto is young, lean, spare, with just a hint of rustic loam/earth. Have been tasting it on its own and with a 5-10% mix of Amber fruit (which would require it being a Russian River AVA designate, rather than the more specific Green Valley of Russian River), both have their merits; I find my opinion changes slightly depending on lunch...

Back in to taste further next week before Crushpad moves it's operations to Napa.