Seeing Pretty Stars or How I found Truth in a C02 Rich Fermentation Room

It's been a bloody long harvest.

what else can you say when you still have some vats not yet dry, and it's the 2nd week of December? Long extractions and some aggressive techniques have yielded some pretty rich wines this year. Final judgment still out, but (if we did our wine making right) we should have some good age worthy wines this year. The viogniers already show their character, and we have decided to block malo on the Catie's Corner as the aromatics and balance are already there. All of the reds have depth -- not a thin one in the bunch, especially with the reduced yields of the harvest. We keep playing with blends to get a sense for what our flavor pallete looks like, and what next year's Trio options are. Overall we're very pleased and are looking forward to the Spring.

The '05 reds are getting ready for bottling; probably be Jan or Feb to get in bottle. They show most of their stuff right now; more time in barrel isn't needed -- there is a point where you trade off any incremental benefits from the barrel interaction, with increased loss of some of the delicate aromatics. For us, this judgment call is now and we are finalizing the labels as we speak.

I think 2007 will be a great year for San Sakana; for any of you who can get to Rhone Rangers in March, please do so as this will be the first time to taste our '05 releases. Overall, the reception for San Sakana has been terrific and thanks to all of our new friends and fans. As before, we still expect to sell out quick so make sure we know who you are and can get the pre release info out to you!

All for now,

Peter