Punching Down the Grape Must

October 7, 2010

With our Pinot noir we do one punch down per day while it is cold soaking and then increase it to three times a day while it is fermenting vigorously, and then we back off as the fermentation slowly finishes. A punchdown involves a tool that looks like an oversize potato masher and gently pushing […]

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Cold soaking the Pinot Noir

October 3, 2010

We picked two different lots of Pinot noir last week.  Both lots went from the vineyard to the  winery for crushing/de-stemming and then into tanks to undergo a cold maceration (“cold soak”).  Keeping the grape juice and skins in a cool environment for a couple of days makes several things happen: compounds from the grapes […]

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Racking and Inoculation of the Gewürz…

September 23, 2010

Sounds a little ominous but the Gewürztraminer really did enjoy it.  And how do I know it did?  – by all the bubbling activity in the yeast! The Gewürztraminer grapes were picked early in the morning on Friday Sept. 16 and brought straight from Floodgate Vineyard to the winery where they were pressed over the […]

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8 tons of fruit from vine to winery

September 21, 2010

In the span of 72 hours, we did three separate grape picks which yielded 8 tons of Russian River Valley grapes (6 tons of Pinot noir and 2 tons of Gewürztraminer) which kicked our harvest season into high gear.  This year we had several friends of Cartograph join us which made it really fun (thanks […]

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Harvest 2010 kicks off with Floodgate Pinot Noir

September 16, 2010

With a huge sigh of relief and a massive amount of pent up energy we hit the vineyard this morning and pulled in the first Pinot Noir of 2010. The fruit was from Floodgate Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. Several friends helped us work ahead of the picking crew to drop heat damaged fruit […]

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The Summer that wasn’t suddenly was

September 10, 2010

This has been a year that seemed to never warm up…. Until a few weeks ago when it hit 109 deg F with little warning. And this was in the Russian River Valley where temps rarely come close to that. For many growers it has been a year they are already willing to wipe out […]

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Send the Sizzle for Shizzle!

August 24, 2010

That’s right, it’s 106 deg f in Healdsburg right now. Considering it’s August 24th, this should be sending us all screaming for the valleys trying to steal someones crew to get grapes picked. However, there is nobody flailing about. Why? Well, you’ve perhaps heard the endless litany of how cold it is in CA wine […]

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2009 Vintage Put to Bed – Pinot is in the Bottle

August 20, 2010

We wrapped up the ’09 Cartograph vintage by bottling the ’09 Pinot Noir on Thursday 8/19. It is amazing to look back on everything that has happened over the past year and to be at this point.  One year ago we were scrambling to get all of our licensing in place to crush under the […]

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On the Seventh Day – Scooter Ride

August 15, 2010

Serena and I took off for a scooter ride this afternoon just to prove to ourselves that it is indeed Sunday. You have to make a little time to play. We stopped in at a couple places that are on the east side of 101 near HBG. It’s an area I don’t get to very […]

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Minnesota Release Party for Cartograph Wines

August 12, 2010

How do you say thank you to the people who helped you launch a new winery? You pour them copious amounts of wine, that’s how. We had a great time pouring at the Chowgirls Gallery (www.chowgirls.net) in Minneapolis last week.  Many friends who had seen me leave Minnesota in 2005 to commence my winemaking journey […]

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