Web Wednesday: YES Please!

October 19, 2012

At Castoro Cellars we love sharing our wine, after all, that’s why we started making wine in the first place (almost 30 years ago)! Since the beginning, owner/founders, Niels and Bimmer Udsen, have had a vision of bringing high-quality wines to the public at very reasonable prices. To this day that vision is being fulfilled and one of the best ways to experience this first hand, is to join our wine club or sign up for our e-mail list and reap the benefits of “Web Wednesday!”

Web Wednesday is a weekly special sent out through our e-mail list that is always different and ALWAYS a great deal! From library wines to new releases, there is something for everyone and you don’t have to worry about breaking the bank. Of course, the discounts are always deeper for wine club members, but even if you are not a member, they will blow your mind.

This past week, Chuck (our wine club manager) ran a particularly nice special in honor of the upcoming Harvest Festival and the reaction was amazing. So much so that the entire back room of our tasting room was filled head high with outgoing orders! (See Photo Below) To give you a taste of the special I will include last week’s below (note it has expired):

Thru Wednesday only receive 20% off or 35% off if you are an active wine club member (an active member is one who received the last scheduled wine club shipment), or 40% off if you are a Legacy Club member if you buy a case of the following reserve wines (the case can be mixed):

Not only that but I will throw in free shipping (except to Hawaii & Alaska). Packing material and any applicable taxes will be applied.

As you can see, that is a pretty amazing deal and each deal is only good until midnight on Wednesday. To receive our web Wednesday specials all you have to do is go onto our website http://www.castorocellars.com/mailinglist.php and enter your e-mail to join our mailing list. If you love wine, it is well worth it and it’s a lot of fun because Chuck always mixes it up!

Till Next Time,

Cheers,

Luke

2010 Zinfusion “A Great American Value”

October 17, 2012

Every so often, a wine comes along that stands out among the crowd, sometimes for a given year and sometimes year after year. Luckily for us our Zinfandel Zinfusion Reserve has been the latter. Since we began making the Zinfusion blend almost ten years ago, there has not been a disappointing vintage. In fact, it seems to get better and better year after year, thanks to the hard work of our vineyard and winemaking teams.

Recently, our 2010 Zinfusion received some well-deserved recognition from Wine Spectator Magazine! In an article titled, “Great American Values” our Zinfusion was listed as one of the top 100 red wines in America under $20.00. That is pretty amazing, considering how many thousands of wines qualify for consideration in that category. Over the years we have always strived to bring high quality, affordable and accessible wines to the market and this is confirms we have done just that!

Our winemaker Tom Myers put it best when he said, “I want to produce the best wines I possibly can, but in the end, I wouldn’t feel good about making wines that only a small percentage of the population can afford. We produce honest wines that are an honest value. Our wines allow people to include quality wine in their daily lifestyle, without breaking the bank.” It is precisely this philosophy that allows us to produce wines like our Zinfusion.

If you get a chance, pick up a bottle of our 2010 Zinfusion as it is a very special vintage and is going faster than Lance Armstrong’s Tour De France titles (sorry Lance couldn’t resist). This wine is a blend of our Cobble Creek and Whale Rock Zinfandels with 14% Petite Sirah blended in from the Shell Creek vineyard, giving it great color, body and intense aroma. After the 2009 vintage I was convinced it couldn’t get any better and boy was I wrong!

Till Next Time,

Cheers,

Luke

Dam Fine Delivery Van!

October 12, 2012

As you may have noticed via Facebook and twitter, Castoro Cellars is now traveling/delivering in style! With the transition to our new labels/logo we have had the wonderful opportunity to update and makeover a myriad of things at Castoro. From business cards and vineyard signs to our website and delivery van.

The most recent update has gotten me particularly excited because it looks so good! A few months back we upgraded our local delivery van to a Mercedes Sprinter, which is bigger and more sturdy/powerful than what we had before, allowing us to deliver more wine in a safer fashion. The van is also very nice to drive, which is always a bonus!

When we first got the van, we were waiting to put the finishing touches on our new logo, so the van, until this week, has been plain as white bread. Around mid day yesterday I got an e-mail from Niels, showing a picture of the new van after being picked up from the detailer, and I immediately broke into a wide grin. It looks very nice and the new logo looks great across its side.

If you’re out on the road keep your eyes peeled and you just might spot her. If you can, snap a photo (preferably the passenger, safety first) and share it with us via Facebook, twitter or e-mail.

See you on the road,

Cheers,

Luke

Before

After

Jack Creek Merlot, Perfect on a Rainy Day!

October 10, 2012

Here we are, almost half way through October, and harvest is moving along at a steady and consistent pace, just how we like it! The vineyards have been producing high-quality fruit at great yields and so far the weather has been on our side. With that said, Mother Nature always has a way of reminding us who is boss.

This morning as we began picking our Jack Creek Merlot (which looked fantastic, see below) the sky was gray and something in the air gave off the feeling that it might rain. Sure enough, a short while later it began to rain and continued to do so off and on all day. The rain wasn’t heavy enough to effect the harvesting or have an impact on the grapes but it was enough to remind us who is in charge.

A little rain is something we can deal with but what we really don’t want is frost. Frost can do serious damage very quickly, which is why we are constantly monitoring the forecast and our vineyard temperatures. Luckily, since there has not been significant frost yet, the Merlot we picked today was in great condition, which allowed for a very easy and efficient mechanical harvest.

Mechanical harvesting is something we use only when the grapes and vineyard warrant it and today that was the case. The sugar levels were perfect, the leaves are still green meaning they won’t fall off into the grapes and the vineyard rows have plenty of room for the tractor to come through. Even in the rain we managed a very clean harvest and the fruit looked great!

In other winery news, two new tanks arrived today making more room for this great harvest we have been having. Sometimes you’ve gotta strike while the iron’s hot and with this year’s volume we’ve needed to add a little extra space to ensure we can store it!

Until Next Time,

Cheers,

Luke

Late Harvest Muscat, In a League of its Own!

October 2, 2012

One thing that keeps wine making from ever having a dull moment, is the diversity of the process and how it changes depending on the fruit and style of wine you are making. This week we picked our “Late Harvest” Muscat Canelli, which undergoes a process that is very unique to this wine.

A couple weeks back we harvested about half of our Muscat Canelli and left the other half of the fruit on the vines for raisining. What this does is allow the grapes to become very sweet and basically turn into varying forms of raisins (See photos below). Once the grapes have been picked we run them through the de-stemmer and crusher, which separates the berries from the stems and puts enough pressure on the berries to let some of the juice out of the skins. After being crushed and de-stemmed we let the berries soak overnight in bins to hydrate the raisins before pressing.

The next day we are left with a deliciously sweet mixture of berries and juice and an unmistakable aroma that can only be Muscat Canelli. These bins are then run through our press to squeeze out all of the syrup like juice, leaving behind only the pomace or skins and seeds. When we sent the raisin like grapes to the press they were at a sugar level of 36 °Brix and at the very end some of the juice even had a reading of 45 °Brix, which is very sweet! (And delicious)

As I’ve mentioned many a time, there is never a dull moment at the winery and there is always something new to learn or try. So next time you sip on a cold glass of Late Harvest Muscat Canelli (with your favorite desert), you can tell your friends how it was made!

Until Next Time,

Cheers,

Luke

The Noisy Stage of Winemaking

September 30, 2012

Squash, Bang, Vroom, Click, Swoosh, Ping! The noises of harvest are loud, many and constant around here. From the moment the grapes come in and Sherrie or Jamie, the dynamic enologist duo, tests them for sugar content, we hear the sounds of hard work and wine making. Check out Jamie looking cool with her shades on using the, as Sherrie calls it, stabber to suck grapes out of the bins. It works just like putting your finger on the top of a straw to suck up soda, but instead of spitting it at your siblings they are creating a diverse sample from each bin to get a more accurate read.
After taking the initial °Brix the grapes are gently unloaded into an auger. White grapes head straight to the press and the red grapes are put through the de-stemmer. Below is a picture of Max, demonstrating with ease, how to unload the grapes from the bin into the auger using a giant hydraulic crane. He is unloading the Blind Faith Vineyard Syrah that just came in today. It has great color and aromas of dark berries and plums.
Next we see Bill and Chris manning the de-stemmer and apparently having a great time doing it. Here in this giant mysterious spinning cylinder, grapes are thrown to the side through small holes while the leaves and stems are caught and sent out the other end. At the bottom of the de-stemmer Chuy and Ken strategize about how they are going to get all this work done and keep their hair from falling completely out. Tom then takes into account sugar content, acidity, varietal and many other factors as he chooses a tank for the red grapes. The must will ferment with the skins in order to absorb that rich red color we all love and crave and the tannins that give us the drying sensation on our tongues I find addicting.
White grapes enjoy a different fate, heading to a bladder press directly from the bins where they are robbed of all remaining juice. The press inflates the bladder inside, squeezing every last drop of liquid out of the grapes into a hopper underneath. The juice then sifts through a series of filters at the bottom and once again Tom sends them to a tank for fermentation. In order to empty the dry stems and skins out, however, someone has to climb in the press, scoop them out by hand and rinse it down from inside. Someone call Mike Rowe because it’s a dirty job, and below Max, Wes, Pat and Malek are doing a dam good job proving it. The whole press cycle takes about 4 hours to complete, but the end result is well worth the wait and the work.
For a brief update on grapes we received more Sauvignon Blanc this week as well as Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon from our Blind Faith Vineyard. Tom was most excited about the Blind Faith Syrah for its rich dark color, perfect sugar content and high acidity likely to follow in the grand footsteps of past Blind Faith Syrah Reserve Vintages.
As the process continues so will I, but not till next week.
Bye for now and thanks for reading,
Erik

On the Road with a New Label!

September 25, 2012

Being involved with marketing and sales for Castoro Cellars has me on the road a lot, and for the most part it’s great, because I get to travel our beautiful state and familiarize myself with areas I may otherwise never visit. Lately my travels have been especially fun because I have been taking our new labels on the road with me everywhere I go. Whenever you embark on something new, whether it is labels, a haircut or even a recipe there is always an element of risk involved. Are people going to like it, am I going to look silly, will people rebel? You never really know until you put yourself out there and see what people have to say.

For me this has been a wonderful experience. I’ll admit, at first it was a bit intimidating because we put so much work into the new labels, with meeting after meeting and design after design. Once you finally have it on the bottle it almost doesn’t seem real and you have a special attachment to it because you were a part of its creation. The first few times I showed the label to customers and sales reps, I was really nervous, not because I thought they wouldn’t like it but because I wanted them to love it!

Now that the labels have been slowly circulating for over a month, I feel nothing but eagerness to share them because the feedback has been great all around. I have shown the wines in restaurants, retail stores and to long time customers. The reaction I get most often is “classy” or “elegant” and that is just fine with me! Our wines have been and will always be a great value and now you can take home a “classy” bottle of Estate Grown, award-winning wine for the same great price it has always been!

See you on the road,

Cheers,

Luke

Juice, Juice and More Juice!

September 18, 2012

We have grapes coming out of our ears here at the winery and finally some of those grapes are red. We kicked off our red harvest on Tuesday with a fresh, plump truck full of juicy Syrah from both the Shell Creek and Vista Grande Vineyards. This dark skinned beauty is bound to produce a wine powerful in flavor; matching its smooth, award winning predecessor the Syrah Reserve 2010.

The first of our Chardonnay from the east side of Paso was quick to follow from our Hog Heaven, Blind Faith and Stone’s Throw Vineyards. Due to their high acid content, these grapes look eager to make a crisp, irresistibly delicious wine. We also imported new French oak barrels to give the Chardonnay the light buttery smoothness it deserves. I attached some pictures of the sexy new barrels to the blog for your viewing pleasure.

Next came the Muscat Canelli grapes, tasting of peaches and sure to be fermented into a sweet summer favorite and a most important addition to the white blend that dances in your mouth, Tango!

Gewürztraminer, hard to pronounce, but extremely aromatic, was the most exciting grape that came in Friday. Sherrie said she knew it was good before even tasting it because it filled the air with the scents of flowers and hints of ginger. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty darn tasty to me. Sherrie also referred to the sample of Pinot Grigio grapes we received as very cute; however, I’m not sure if cute grapes make good wine. That debate is still up in the air.

Also on Friday, to finish off a great week, came the first growth Petite Sirah grapes which Niels said were bursting off our Blind Faith vines in ripeness. These young vines produced a limited yield of super dark grapes with perfect sugar content. This should create a fantastic wine rich in dark berry flavors and full bodied. Also, the deep tannins will allow for extended aging.

Next week it looks as if we are getting more Muscat Canelli, Chenin Blanc and the first of our cute Pinot Grigio. Until then, this is all the grapes have to say!
Thanks for reading,
Erik

MUA

September 17, 2012

Downtown Oakland is a place that often gets a bad wrap, especially from those who have never been there. Although there is a rough side to areas of Oakland there are also areas that are overflowing with art, music and cultural diversity. Recently, Castoro Cellars Chardonnay was taken on by-the-glass at a restaurant in downtown Oakland called MUA. If any establishment embodies the cultural movement underway in Oakland, MUA is the spot.

The restaurant is located in what used to be some sort of industrial warehouse and has used that edge to its advantage. It feels almost as if it is a cross between an upscale restaurant and a nightclub, as a matter of fact that is exactly what it is! The building is two stories and has numerous tables upstairs and downstairs with three separate bars. One of the bars even has a lounge area with leather couches and chairs surrounding small round tables.

As my friends and I ordered drinks and food we found ourselves to be very fascinated with MUA. About ten feet from our table was a DJ accompanied by a guy playing live upright bass over the tracks she was spinning. It was pretty crazy and really cool. It made the dining experience a little more exciting and gave the place a very unique energy.

The food was an assortment of small plates and main courses, all of which were very tasty and creatively put together. We ordered a variety of plates including butternut squash mac n’ cheese, crab cakes, burrata cheese with portabello and a good old fashioned Angus burger. Not to mention some delicious 2010 Castoro Chardonnay!

All in all the experience was great and very unique. If you ever find yourself in Oakland with a sense of adventure I would highly recommend giving MUA a try. You may want to make reservations, as this place tends to be very packed!

Cheers,

Luke

Lazy Locals 2012

September 12, 2012

This past Sunday at Castoro Cellars we hosted our final Lazy Locals concert for the summer of 2012 and what a successful summer series it was! For those of you who may be unfamiliar, “Lazy Locals” is a free outdoor concert series we do in the summer, featuring local talent, and plenty of wine, all in a beautiful setting. Concertgoers often bring blankets, picnics, friends and family to make for a memorable Sunday afternoon.

This past Sunday, the Lazy Locals concert was especially memorable for me because I was fortunate enough to play it! As many of you know, I have been performing and writing music for years and have occasionally entertained at various Castoro events. For the past few years the idea of playing a Lazy Locals show had been tossed around but it had always been a challenge for me to get my band together. This year it worked out and we had an absolute blast!

My band was able to come together from far and wide (Sacramento, Los Angeles, Berkeley and Petaluma) and it was really special as we rarely are able to get together these days. In all honesty it was probably the best setting to get together in as the weather was perfect, the wine was flowing and the crowd was very kind.

After our three hour set we enjoyed visiting with folks from the crowd and tasting through the wines in the Tasting Room. Can’t beat that Whale Rock Chardonnay and Zinfandel Zinfusion!! Wow!

Thanks to all of those who came out and make sure to check back next summer for a whole new line up of Lazy Locals shows.

Cheers,

Luke