tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34825216099140756022024-03-05T16:52:10.737-05:00Keswick VineyardsKeswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-2590368940673567762010-04-15T10:29:00.000-04:002010-04-15T10:29:45.824-04:00Bud BreakI came in to work this morning and noticed that most of the vines were sporting a bit of green! It looks like bud break is finally here. From what I understand, our bud break was a bit later then usual due to the big winter we had. Now that the leaves are starting to come out of the vines frost poses a big risk. Lets just hope that we don't get any late spring frosts!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGcBq4aQ0cQu0GZeByY11_ZoKcHjOL-q1OTzEcpxVKy67y5f6NRRV5Nmz4u0FGKBD-vQ8acj1x89tnssXcUgg3U6GshYT3zg4lwhx2-co9mYBtVjLH_H1WHX7pKvin1DaZOKAwgyxoo4/s1600/IMG_0943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGcBq4aQ0cQu0GZeByY11_ZoKcHjOL-q1OTzEcpxVKy67y5f6NRRV5Nmz4u0FGKBD-vQ8acj1x89tnssXcUgg3U6GshYT3zg4lwhx2-co9mYBtVjLH_H1WHX7pKvin1DaZOKAwgyxoo4/s400/IMG_0943.JPG" width="300" /></a></div> I'll be sure to take more pictures as the vineyard really starts to open up!<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-79861903963531412752010-04-13T10:03:00.000-04:002010-04-13T10:03:49.603-04:00April ShowersSince the weather is telling me that it might rain today I thought it would be a perfect time to let everyone know about our April Showers deal! Throughout the month of April we will be selling glasses of wine for $1 off the regular price when it is raining! When it rains... we pour!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtoBs-sc4dZFaBTpc94L9pVH9MELLEfsFyTFRxhUjgW1g9bVyD5V6uGHM6VkE-gqP6GVqLNelCxqUS0KQtU3co_I8uXztsazRW5tQAZdvgWFjv1KN3KWtx00TQhPL17LYvZcdGH_3xNc/s1600/20071022024218_blue-umbrella-in-the-rain-700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtoBs-sc4dZFaBTpc94L9pVH9MELLEfsFyTFRxhUjgW1g9bVyD5V6uGHM6VkE-gqP6GVqLNelCxqUS0KQtU3co_I8uXztsazRW5tQAZdvgWFjv1KN3KWtx00TQhPL17LYvZcdGH_3xNc/s400/20071022024218_blue-umbrella-in-the-rain-700.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Also, just a heads up for some upcoming events! This weekend is a wine club pick up weekend and we are starting our first ever pick up party! We are going to hold a little party on the first Saturday wine club shipments are ready to be picked up. So this Saturday the 17th we will have live music and light snacks for our club members to enjoy from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. We are also pre-releasing the Cabernet Franc Reserve to the wine club! I am really excited to have this wine in the tasting room. It is a nice big wine, something to decant if you can. Also, it is one of the few wines from 2007 we have been holding on to. So come in this weekend to taste it!<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-8093412155676336202010-03-24T11:39:00.002-04:002010-03-24T11:40:45.274-04:00Here Comes the Sun!It looks as though Spring has officially come to Virginia! I don't know how or when it happened, but it seemed almost overnight. I was driving home from work yesterday and I noticed tons of daffodils in bloom, a cherry tree starting to blossom, and the grass is looking greener!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXMo_QemyK5JZgOaM8gppxJNU2bQU4Tv6bczoiUsSwt9DWTAfANOBP8vd-_kbu7E5RHavqrRT9duYMVpn7MXO421XzlQukk6i7E3ZGhUP_3HItn5tBdigWEpfex8xwfzQ7jBujWXUDcI/s1600/daffodils.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXMo_QemyK5JZgOaM8gppxJNU2bQU4Tv6bczoiUsSwt9DWTAfANOBP8vd-_kbu7E5RHavqrRT9duYMVpn7MXO421XzlQukk6i7E3ZGhUP_3HItn5tBdigWEpfex8xwfzQ7jBujWXUDcI/s320/daffodils.jpg" /></a></div>I cannot believe how pretty it is around here! Now I am just waiting for the vines to start flowering. I'll be sure to get some pictures when that happens! I think it will be a little later in the season then normal because of our strange winter.<br />
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Throughout this week we are preparing for bottling. We will be filtering and fining the wines to get them in tip top shape before bottling next Monday and Tuesday. Our bottling schedule includes the 2009 Viognier and the 2008 Trevillian and labeling the 2007 Heritage. This is the Heritage that just went platinum at the San Diego International Competition. I think Stephen wants to hold onto it for a while longer and maybe release it in the fall. I'm crossing my fingers for that. However, if you are a wonderful wine club member who purchased futures of the 2007 Heritage at the wine club appreciate party or at the wine makers dinner we will have those for pick up after April 1st.<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-7062976432062012432010-03-12T11:19:00.003-05:002010-03-12T11:22:10.484-05:00Pruning the VinesSo I've been getting a lot of questions about the abundance of snow we had this year and if it has affected the vines. So I thought I would address the issue of pruning. After the first hard freeze of the year the vines go into a state of hibernation and during that hibernation the boys are hard at work maintaining the vines. During the winter the vines are pruned or trimmed back.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsekKbCVUNbX0Z01_nsZctaeHAOatqf0I_ygFUcZ6593VtzpIXtv84NN_jwypzoIhKHy2AnNMCry1eakZWB7EwWGbQDMROAzNFsW1D9abWu1G7n5q98XKg1KQnYwHfGHpeYLckK_GgVMg/s1600-h/IMG_0896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsekKbCVUNbX0Z01_nsZctaeHAOatqf0I_ygFUcZ6593VtzpIXtv84NN_jwypzoIhKHy2AnNMCry1eakZWB7EwWGbQDMROAzNFsW1D9abWu1G7n5q98XKg1KQnYwHfGHpeYLckK_GgVMg/s400/IMG_0896.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here are the vines in their wild state. It takes almost all winter to prune all 43 of our acres, but the quality of fruit that is produced from all that hard work is well worth it. Pruning has been described as an art form by many in the wine community since this is the basis for the rest of the growing season. Pruning too much can affect vines just as much as pruning too little. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkZfyjRbXnHiTqlAuuJHlFYoWqG7Jnw9qkVEnQviFrKnUmWtQHI12rbmpqFzKibOmj9axeh9Fm3kQqB1kNbA8oJeMJ-dGE6_5IUTozO8QzLskZYWZmeDPlOgY76mMh2wSH7uGIkW996U/s1600-h/IMG_0900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkZfyjRbXnHiTqlAuuJHlFYoWqG7Jnw9qkVEnQviFrKnUmWtQHI12rbmpqFzKibOmj9axeh9Fm3kQqB1kNbA8oJeMJ-dGE6_5IUTozO8QzLskZYWZmeDPlOgY76mMh2wSH7uGIkW996U/s320/IMG_0900.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After all that hard work (and might I say chilly work due to all the snow this year) the vines are trimmed beautifully! Now that all of the snow has melted the pruning is going much faster. So in conclusion, the snow is fine for the vines, in fact it is a good way to keep the plants in hibernation so they don't start budding too early in the season! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-44736517633247115872010-02-26T08:45:00.000-05:002010-02-26T08:45:59.457-05:00Quick Note<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2717jNS50WU4J2CxmiBphPL8G6bVxQ2t5qRjWWTecq7PkMpQeQO7ITZ6HkEJb4uCqEG0og_M64JAAAADYZN5R7K5YkUbC4yfefhuvWC94nNiMz8IBAgY3f11iJtFel0TkImU1rNmfdlY/s1600-h/Logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2717jNS50WU4J2CxmiBphPL8G6bVxQ2t5qRjWWTecq7PkMpQeQO7ITZ6HkEJb4uCqEG0og_M64JAAAADYZN5R7K5YkUbC4yfefhuvWC94nNiMz8IBAgY3f11iJtFel0TkImU1rNmfdlY/s320/Logo.gif" /></a></div>This might be the shortest blog I ever write, but I wanted to let everyone know that I am heading down to Richmond for the Virginia Wine Expo this weekend! So if you are in the area, make sure to stop by and say hello! This will be my first trade show/festival and I am quite excited for it! <br />
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Also, in terms of our barrel tasting that is coming up on March 13th and 14th the afternoon session on Saturday is officially full and the Sunday session only has 5 spots left! Make sure to rsvp soon to insure your spot... I am very excited about the tasting and to see what 2009 grapes have in store for us. If you would like to rsvp please email <a href="mailto:lweckerly@keswickvineyards.com">lweckerly@keswickvineyards.com</a> or call 434-244-3341. Since I will be at the Expo all weekend you can talk to Kris about the event as well!<br />
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...And now I'm off to Richmond! <br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-6945135853348169442010-02-18T11:48:00.000-05:002010-02-18T11:48:40.536-05:002009 ViognierStephen brought me a sample of the 2009 Viognier this morning and he gave me a little preview of what was to come when we bottle next. We plan on bottling again at the end of March and one of the wines that will be bottled is the 2009 Viognier. Viognier itself is a very versatile grape with a high alcohol content and high acid content. Stephen is planning on blending together the 2009 Viognier this afternoon after doing a bit of work to perfect the wine. Typically our Viognier is 100% oak aged and our Les Vents d'Anges Viognier is 100% stainless steel aged, but this year we are doing things a bit differently.<br />
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The Viognier Stephen brought me was actually 30% oak aged and 70% stainless steel aged. The first thing I noticed was the color of the wine. Stainless steel wines typically are much lighter in color and this wine seemed to fit that bill. Lets have a look, shall we?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4juBlKoH-1LOj-081Bg0lToh8LfxOUGRKeX-RHcVVferkXBxAo4_x9q20a6zyfDusAWKrKBD3fXcyy1bruWNhywzCK832jlGoKi5q6RgLWXj01Y8Zo2b1RDQ2bcx3gqUS73IUCJID25Q/s1600-h/IMG_0904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4juBlKoH-1LOj-081Bg0lToh8LfxOUGRKeX-RHcVVferkXBxAo4_x9q20a6zyfDusAWKrKBD3fXcyy1bruWNhywzCK832jlGoKi5q6RgLWXj01Y8Zo2b1RDQ2bcx3gqUS73IUCJID25Q/s320/IMG_0904.JPG" /></a></div>The glass on the left is currently in the tasting room, the 2008 Viognier Reserve. The glass on the right is the 2009 Viognier. The 2008 Viognier Reserve is much more rich in color as well as aroma. This is not to say that the 2009 Viognier is lacking, it is currently a very focused wine with a nice interplay between steel and oak. I feel like oak really rounds out the mouth feel of any wine and the influence of the stainless steel keeps this wine feeling very fresh.<br />
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After Stephen adds the tank wine and the 5 barrels of wine to a stainless steel tank the perfecting will begin. Stephen is planning on doing some minor tweaks and fining to the 2009 Viognier, and I'll keep you abreast on what he ends up doing with the wine. Then the wine will continue to age on fine lees until we filter the wine right before bottling. <br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-50300793316954318582010-02-17T13:06:00.001-05:002010-02-17T13:08:25.278-05:00Candy Hearts and FermentationSo our Valentine's Day event "Be Mine with Wine" went over quite well this year! Thanks to everyone who came to the event, it was great to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones. We also did a "guess the number of candy hearts in a Rose bottle" contest this year and let me tell you it was rather close! Our winning guess was only 6 candy hearts off and the person in second was only 8 off! We even got the traditional "Price is Right" guess of 2, just in case everyone else over bid, <b>well played</b>! Let me be the first to say congratulations to Veronica Buckovich, she has a free tasting and tour for her guess of 483 candy hearts. <br />
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In other news, the Nektar is looking great! Stephen did a test on it today and said that the sugar levels are dropping at around a brix a day. So by his estimations the fermentation will be complete in 10 to 14 days. Once the fermentation is finished the wine will be sulfured and put into barrels. The sulfur is added to kill off any remaining yeast so we can keep the same levels of residual sugar in the wine. The goal is to make this wine about 10% residual sugar. I was lucky enough to taste the Nektar and my first impression was that it currently tastes a lot like<b> pineapple juice!</b> It is still quite sweet, but I was surprised at how tart it was. I guess that bit of acidity is a nice balance to the sugar in the wine. The wine currently is opaque since the yeast is still floating around in the wine.<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-31765001396582205012010-02-05T07:55:00.001-05:002010-02-05T07:58:11.882-05:00Snow Check!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5sEFd7fJdJd8bf-6k59i8WgD_ZCWaXX75NYj-1n0jL0uwq6KrJKBkfqSt_2O_7kDDx6DG7-JfrLoTzEbxD-en4HB8SQyAbqgVbTS17rqXd6Ivch_JG8DS3I4K1AWMoALPjSPZc6-HOI/s1600-h/190207-Ice-Wine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5sEFd7fJdJd8bf-6k59i8WgD_ZCWaXX75NYj-1n0jL0uwq6KrJKBkfqSt_2O_7kDDx6DG7-JfrLoTzEbxD-en4HB8SQyAbqgVbTS17rqXd6Ivch_JG8DS3I4K1AWMoALPjSPZc6-HOI/s320/190207-Ice-Wine.jpg" /></a></div>With all of these rumors of snow this weekend we want to make sure you are still able to get some Keswick wines. So we are planning on doing an online promotion for the up coming snow days!<br />
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This weekend we will be offering <b>free </b>shipping for any orders over $75.00. But the real kicker is that we are going to be releasing our Cabernet Franc Reserve as an online special, which I am rather excited about! I think <b>I'm</b> even going to place an online order for a few bottles, just so I can get it before we release it in the tasting room. If my estimations are correct, we probably wont have it until the end of March or beginning of April. In my humble opinion, the Cabernet Franc Reserve is fantastic, best after decanting for a bit... So keep that in mind when you receive your bottle!<br />
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"<b>SnowedIn</b>" is the coupon to use at our online store this weekend for the free shipping and Reserve Cabernet Franc. Get it while its hot! (actually while its cold!) Make sure to capitalize the 'S' and the 'I', or else the coupon wont work! We will also be sending "snow checks", like rain checks for free tastings for anyone who makes an order this weekend, so you can come visit us once the weather gets nicer!<br />
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Here is a link to our online store: <a href="http://www.keswickvineyards.com/wines.html">http://www.keswickvineyards.com/wines.html</a><br />
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Have a safe and great weekend! <br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-21096860638498446402010-02-04T11:40:00.000-05:002010-02-04T11:40:01.999-05:00Quirky Quercus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsM0lT0B67wIf2ZUO5wtCKst-1jrd2PJS1hPqjgW3h0QPkEA2DiTvqHeKU-vzkZs6pcAJtiGjLRdgo_gAnkrN26LXR-RKOnzibCod2cD4nd88ecxaYeiYjTyG34XLds9iKpV4Z9WWi9Qw/s1600-h/IMG_0867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsM0lT0B67wIf2ZUO5wtCKst-1jrd2PJS1hPqjgW3h0QPkEA2DiTvqHeKU-vzkZs6pcAJtiGjLRdgo_gAnkrN26LXR-RKOnzibCod2cD4nd88ecxaYeiYjTyG34XLds9iKpV4Z9WWi9Qw/s400/IMG_0867.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>We just <span style="font-size: small;">received some new oak barrels today! Since oak is such an important factor in wine, I think this is a great time to brush up on some<span style="font-family: inherit;"> facts about</span><i style="font-family: inherit;"><b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Quercus, or Oak</span></span>. </b></i></span><br />
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The two major types of oak that are used in wine making are French and American Oak. I will admit that the first vineyard I ever toured in Italy did have some massive Hungarian oak barrels. Massive as in over 7 feet tall; but I haven't run into any since then. So, back to the more common barrels...<br />
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One of the major differences between French and American oak is the way that the oak is aged. French oak is typically allowed to air dry for 36 months. This releases a lot of the bitter tannins that can be associated with oak. American oak is air dried for a much shorter period of time, closer to 24 months. After the oak has been aged the barrels are formed. Traditionally this is done by Coopers and the traditional method is over a fire. The inside of the barrel is charred, or toasted while this process happens. Some of our barrels have a stamp on them indicating the level of toast on the barrel. <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The toast can range from light to heavy. The more a barrel is toasted the more caramelized the inside will be. More </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">caramelization<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">lea</span></span>ds to flavors like vanilla, toffee, and (you guessed it) caramel. Other flavors that can be imparted to wine through the barrels are nutty, smokey, toasted coconut, and spice.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuIjgyHEftFpD2FCHHrcgyV60VpjQfQ857H0nmpyPtq2S5cX-oczEpGrpcEf4YvmVUA_-gTOPxVLgkuxZ1_yxoRZfE1llnRo_09YCiTQ7XPdsGYS1El5jPr6kqAIdd0Xyajx4LjVkrhY4/s1600-h/frenchoak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuIjgyHEftFpD2FCHHrcgyV60VpjQfQ857H0nmpyPtq2S5cX-oczEpGrpcEf4YvmVUA_-gTOPxVLgkuxZ1_yxoRZfE1llnRo_09YCiTQ7XPdsGYS1El5jPr6kqAIdd0Xyajx4LjVkrhY4/s400/frenchoak.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><br />
Another major difference in French and American oak is physical characteristics of the oak, which leads to a difference in the way the oak is cut. French oak is a much tighter grain, therefore the oak is split along a grain in the wood. American oak is much more porous, so it can be sawed instead of split. This provides a higher yield of usable oak per tree, which contributes to the lower price of American oak.<br />
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As for our new barrels, they will be used for the Nektar, which is about half way through the fermentation process at the moment. <br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-57355459694357599302010-01-31T10:29:00.000-05:002010-01-31T10:29:29.683-05:00We're OPEN!After a brief hiatus yesterday due to the snow, we are officially open again! I got into the vineyard about an hour later since I wanted to wait for any potential ice to melt off the roads, but Charlottesville seemed to do a much better job this time around plowing and salting the roads. We must have gotten about then a foot of snow yesterday but the roads seemed 100% better then the last big snow in December! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrrOwUBqvPdlrh-0g8r1pDKXsi8xc-xAvdI-CaKpcShJoB0dCEnJbYNqI63hX33TEHjW5DTbMKavwLZXI5ErQIS2tDNc2WffvBw7MaJ1aWBtC-e7yqQaYX3VRD_7hoRRlc9XFZ4PCiy0I/s1600-h/IMG_0860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrrOwUBqvPdlrh-0g8r1pDKXsi8xc-xAvdI-CaKpcShJoB0dCEnJbYNqI63hX33TEHjW5DTbMKavwLZXI5ErQIS2tDNc2WffvBw7MaJ1aWBtC-e7yqQaYX3VRD_7hoRRlc9XFZ4PCiy0I/s400/IMG_0860.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The parking lot is getting plowed as I type! So it should be nice and clean by the time people start arriving. Another thing to mention is that the Touriga is almost sold out, as of this morning we have 14 bottles left. I am going to be really sad to see it go. It is one of my personal favorites! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefjcSclB1MWiRV0D6cnc4ZR1kQDuMvAh0JwqLzcRu54zR6ag3Gd9cgsvnZxsdusedLMWQCybTA7afwjTdFGNl6UqSZLbN0jFb6UhbZ9to-i-RzdRjTAai2fWr8Y1zBwHEpVR-Br3UN_Y/s1600-h/IMG_0861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefjcSclB1MWiRV0D6cnc4ZR1kQDuMvAh0JwqLzcRu54zR6ag3Gd9cgsvnZxsdusedLMWQCybTA7afwjTdFGNl6UqSZLbN0jFb6UhbZ9to-i-RzdRjTAai2fWr8Y1zBwHEpVR-Br3UN_Y/s400/IMG_0861.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: red;"><script type="text/javascript">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSp6N3nK4oMLxKwjkE8qslELWM6_pC9a5nJHHPAxJN99yFCj7evMp-ZUpEd4uGLquE8_gbz-ltP7ArMEhnahk3Q-VAEz9VsOogIW6uc_CjEkKiCB1rgPe4W2T6N_UxGgLubWUYENHZxM/s1600-h/BeMineMini+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSp6N3nK4oMLxKwjkE8qslELWM6_pC9a5nJHHPAxJN99yFCj7evMp-ZUpEd4uGLquE8_gbz-ltP7ArMEhnahk3Q-VAEz9VsOogIW6uc_CjEkKiCB1rgPe4W2T6N_UxGgLubWUYENHZxM/s200/BeMineMini+copy.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
</div>To get you up to speed, this event will be during the day on Valentines Day (Sunday Feb 14th) and we are going to offer a special tasting that day, as well as our regular tasting. If you chose to do the special tasting we will be pairing each wine with a chocolate covered strawberry.... Think rich dark chocolate paired with the 2008 Cabernet Franc, or white chocolate and lemon zest for the 2008 Chardonnay. The tastings will be $12 and it will include the wines, strawberries, and the glass.<br />
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Here is a link for the facebook event page: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#/event.php?eid=269964276570&ref=mf">Be Mine with Wine</a> <br />
Mark your calendars to come down to Keswick on Valentines Day!<br />
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By moving the wine from barrel to tank and back, the wine is oxygenated. Here's the quick fix: the new oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) in the wine actually binds with the sulfur (S) to create sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>). This gas comes out of the wine and like magic, the wine is wonderful again! Cheers to the joys of chemistry...<br />
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Just trying to give everyone the heads up in case visiting vineyards is in the near future!<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-51963652071085023882010-01-06T10:45:00.001-05:002010-01-06T10:48:28.714-05:00"Eiswein" EinsteinYesterday began with a large truck bringing us our frozen Viognier from this years harvest. According to the driver it was kept in a freezer unit that never got above negative 30 degrees! Needless to say the grapes were solid when we received them. If you have never frozen grapes before you eat them you should really try it... They become so sweet! So the boys started unloading frozen bins of grapes into the press, and I even got my hands dirty, which ended fairly quickly when I realized everyone else was wearing gloves and my hands were numb... This Viognier is going to be our Eiswein also known as our Nektar. Eiswein is the German pronunciation of ice wine which most people are more familiar with. Ours is technically a mock ice wine because to be considered a true ice wine the grapes must freeze on the vine. Making a desert wine is a rather labor intensive process so this wine most likely will not be ready for a long time. We aged our last Nektar for two years in barrel!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxzv4KRveIK4u866fNfxIPVWlu7RJZD-VToqMaCIctJ4RW4WPow2S_EeM7YJ7cbUACEuTHQ9EO7GGg2xw_3_r63LgfVE4eSGE3p3vOMpEmmVPhIxFGR6fArMKWq-QN4JcBycoOKvxL_PM/s1600-h/IMG_0842.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxzv4KRveIK4u866fNfxIPVWlu7RJZD-VToqMaCIctJ4RW4WPow2S_EeM7YJ7cbUACEuTHQ9EO7GGg2xw_3_r63LgfVE4eSGE3p3vOMpEmmVPhIxFGR6fArMKWq-QN4JcBycoOKvxL_PM/s400/IMG_0842.JPG" /></a><br />
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Since the grapes are frozen solid it is important to press them off very slowly. If it is done too quickly the bladder, or bag inside the press could tear, which is an expensive fix. This press is so slow that not much was even accomplished yesterday. Stephen was at the vineyard rather late last night and came back in early this morning to continue the pressing. According to Stephen they will probably be doing the same thing this time tomorrow! Since the grapes are frozen we extract a lot less juice from them. Typically with a ton of grapes we can squeeze out roughly 165 gallons of juice. With frozen grapes, we will receive just 45-55 gallons per ton!<br />
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Stephen brought me a little sample of the wine and let me tell you it is sweet! Current readings are at 45 brix.... and to give you some sort of comparison all of the other Viognier we brought in this year was around 24 or 25 brix. Brix is a measurement of the level of sugar in a wine or the grapes themselves. Stephen told me his goal is to make this about 10% residual sugar. I guess we will have to wait and see how things shape up!<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"> Can you believe that becomes this?<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-15498380191698980452009-12-31T11:35:00.000-05:002009-12-31T11:35:38.735-05:00Happy New Years from Keswick Vineyards!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkAiGtMUFUMA9eBKqIaWC0mhjQFp-u8YHimr15hjWGOXijB9OIMFc8WGafEdsbDeerC5axZ5Q7JbxhqemDioRX_d1wsBbh7F_sIu-jGQcfcFool7x4x03jy6C8jQNxRjdAiTtpE2IWvs/s1600-h/Happy-New-Year-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkAiGtMUFUMA9eBKqIaWC0mhjQFp-u8YHimr15hjWGOXijB9OIMFc8WGafEdsbDeerC5axZ5Q7JbxhqemDioRX_d1wsBbh7F_sIu-jGQcfcFool7x4x03jy6C8jQNxRjdAiTtpE2IWvs/s400/Happy-New-Year-.jpg" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since New Years Eve is a night full of champagne, I just wanted to take the time to wish everyone a happy New Years Eve! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday with their families and friends. I was lucky enough to get out of the snow and go visit San Diego for the holidays and it was amazing! This was the first time visiting home since I moved out to Virginia six short months ago. So to my family and friends, it was great seeing you! Just wanted to send a quick reminder letting everyone know that we will be closed on January 1st for New Years. We will be back open on the 2nd for business. Feel free to bring in canned goods if you plan on coming since we have not turned our box into the Charlottesville Emergency Food Bank for an extra 5% off any purchases!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Happy New Year everyone!</span><br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-86755876385587045752009-12-23T10:27:00.001-05:002009-12-23T10:29:15.995-05:00Winter WonderlandJust wanted to make sure everyone survived the snow this weekend! It was my <b>first real snow</b> according to Kris... since it actually stuck to the ground this time! We were closed for the weekend since the roads hadn't even been plowed for a few days and once that was clear we had to clear our own driveway. We realized it was a bad idea to drive out to Keswick Vineyards when we saw one of the plow trucks was off into the ditch.... We officially opened back up Tuesday and I am here in the tasting room as we speak (or as I type!). So come on in if you need some last minute holiday gifts or need wine for Christmas! Just to make everyone aware, we will be closed on Christmas Day, but will reopen on Saturday.<br />
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In other news, the Viognier is almost sold out. This is personally my favorite white wine we have on the tasting menu right now, so I will be very sad to see it go. This is also the wine that took <b>best in show</b> at the Virginia Town Point Competition. We were quite honored to receive that recognition, so I'm going to have to save a bottle to put on our trophy shelf! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmk9jiJPB_VtR5GNJR6MO4hFa-_LZHgHJCod7wb6zLw9o8U1u-thFM-A_ZIQBL3QdXgC7-vxWk3LahTBsV1yILx5L2IkhdpUznL5Nt4mXkljpAxBRVIIU6XVzQSPPLR0g_tPNwOV5SLqk/s1600-h/IMG_0821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmk9jiJPB_VtR5GNJR6MO4hFa-_LZHgHJCod7wb6zLw9o8U1u-thFM-A_ZIQBL3QdXgC7-vxWk3LahTBsV1yILx5L2IkhdpUznL5Nt4mXkljpAxBRVIIU6XVzQSPPLR0g_tPNwOV5SLqk/s400/IMG_0821.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Looking out the tasting room window out to the front of the property.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5DyuPxeo5r4dWOG0aW7jMCec1H_xFTFDiEV320gpp3PUCjlj-tuITMZKogi71uU-HQuz0TAfXmdWKJQGkCw58m6EX-4olSGKJUDK04tDz_9Pld9vRtFYzyqrCYAEyI3BmaTpNCEbFFw/s1600-h/IMG_0819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5DyuPxeo5r4dWOG0aW7jMCec1H_xFTFDiEV320gpp3PUCjlj-tuITMZKogi71uU-HQuz0TAfXmdWKJQGkCw58m6EX-4olSGKJUDK04tDz_9Pld9vRtFYzyqrCYAEyI3BmaTpNCEbFFw/s400/IMG_0819.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
The lake is officially frozen over... poor tree... <br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-27248153350256785602009-12-19T15:18:00.002-05:002009-12-19T15:20:38.035-05:00Bottling Complete!So for the past two days we have been bottling! When we bottle we hire out a truck to come to the vineyard to help us out. This time we bottled the Les Vents de Anges Viognier, the Verdejo, the Rose, the Royal and the Consensus. On Thursday we started with the Verdejo and then moved onto the LVD. We finished up the night with the Royal, which turned out to be quite a pain. Since we use the small belissima bottles, they kept tipping over and I believe we had about 3 casualties. On Friday we did the Rose and the Consensus. So let me take you down the assembly line:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNpWTttjONCbCN6lxn82wxq91TkrA37w3vKxTrEZNxIGmxWHoyMkQysSXsipVnXwvQWW3UEgdVCTjt7n2zbIKosJwTg71hB4vbHibFraRR47I8095_cjhabqslA8SRZtcmBT_-NTjDas/s1600-h/IMG_0765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNpWTttjONCbCN6lxn82wxq91TkrA37w3vKxTrEZNxIGmxWHoyMkQysSXsipVnXwvQWW3UEgdVCTjt7n2zbIKosJwTg71hB4vbHibFraRR47I8095_cjhabqslA8SRZtcmBT_-NTjDas/s400/IMG_0765.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">First the empty bottles are put onto the conveyor belt.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJbqUijwXhrX2qcbCwYxBfppa6FR_W2yTJqkSLl3fJdInnw5jjWS0nMkek9dXPOXQZ0YER7vz5-oeaSHovC7iFDWBzSTRJro_Ep_ClnPX83Wdd_UMmhE7zNV8kx5pMcJlJ-hIj3f5Zbfg/s1600-h/IMG_0776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJbqUijwXhrX2qcbCwYxBfppa6FR_W2yTJqkSLl3fJdInnw5jjWS0nMkek9dXPOXQZ0YER7vz5-oeaSHovC7iFDWBzSTRJro_Ep_ClnPX83Wdd_UMmhE7zNV8kx5pMcJlJ-hIj3f5Zbfg/s400/IMG_0776.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Then the bottles are flipped over and cleaned out with a citric solution.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivXhnVOIhK3emUD47ZoJflb6-b_LfiURVMosX-ai3GA3n7ralbB0Ulm90zUhR7mY86vB4KqJKW1icZsDS9SlM6aaVt0DLd3VPhKxLT0u7HUcl4O_t9yXdB0kfz7Z4erWHicRla0uAE6Kg/s1600-h/IMG_0780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivXhnVOIhK3emUD47ZoJflb6-b_LfiURVMosX-ai3GA3n7ralbB0Ulm90zUhR7mY86vB4KqJKW1icZsDS9SlM6aaVt0DLd3VPhKxLT0u7HUcl4O_t9yXdB0kfz7Z4erWHicRla0uAE6Kg/s400/IMG_0780.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">After that they flip back over and are filled to the brim with wonderful Keswick wines.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjnDaqcGwGI5I-cDMnOpdKuEZaNH18GYG60lHlZL-RuTqdsXWBOXwcHv1ygm8f_WXOSo5qsNUhR-5by2dF0C9W-Ili1IUPjNYR-F5X_O8qHcx4w7ECYM-c9AMZqkB-uGwsRI9Dozgp4Q/s1600-h/IMG_0784.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjnDaqcGwGI5I-cDMnOpdKuEZaNH18GYG60lHlZL-RuTqdsXWBOXwcHv1ygm8f_WXOSo5qsNUhR-5by2dF0C9W-Ili1IUPjNYR-F5X_O8qHcx4w7ECYM-c9AMZqkB-uGwsRI9Dozgp4Q/s400/IMG_0784.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Then the cork is inserted into the bottle. Then the foil, or capsule, is put onto the bottle. Lucky for us, this machine decided to break on Friday so we had to hand capsule all of the bottles. Once the capsules are on they go through a spinner. The capsules are loose over the neck of the bottles and the spinner magically tightens them.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbN-u4flPLwkL1Z_2hyphenhyphenG4KSjZz7TFDhChKBomddj83H5CfVAb1A0YRAcK6pWa4odPnl4nvZ4CPjPvNIDe1l_1W03fVNnt_rFZ2bia3tvvwV_4cKxcl8VWa0tTUqAaGFyuEzj6cW2iZ-Y/s1600-h/IMG_0782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbN-u4flPLwkL1Z_2hyphenhyphenG4KSjZz7TFDhChKBomddj83H5CfVAb1A0YRAcK6pWa4odPnl4nvZ4CPjPvNIDe1l_1W03fVNnt_rFZ2bia3tvvwV_4cKxcl8VWa0tTUqAaGFyuEzj6cW2iZ-Y/s400/IMG_0782.JPG" /></a><br />
</div>Last but certainly not least, the labels are put onto the bottles. Then you've got a bottle of wine! The whole process goes rather quickly (if we don't run into any bumps) and at maximum capacity we can pump out 48 bottles a minute!We did a good job and got all of the wine bottled. But it started snowing on Friday night and we had to leave before we added labels to the Heritage. I'm bummed about this because I cannot wait to have the Heritage in the tasting room! <br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-62675038149910485002009-12-15T14:10:00.001-05:002009-12-15T14:19:53.302-05:00One day till Bottling!It has been really cold this week and I was surprised to drive into work and see that our lake had partially froze over! Now don't get your ice skates ready, it is just a small layer of ice, but it was exciting to me!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6QSGx5wwLJU42eGBkUGG-Yut6oImqh-BOF_SwYla48dXNEAJq3et-Fz15hSY4EmoXOu0TJRAXd1yFSonafAEiYoM83vEzScJqRn_AbjeM-QRNLgKAAe38dRZ_G7mtodmhnKP5u974S4/s1600-h/IMG_0751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6QSGx5wwLJU42eGBkUGG-Yut6oImqh-BOF_SwYla48dXNEAJq3et-Fz15hSY4EmoXOu0TJRAXd1yFSonafAEiYoM83vEzScJqRn_AbjeM-QRNLgKAAe38dRZ_G7mtodmhnKP5u974S4/s400/IMG_0751.JPG" /></a><br />
</div>That poor tree has been water logged (and now ice logged) for the past week. I hope it makes it through the winter!<br />
<br />
As I said in the previous post we are getting close to bottling (tomorrow is the big day)... so the boys have been busy prepping all of the wines. I mentioned the filtering of the wine, but I did not mention the blending of one particular wine. After each wine aged separately in oak barrels the Consensus is being blended together to the parameters that our wine club members picked! The wine is in stainless steel right now, sitting patiently for bottling.We also had to test the wine for alcohol level and sulfur levels. This insures that the wine is at the correct stage for bottling. Another factor to consider for bottling, which I would have never thought of is keeping the wines and the empty bottles at generally the same temperature. It is important that the bottles are just as cold as the wine going into them or else the bottles will condensate. Now although that doesn't sound like a big deal, it is! Because if there is condensation the labels will slide right off the bottles! <br />
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Bottling is actually done in the back of a large semi truck with all of the mechanisms to fill, label, cork and add the foil to the bottles. I am really interested in how this will work and I'll give you and update (and pictures) tomorrow!<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-25585773549413761862009-12-09T12:02:00.001-05:002009-12-09T12:03:02.266-05:00Bottle OverloadSo we are preparing for bottling and we got out shipment of bottles. Little did I know it would be such an overwhelming amount of bottles! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVqNQjhfTS_2MMBOM4OUJYtkdVE014psOna1FKi3ALISKt4FhoOF99xGwevklr5lbUf34GykBfCKq1V5QTbEnin1288DwvuBtkPB1I8qL3BFUbe1huauQOE5cuUmtMlMaKRKjtfvcsJc/s1600-h/IMG_0721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVqNQjhfTS_2MMBOM4OUJYtkdVE014psOna1FKi3ALISKt4FhoOF99xGwevklr5lbUf34GykBfCKq1V5QTbEnin1288DwvuBtkPB1I8qL3BFUbe1huauQOE5cuUmtMlMaKRKjtfvcsJc/s400/IMG_0721.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That stack of bottles goes about 5 deep and 3 wide! We received four different types of bottles the 65, 10, 13, and 22. Since those numbers mean nothing to me, lets delve a little deeper....<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfmlpHKjz9-tFO13VE8jtW3Z31POXRTtc7xc13eAtOA-jGeKfP1Bn24PhgswWXXNK4k9MVDmHCJ0qdEnOwaTjMW6dduqTdIlbDLEZdULmeKz9DognQqXJvXqPBgigv_hBe-caBlvsI5U/s1600-h/IMG_0742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfmlpHKjz9-tFO13VE8jtW3Z31POXRTtc7xc13eAtOA-jGeKfP1Bn24PhgswWXXNK4k9MVDmHCJ0qdEnOwaTjMW6dduqTdIlbDLEZdULmeKz9DognQqXJvXqPBgigv_hBe-caBlvsI5U/s400/IMG_0742.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The 65's (far left) are used for our standard red wine bottle and the 2008 Consensus will be bottled in it. They are Bordeaux bottles. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The 10's (2nd in line) are our standard white wine bottles, called Burgundy bottles. We will be bottling both the Les Vents de Anges Viognier and the Verdejo in them. Both the Burgundy and the Bordeaux bottles are dark green (technically called antique green and dead leaf green). The reasoning behind this is the darker the bottle the less sunlight can come in contact with the wine, which means less oxidation. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The 22's (3rd) are smaller dessert wine bottles, which we will be using for the Royal (the late harvest Norton). The bottle holds half the volume of the other bottles and is called a Belissima bottle. These bottles are taller then the previous two! <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last but not least is a bottle I am unfamiliar with, the 13 (far right). The 13's will be used to bottle our Rose. This is called a Hock bottle. The bottle virtually does not have a punt, while all the other bottles we are using do! A punt is the little indent on the bottom of a bottle. This bottle does not have a punt because wines that tend to be bottled in them do not have sediment.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Overall, we received <b>20,580</b> bottles in our shipment! <br />
</div><br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-44758859060621407342009-12-08T16:23:00.000-05:002009-12-08T16:23:25.388-05:00Filtering the Viognier<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">So after cold stabilizing for a few weeks the wine is ready to be filtered. I talked about cold stabilizing for a brief moment a few posts back but to refresh your memory we turned the temperature of the tank way down to make sure that the proteins could be taken out of the wine. Stephen came with 2 different glasses of wine into the tasting room, one pre-filter and one post-filter. Can you believe those are the same wine? After tasting them both the filtered wine is much more focused but the flavor profile is very similar.<br />
</div><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6u2jhl2I4bH0Kr4Xr8N3FHSd-fu22soJB6nr-ZXQrV_DHhlYwl2PT011uirp2pFbwpJCtg0kkbriStr4MEDsj7TdBjekulLOM6tJAa2dFFjuBULcLoseJCPjVFSxgIiuaCGwBcdWxxw/s400/IMG_0728.JPG" /> <br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So I went out to the barrel room to see how this was done and basically a large hose is connected to the stainless steel tank (we were filtering the Les Vents de Anges Viognier) and the hose pushes wine through the machine in the picture below. This machine sends the wine through a series of filters and it comes out the other hose back into a neighboring tank. We monitored the pressure during the process to make sure that there was not any back up. Sometimes if there is a lot of yeast or sediment, wine will be forced through the filter and not processes as finely.<br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMfWF1E3DakMua3CPPfN-TtyImPe6Blyd1P5EMk05ZwN6OhqcuyEbawW0VYaI_IJR1vIdJoyVfUJkCwEp0k7mdCzqzjapVMZ96X5TNfM5cZlr9B9g_nbyCJmlYm9hPi-g2swi0J_MaDY/s400/IMG_0729.JPG" /> <br />
<div style="text-align: left;">After we filtered the whole thing we were left with the lees, yeast, and bentonite in the bottom of the tank we started from. The yellow color is the yeast and the gray color is the bentonite. Stephen encouraged me to taste what was left over in the tank and it was a really interesting flavor. It looked like it was going to be very granular but it was very smooth and creamy, which attributes to the creaminess of some Chardonnay. But it was also rather tart! Quite the experience, I wished I could scoop it up and let everyone in the tasting room try it!<br />
</div></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KjVKpuRjTwWV8NVZAjOS8J7mxx84WndhZ6AopPC5-x30rXUdlDN0PzskZxnDym0ApDfeMEAZ6SQRBIS5s1KR6vjrsfm2qn0m06xdunYaWtXKaUXqB3XiMWGlSC15kylwS_ZyxKSUyFk/s400/IMG_0734.JPG" /> <br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-13743852344397894372009-12-07T10:59:00.002-05:002009-12-07T11:02:11.671-05:00...And the Results AreSo our Wine Makers Dinner went off without a hitch! It was fantastic fun and great food. Thanks to Harvest Moon for the great food and thanks to all of the people who attended. I was lucky enough to get a plate made for me at the end of the night and the cracked pepper encrusted filet was incredible. Needless to say, I was in <b>heaven</b>.<br />
<br />
As for the Consensus Blending Party both of the days were fun. We had a full house in the back of the barrel room and the blending started at 10:00am! The grapes that were allowed in the blend were Chambourcin, Petite Verdot, and 3 different lots of Cabernet Sauvignon. The different lots are based on where the vines are situated on the property. Lot 1 is in the front of the tasting room planted in clay. Lot 2 and 3 are planted in the back of the property on shale but lot 3 is on top of a hill. Shale is always great for growing because it is self-draining which will not over saturate the grapes while they are growing.<br />
<br />
The winning blend turned out to be 12% Petite Verdot, 28% Chambourcin, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 1 and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 3. Its average score was 16.5 out of 20. So <b>congratulations </b>to the winning team, Gavin Meek, Jen Cottler, Paul and Kathy Clements, and Barbara and Debra Harris! Now they have bragging rights for the rest of the year! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6lk1dTNlIChbzvjWl77BqkO5o_PAXQOlkz48zKoFJInR43CwywWQFlh_9H_Ze43RwV3bamkVGvVsbc6Zw8hWILLWLHaJWH8Yx5JRx_zPDZ9ez3H7B0Yogw0fJmzSz2vxvNDWjNjnBK_c/s1600-h/IMG_0527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6lk1dTNlIChbzvjWl77BqkO5o_PAXQOlkz48zKoFJInR43CwywWQFlh_9H_Ze43RwV3bamkVGvVsbc6Zw8hWILLWLHaJWH8Yx5JRx_zPDZ9ez3H7B0Yogw0fJmzSz2vxvNDWjNjnBK_c/s400/IMG_0527.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
Our second place team (and the winners of the Sunday blending event) were Kelsea Bordoe, Scott Fry, Kristin and Chris Friedline. They created another amazing blend of 2% Petite Verdot, 2% Chambourcin, 59% Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 1, and 37% Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 2. It turned out to be a much different blend then the one that won the overall, but it only lost by 1.3 points on average! <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-xMYdIsr3pzAr9BSupNIluH3lyVCiXhyqfG9OxY8r8GSlUffaXe_Bcqdmiw_fc0HFAk1Tya6Fw0PBGTnNm29rzD-ayp-5qfUe-KbDE8yO3yt0xASkUi4UaZ31agHl6cofzpk2kiIIsE/s1600-h/IMG_0663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-xMYdIsr3pzAr9BSupNIluH3lyVCiXhyqfG9OxY8r8GSlUffaXe_Bcqdmiw_fc0HFAk1Tya6Fw0PBGTnNm29rzD-ayp-5qfUe-KbDE8yO3yt0xASkUi4UaZ31agHl6cofzpk2kiIIsE/s400/IMG_0663.JPG" /></a><br />
</div>Weather-wise: It <b>SNOWED </b>on Saturday! This was my first snow, which was exciting, but I was nervous about driving in the snow. Fortunately it did not stick around Keswick and by the time I made it into Charlottesville the roads had been plowed. So I dodged that bullet. After all of that snow, I was expecting crummy weather on Sunday but it is nice and sunny, but very chilly!<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-72165383414953763582009-12-03T09:52:00.002-05:002009-12-06T12:35:58.831-05:00Event PreparationsWe are getting prepared for quite a few things this week: the Wine Makers Dinner and the Consensus Blending Event! So it has been quite busy around here!<br />
<br />
Stephen had to rearrange all of the barrels in the barrel room in order to make way for the tables for both the Wine Makers Dinner and the Consensus Blending Party so our barrel room looks completely different! I am very excited for the dinner because Stephen is going to be releasing the reserve wines to be paired with the menu. We even got an oven and stove top delivered to the vineyard today! I was a little confused when I walked outside and nearly bumped into it.<br />
<br />
In regards to the Consensus Blending Event we are prepping for that and I am excited about the wines we are blending with. Apparently it is 3 different lots of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, and Chambourcin. Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Verdot are two of my favorite grapes so I am excited to see which blend wins!<br />
<br />
Oh and one more note of interest... Our lake flooded again, this time worst then the last! It was a chilly rainy day yesterday, but today is beautiful! And according to the local weather it is supposed to snow on Saturday... Being from San Diego I still cannot fathom waking up in the morning to snow!<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-13802410742939013692009-12-02T12:32:00.002-05:002009-12-02T12:38:27.486-05:00Holiday Food DriveI am very excited about a new program we are just getting started and it is our Holiday Food Drive! Throughout the month of December (up until Christmas Eve) we will be accepting canned and non-perishable food items to benefit the Emergency Food Bank of Charlottesville. We will have a basket, by our cute little Christmas tree where customers can drop of goods for the Emergency Food Bank. The best part about it is that any donating food will receive an extra 5% off their purchase in the tasting room!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwIf0NVx175C5C1QU5AFs-wD-hQbxTJ6rOTNZxyuk1S3GaSBWfpv5XAhFiYXfJNb5ktx1gE_pVact3BgX2bTpZu9j0h1on7yft8BoIKMpMv3e0CDrFtytK_xWSc3RM6hDAGQZyuj43J0/s1600-h/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwIf0NVx175C5C1QU5AFs-wD-hQbxTJ6rOTNZxyuk1S3GaSBWfpv5XAhFiYXfJNb5ktx1gE_pVact3BgX2bTpZu9j0h1on7yft8BoIKMpMv3e0CDrFtytK_xWSc3RM6hDAGQZyuj43J0/s320/Untitled.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Emergency Food Bank is an organization that has been active since 1973 and they have about 100 volunteers, all unpaid, that work together to provide food for families in need in the Charlottesville area. Obviously we are excited to work with them and with all of your help I'm sure this will be successful!<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is a list of items in high demand:<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Canned tuna or chicken<o:p></o:p><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Peanut butter<o:p></o:p><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Cereal<o:p></o:p><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Canned vegetables *<o:p></o:p><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Soup (dry or canned)<o:p></o:p><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">Canned beans<o:p></o:p><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Rice<o:p></o:p><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Canned fruit<o:p></o:p><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">Macaroni and cheese <o:p></o:p><br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-29022221150180975072009-11-26T21:50:00.001-05:002009-12-03T09:53:18.463-05:00Happy Thanksgiving!I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Keswick Vineyards. Today is one of our days off, so we can spend time with our own friends and family. So I'll leave you with a short list of things I have become thankful for in my time working at Keswick: <br />
<br />
1. Being excited to come to work everyday<br />
2. Meeting our wine club members, who become familiar faces and friends<br />
3. Hard working employees<br />
4. Greetings from Mittens the cat<br />
5. The absence of fruit flies <br />
6. Feeling like part of the family<br />
...and last but definitely not least...<br />
7. Fantastic wine!<br />
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</div><br />
And in case you still don't have a clue what to drink with Thanksgiving dinner... see if you can scrounge up a bottle or two of Touriga! Since it is a medium bodied red it will not overwhelm poultry, and the little bit of fruit and the little bit of spices will be a nice complement to all of the wonderful Thanksgiving side dishes. <br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END --></div>Keswick Vineyardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13794624962583754559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482521609914075602.post-12856749388507800762009-11-20T11:05:00.000-05:002009-11-20T11:05:19.663-05:00Black Reserve FridaySo I am very excited about this so I had to let everyone know about it! On Friday November 27th (Black Friday) we are going to be releasing one of our previously unreleased wines. I cant tell you which one it is because that would ruin the surprise, but I can tell you this... it is one of our <b>reserve </b>wines! So if you are trying to avoid the malls/crowds/traffic which seem to be unavoidable that day, come out to our tasting room to try this special wine. Feel free to bring a picnic (leftover turkey sandwiches anyone?) and relax. <br />
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