Transfering the Reds

  Spent yesterday evening transferring and sampling our Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin from this years (2013) harvest.  I have stated from the day we picked that this vintage is going to be very special because of the late, warm, dry weather we experienced in August, Sept. and Oct.  Well, last nights transferred showed that these predictions are coming true.  The wines all have an incredible body and structure that we have not seen in the past 3 vintages.  Unfortunately we will have to be patient and allow some of the tannins to soften over the next 18-20 months but at this point these reds are looking exceptional. 
   We were also able to transfer the fruit wines which are now in their final stage of maturation and some of the small changes we made in these wines this year and last year are also paying off nicely.  You may, or may not remember that I talked about a change we made in the type of yeast which we used for last year's fruit wines.  We were very happy with the results of that experiment and our increasing sales of these wines shows proof that our customers were happy too.  This year we kept the same yeast but changed our tannins and pectic enzyme to give these wines a little softer feel on the palate.  Initially, these changes seem to have also made a very positive difference.  We expect to release all our new fruit wines in June so we will let you be our final judge. 
    Meanwhile, we will just have to wait and continue to enjoy the fruits of last season's labors.  Sometimes, the waiting is the hardest part!!!