We Stomp

CityMusic Series

2011-10-24T08:51:00.003-05:00

We have recently agreed to host CityMusic Columbus' latest series of chamber, folk, jazz music. Yesterday, we had Via Pomen play with the Columbus International Children's Choir. It was awesome. A packed house.
Here's the link to CityMusic so you can check out the series.

All Done for this Season (mostly)

2011-10-18T11:32:00.005-05:00

We are out of primary fermentation now and the wine is in secondary fermentation tanks in the barrel room. The main room will now return to being a big open performance and wedding reception space, once we get our equipment back into storage.

We thanked those who helped crush grapes, but now a huge thanks to those that helped with daily punch-downs of the grape mash (must), pumping out wine to secondary, then shoveling grape mash into the press to press out what wine was still locked up in the mash, and then cleaned up.

Here they are, the Press Gang;

Jeff (One of our Grooms and now gets involved in all wine operations);
Cate (aka Button le Bouton, who brings a dancer's grace to the effort);
David and Carrie (inventors and artists);
Jaymie (hip-hop dance Queen and one of our Brides); and
Jerry (a great all-rounder that makes up for our lack of general contractor skills).

Also, thanks to James (Catering by Scott) who prepped and provided us with lamb cutlets for Saturday's work.

Crush 2011

2011-10-05T09:13:00.005-05:00

We have crushed our 2011 grapes. Thanks to all those who turned up to participate and have a hand and foot in locally produced wine.
I include here two links, since pictures are an easier way to describe what happened.

These are by Craig Bortmas .
These are by Jessica Miller.
Please respect their copyrights in their works.

Crush 2011

2011-09-22T16:29:00.003-05:00

We are looking set for October 1st 2011 from 9am to crush grapes again.
485 south front st, columbus, oh 43215.
If you plan to come, let us now - viavecchiawinery@yahoo.com or on facebook.

Follow us on facebook, that has tended to take over from this blog.

-paolo

Quick Update

2011-04-07T16:37:00.006-05:00

So, we got through our first 20 tons at the new winery. Then we got through secondary fermentation and now the french oak barrels are in and filled. Still some others in prep though. wednesdays continue to be meeting night and fused with Mercoledi Creativo, which at present is comprised of mostly hoopers and fire branders, but we have had some stilts. Wednesdays continues to be fun. Also have had the following events; Music In the Round CloudHaus Art exhibition Photography exhibition Serveral Private Events and, of course, our first wedding and reception! So, a word to those wine makers who expand; it will involve things you never thought you would ever do as all you want to do is make wine..examples.. - build out bridal changing/relaxation suite; - putting up and taking down art; - moving tables and chairs around constantly into different configurations as the event dictates; - decorating soap dispensers; - running up very large drapes; But it is all so worth it.

Creativity

2010-09-25T00:26:00.002-05:00

For those of youse into the performance arts, or performance artists, come by on Wednesdays, when it's Mercoledi Creativo, hosted by Anna, or by Coco.
It is a shame to have all this space and not do anything with it.

Anyway, we will be doing our own creative thing on Oct 2, when we start crushing grapes. It's coming, it's coming

Each day a bit more of our vision emerges...

2010-06-07T20:26:00.008-05:00

Each day the winery takes on the shape we envision. Our new space in the Brewery District will be simply a functional winery with public tastings and events. A building full of character to showcase other local artisan products, crafts and entertainment. We have no intentions of being a full service restaurant. Our focus is on our wine and not the food. As we open to public, we plan to offer a fresh cut selection of various meats, cheeses and vegetables that pair well with our wines. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us. Please enjoy updated renovation pic.

Transfer of Licenses, Bond and More Decorating

2010-05-03T16:15:00.003-05:00

About 35 hours a-piece into this (so, 105 hours cumulative) and Marty comes out dry-walling hell to inspect what Michael and Paolo are up to. I'd like to say what Michael and Paolo have achieved, but "achieve" suggests something productive.

Look carefully at his expression. Is it one of bemusement or mild satisfaction or incredulity or paternalistic tolerance displayed by the master to his erstwhile apprentice? At least he's not gesticulating with that pry-bar in his right hand. At least he's not turning red, which is more than could be said for Paolo on Friday night after spraying the cieling a brownish color.

This is what Marty sees. Paolo waving a spray wand thing covering the blue paint with a white primer, and Michael's legs. Michael holds a board where cieling meets wall to prevent the previous night's cieling work getting ruined.

Paolo is sporting a Captian Scarlet look, excpet he's more Captain Harlequin. Apologies to Super-marionation and the Captain Scarlet series.

See Michael. See Michael with the board. Michael is happy. See Michael smile.

Michael is happy that he need never buy white socks again now that Paolo has kindly sprayed a pair on him.

Happy Michael. Helpful Paolo.

Some of the windows beyond where we were paitning. This is the old dance floor - our primary fermentation area.

The same area, but this time with benefit of flash.

The tasting area before painting. There will be different areas here for relaxation and games and tasting wine.

View into the dance floor/primary fermentation area fromt he barrel room.
Michael is on the ladder.

One wall in the barrel room. The wall is damp so it is a natural source of hydration for keeping the barrels from drying out and their moisture up so they stop drinking the wine.

Barrel room. Event Room.

Dance area/primary fermentation.

Note the professional sound system that's installed in the air. A second set of the same speakers are at the opposite end. The sound hooks ups etc are on the stage.

License transfer

On April 28 we sent in our request to transfer the license for the winery to the new premises.

We also have to transfer our bond too, which means when our transfer request is accepted we have 60 days to move our current inventory of wine or pay the excise due upon it. Since we cannot move the barrels, we will pay in advance the excise on them. The bottled wine will be transferred to the new place and b eplaced under its bond so we will not pay in advance its excise duty.

Today we should have the State's application to transfer the State licenses to the new premises sent off too.

And So It Begins (again)

2010-04-23T22:45:00.003-05:00

Yes, it is true. This blog started back in 2006 when we were applying for our first Federal and State winery licenses. Now we are applying for a transfer of those licenses to new premises. We have come a long way, in our small way.

Before we start posting pictures of demolition work and decorating of the new premises we wish to thank Pete N, without whose help, faith and hard work, we would never have the fabulous opportunity we have now in the premises we have now.

This new move started a year ago when Pete N saw an article in a local newspaper about us and matched us to this property. Although the initial attempt to close a deal faltered and was almost forgotten due to 2009's grape crushing, etc, Pete N still held the vision and worked with us so that we are now able to move this winery into the next phase of its growth and development.

We believed there always such a thing as an "Angel Investor" and we were right. Ok, no-one's investing in us, but we mean we believe in being presented with those who can help us when we need it, and we got that.

We believed that if you held a vision and put the energy out there about it, things would turn to accommodate you. And we were right.

We believed you didn't have to go into stupid amounts of debt to do this. And we were right.

We believed we could accommodate events, galleries, music/bands, markets, fairs, shows, talks, groups, parties etc in our new premises. And we were right. It even has a stage and a top-line professional sound system and loads of space.

It also has brick arch character and columns in abundance. Also a ton of ghosts that we managed to "move on" - mostly.

So, when you wish for things, wish big 'cos you get what you ask for. You also get it a the time you need it too, so patience people.

Now all we need is more local support and Columbus will get the wine it deserves.

Thank you Pete N.
Thank you Reid W for being open to this venture.

Tasting at Clintonville Community Market

2010-03-29T19:42:00.002-05:00

If you have something to say to us, want to catch up, or simply taste wine, then come visit us at our Host's on Friday April 2nd, 6.30 - 9pm.

Our Host is Clintonville Community Market.

We thank you.

Tonight & FaceBook

2010-03-19T12:35:00.002-05:00

Tonight
We have a comfortable, and hopefully "pally" group of 12 coming by for tasting tonight.
Do we think that among these will be the first to identify a truly unique piece of wine-making equipment?
We should run a lottery type thing on it as there is to date, not one vintner who can even identify it - talk about separating the vintners from the agriculturalists and chemists, although I'd have though someone with some basic engineering would have figured it out if they paid attention to our humble process.

Actually if you look back to 2006 posts, you'll get the answer. I may post the item again (it's here somewhere), but FaceBook is just so easy it will probably end up there. Facebook is also the reaosn this blog has been neglected as updates, video and pics go straight to FaceBook now.

In fact we have two retailers who order/deal with us only via FaceBook.

Last Outings and Upcoming

2010-03-16T18:44:00.003-05:00

Upcoming... see us at Vino Where You Live - April 10th - 5pm onwards - please book with Laura

Or call us and catch us while we still here before we launch at the new secret location...you know there may be benefits for those old-timers who knew us before the leap.

And we were at...

The Inn and Spa at Cedar Falls
Whole Foods Market, Dublin
Simply Living Annual Meeting and Fair.

WOT A SLOG! October 4th, 2009

2009-10-11T18:36:00.008-05:00

(with apologia to Mr. W. Shakespeare's King Henry V Act II Scene III)

Via Vecchia Crush 2009, Act II, Scene III, The Winery Steps

"This story shall the good man teach his son;

And Crush 2009 shall ne'er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remembered;

We few, we happy few, we band of vintners;

For he today that stomped and carried the grape to the vat with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition:

And gentlemen in Ohio now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That slogged with us upon Crush Day 2009."

Why the dramatis? Well, although 'tis not unusual for something to go wrong and make life a tad more bothersome, Crush 2009 really did itself proud in the "pain" department and it will go down as the slog to end all wine-making slogs. And as is oft the case with adversity involving people pulling together, it will make for good story-telling and thoise who were not there will wish they were. And that made me think of King Henry V's St. Crispin's Day speech to the troops before he gave the French the trouncing at Agincourt (1415).

So what was so pianful this time around? Well, namely we again pushed production to the limits of our heritage wine making method and it was lucky we know how to do it by hand or forget it. ..

1. Grape turn up 2 days late and still cold - oh no, risk of stuck fermentation, boo-hoo, get the lab-coated man-not for us, we can deal with this with no artificial intervention.

2. Merlot won't go through the hopper to the pump and on to the fermenters;

3. Ditto for Cabernet Franc

4. Ditto for Cabernet Sauvignon

5. Ditto for Pinot Noir

2 through 5 thus involves putting a black bin under the crusher to collect juice and skins, then carrying bin down twelve steps to winery (it's underground for temperature reasons), where the grape is again crushed in the bin before being poured into the fermenter. It meant a completely manual process no tknown since 2004 when we did it all by foot for the last time!

Some perspective - the above procedure was repeated @ 330 times with each bin weighing between 50lbs and 70lbs of juice, skin and seeds.

Just as well the Syrah and Sangiovese behaved and we were able to bypass the above hassle and pump juice

and skins to the fermenters.

A rythm was eventually adopted by Paolo, Marty and Joe working this process in the winery where each would work 2 out of 3 trips, rotating on crushing duty. It developed into hour after hour of a play on the Abbot and Costello "who's on first?" sketch, 'cept this time it was "who's on top and who's on bottom?" The bottom referring to who cam down stairs first and therefore was in position to crush again.

Of course, "top and bottom" can mean other things too, which made for a lot of painful laughter and some concern from those at top of stairs doing the initial crushing.

Anyway, as the speech says, I would kick myself if I hadn't taken part even though it was a slog.

[still to come..

our pre-crush event, honour role of thanks for volunteers, pressing update]

See Us at Whole Foods - Pinot - Oxford YouTube and a Fun Competition

2009-07-25T10:12:00.004-05:00

Sat. July 25 , 4 - 6pm.
Whole Foods at Sawmill Parkway (Dublin Store).

Whole Foods are running a meet the local producer event and we'll be there since we're a local producer. Stop by, say, "hello" and wear you Via Vecchia buttons so we know not to bore you with our spiel all over again and can talk about other things.

Pinot Noir.

The Pinot is bottled and now labelled. This will not be released through any retail outlet and not subject to tasting events. It's too precious for that - seriously - the grapes are the most expensive we buy and it has been aged longer and as you know, time is money, especially when you manage your barrels like we do. And it is good. A true Pinot not artificially mellowed out. And we don't use enzymes to bleach the color into the wine from the grape; this is still produced the way we do all our wines with no artificial treatments or interventions, a process no-one else can claim hand-on-heart. This is not cola nor chemical soup.

Oxford.

Angie posted an animation of the Oxford Wine Affair we were invited to at Oxford, late June. We appear twice. A Via Vecchia button to anyone who can spot both appearances and describe the shot accurately enough. This "competition's" open until August 1st 5pm. Send entries via email to viavecchiawinery@yahoo.com and put "I Seeeeee Yooouuu" in the subject line.

Busy, Busy and Busy

2009-06-09T19:46:00.004-05:00

We've been quiet 'cos May was busy. Such a lot of activity around bottling and labelling 2007.

We're now in 3 restaurants in Cleveland,

The Bistro on Lincoln Park

Le Fever's River Grill (Cuyahoga falls)

La Campagna (true old school - no menu, no price list, just foods cooked there and then - oh, no website)

and

Our 3rd Whole Foods

La Campagna is currently batting 5 - for - 5: 5 mixed cases in 5 weeks. They know how to sell wine.

There's no carbon contribution as the deliveries made to the places above share an existing ride to Cleveland.

We also donated wine to 2 charity events - Dine Originals and Women Attorneys Group.

We're invited to do the wine for the Dean's Dinner @ Miami University

And we will be at Oxford Wine and Art Affair.

There's more we're busting to tell - but can not.

PS - Mike H - got the check!

Tasting Vino Meza, Westerville

2009-05-12T18:04:00.002-05:00

Please soak up the historic irony this Saturday with us and our hosts, Vino Meza in Westerville. Yes, wine-tasting in the place where prohibition started.

Vino Meza prides itself on its local focus and we wish for an abundant evening with their guests.

We will be looking out for thoseof you with Via Vecchia buttons and speaking with Vito about recycling grape skins.

Here's their website.

Haven't figured how to get a facebook advert in here, so here are the 'raw" details.

Saturday, May 16, 2009
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Location:Meza "Wine Rack, Pantry and Kitchen"
48 N State St
Westerville, OH

Phone:6142593101
Email:vinomeza@gmail.com

Drop-Ins, Bottling and Tasting

2009-04-25T19:30:00.003-05:00

What a great day today is. Spring has truly sprung and all's well. So, for those of you worried about the whereabouts of Marty, well, he's back and the foil spinner's appreciating his attention again.

So, today... Jason and Vito dropped by. Fantastic! Jason is co-owner with Tatjana of Meza in Westerville and he took the opportunity to bring Vito by to see the operation. they caught us bottling so they got to bottle and cork. Vito makes his own wine and seems pretty much "old school". We're looking forward to tasting with them at Meza in Westerville, May 16th.

Thanks to Liberty tavern who sold "This Week" on us and we got Chris the Photographer around as well, who did his things with the camera. He forgot his rain hood and we hope the shower of wine didn't ruin the images.

The tasting today with Emily, Nikki, Caleb and Buddy was a blast. We appreciate their support since they came in from Cambridge and Marietta and took away a load of wine. They added to our winery's wall of wisdom with the following;

"Love it!"

and

"Three glasses are better than two!"

These folks sure know their wine.

Labelling 2007 Adamo & Marty

2009-04-21T22:17:00.004-05:00

Wednesday evening we'll be labelling the 2007 adamo - that is a blend of sangiovese and cabernet franc - very unique , very right for spring. treat yourself and order before the country clubs snap 'em up for those outdoor buffets.

where is Marty? Does anyone know? Last seen in Colorado. Last spoken to last week, sometime. Last voicemail and text ignored, last Friday. What's up with that? Hello, Marty? You out here?

Picture of Marty, so we can remember what he looks like.

Clintonville market Saturday 4pm Onwards

2009-04-09T19:03:00.004-05:00

1st, 'cos they're great...

We're at Clintonville Community Market, this Saturday, 4pm-9pm.

You'll be able to taste 3 of our 4 wines, but we'll bring the 4th wine for those Jorro-Ma officianados who phone us about its availability - yes, you know who you are.

Michael will cover the entire time.

Paolo will duck out to see Michelle play at espresso Yourself Music cafe, in Powell, @ 6pm, but be back for the 8-9pm piece.

Reg - hope to see you.

Labels.

Our label run for the 2007 wines should be with us tomorrow or early next week. Lots of laborious labelling to look forward to, but we have sucker, err friend in Joe who said he would come up to help.

Vino Meza - Whole Foods

2009-03-06T18:45:00.004-05:00

VINO MEZA
48 N. State Street
Westerville, OH
614-259-3101

For those of you East of Columbus and perhaps a little tired of travelling in to Whole Foods on Sawmill to get your fave bottle of Via Vecchia wine, or even travelling out to us in Powell, note that from Tuesday 10 March, Vino Meza (Westerville) will be carrying our Adamo (cabernet franc and sangiovese blend) and Trouve (bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot blend).

Whole Foods
Sawmill,
Columbus

And for those of you trying to get your Trovato (sangiovese and pinot noir blend) from Whole Foods, we delivered more Trovato to them this morning. They also have the Trouve.

Past Week's Fun

2009-02-22T15:45:00.005-05:00

We had scheduled to take the trovato 2008 (comprising sangiovese and pinot noir) out of secondary fermentation and into ageing and to bottle the remainder of the adamo 2007 (sangiovese and cabernet franc).

One was dependent upon t'other. To move the trovato into ageing we had to free up the vessel the adamo occupied. We had started doing this over a week ago and only had about 200 bottles to go, however...

When beginning to pump the wine out to the bottle filler, sediment (lees) were kicked up. Since we do not filter, chemically, mechanically or otherwise, this meant we had no choice but to abandon the bottling and store the wine until the lees had once again settled out.

So we transferred the adamo to demijons to settle out and sealed them with olive oil. This enabled the vessel the adamo was in to be cleaned out and the trovato put in.

The nett effect is that we accomplished putting the trovato into ageing, and have deferred the bottling of the remainder of the adamo.

We have to be flexible in this game of minimalist winemaking.

We had a couple of parties over for tasting's on Saturday. Now you know we're not open to the public but we do open up by appointment. The first party was from a yacht club on Eire and we rented in chairs and a big round table for them. There were 12 of them.

It went very well with lots of good questions. We also learned some things from them too, which is always nice. There were a couple of them who visit wineries extensively and they bring what they learn from those visits to us and share. So everyone's collective knowledge increases.

Their visit lasted about 2.5 hours and fortunately for us, the later party was delayed.

Our tastings always take a long time...we all have a lot to talk about and it's about our collective favourite subject too. I think it's a good sign of a good event if it basically keeps going on like a good party.

The second group was smaller in number but no less into the visit. We learned from them that our associated winery imagery was recognisable to them and they had seen the wine "around". We also found out that other people will proclaim they know us as one guest told of someone who works in a worthington drinking establishment who claimed to know us, but we were at a loss of who it could be. A small world I guess.

Anyway, great fun had by all. People are just great.

A photo of how we set up the winery for the visitors is at top of this post. This is the same space you see occupied by blue fermentation vessels in earlier posts.

Bottling #2

2009-02-19T19:23:00.003-05:00

More corks arrived on Wednesday so we tried bottling the last of the Adamo 2007. However, the sediment got kicked up so we had to abandon the effort since we were not willing to filter the wine.

We did find other stuff to do though. We finally transferred the last of the wine out of secondary fermentation into ageing. The last of the wine is the Trovato 2008 (sangiovese and pinot noir).

Another activity is finalising labels for 2007's wine. We're going with the same labels again, just changing alcohol levels and year on back. We also need to get the new label and name approved for the pinot noir we're doing.

Saturday will see a few people popping over to see us. Maybe they'll allow us to post pics of them - maybe they're on facebook. Do check out the facebook account - become a friend.

Bottling Adamo 2007

2009-02-16T10:34:00.005-05:00

The barrel racks got here on Friday, so we were able to bottle on Saturday.

We bottled the Adamo 2007 (sangiovese and cabernet franc blend) and then we moved the Jorro-Ma 2008 (syrah) and half the Evidente 2008 (pinot noir) into their French Oak barrels.
What we're left with is four secondary fermentation drums containing the sangiovese and pinot noir that goes into the Trovato 2008.
You may like to enjoy some video of bottling, corking and capping that is on our facebook space. On this blog we offer the following pictures of the winery and some activity.
On Wednesday we shall be finishing off the bottling of Adamo 2007 and finally transferring Trovato 2008 from secondary fermentation into ageing.
Also, thanks to those who were at Whole Foods, Lane Avenue, on Saturday afternoon. Michael was released from winery hard labour to do the tasting there. We know it was a success as he had to send Katrina back up to the winery to get more wine to sell.

Here you can see us preparing a French Oak barrel. We re-use our barrels as they're way more expensive than American Oak and old European wineries re-use them too. We clean, gas them, when not in use, then re-hydrate them to swell them up again before cleaning before re-use. Barrels leak like sieves if they've dried out so re-hydrating is necessary unless you want to lose a lot of wine.

Below you see our growing wall of wine. In the foreground are the prepped French Oak barrels that will receive the secondary fermentation from out of the blue fermentation drums.

This is our bottle filling machine. Wine is pumped into the reservoir at top, then wine is dispensed into bottles via the 4 spouts you see at the front. The bottles rest on the shelf below the spouts whilst filling. From here, the bottles are passed to the corker (no pictures of corker here, but a video of this is on facebook).

After the cork is inserted into the bottle, the bottle then has a tin foil cap placed on top of it and the bottle is inserted, neck first, into the capping machine. See video on facebook.

The wall of wine grows again.

However, we still have some wine left in secondary fermenters that will be used to top-up the barrels over the course of the next 12 to 18 months (these are the demijons at back, sealed with olive oil). The blue fermenters will be emptied by next Saturday.

Comment Moderation...Today's Activity

2009-02-14T08:12:00.002-05:00

First, etiquette.
If you wish to submit a comment that is critical of another party, please take it to that party's website, blog or facebook entry. This blog is not the forum for expressing subjective frustration or dissatisfaction with others. There are other channels more suited to that to avoid issues of defamation.

Of course, recent events drive this etiquette. Earlier in February, "Anonymous" submitted a critical review of a Retailer we deal with, commenting upon its staff, pricing policies and the temperature of beer servings. We advise Anonymous to post their comment to that retailer directly, or take it up next time they visit the store.

Today...
Via Vecchia will be bottling Adamo 2007 (sangiovese and cabernet franc blend).
Also there may be time to complete the transfer of the rest of 2008's fermented wine into its barrels as the barrel racks finally arrived yesterday.

Jungle Jim's Market, Cincinnatti, Ohio

2009-02-05T19:18:00.004-05:00

It's with great pleasure that Via Vecchia Winery announces that all four of its 2006 wines are now carried by Jungle Jim's Market, cincinnatti, Ohio.

Jungle Jim's is THE place in Cincinnatti for food from all nations and a huge wine selection, so we're excited to go there. We've since found that many people anecdotally know of someone who has to go there each time they're in town.

So a big thanks to David S and Todd W of Jungle Jim's Market for taking time to taste our wines, listen to our story and take us on board.

Here's a link to the wine page. That's David in the photo.

Some notable comments from David and Todd

"Old European style reds"

"All food-friendly wines"

"California wine, with a twist"

"Well balanced"

"We like what you did with the fruit"

Their address is:

Jungle Jim's International Market

- 5440 Dixie Highway -

Fairfield, Ohio - 45014

Phone 513-674-6000 - Fax 513-674-6001

Clintonville - Feb 6th

2009-01-27T19:45:00.005-05:00

RESCHEDULED TASTING EVENT
Friday Feb, 6th, 6pm to 9pm.
Come see and taste at Clintonville Community Market.

If you have a Via Vecchia button, please wear it. If not, we will have a supply on hand.
Thanks

Barrels, Tastings & Opportunities

2009-01-24T06:46:00.005-05:00

Last week we tried out our new bottle filler. It did a barrel in about a third of the time, maybe less - so 3 hours do do @277 bottles down to 1 hour. It honestly took longer to set it up and clean it, although with familiarity that aspect of it will improve.

The French Oak barrels are ordered and are on their way; scheduled for arrival next Wednesday. We will rehydrate them so they swell and don't leak, and turn then periodically until we're ready to move wine into them from secondary fermentation.

Next Tuesday we will have a visit from a prospective retailer who is putting together a wine shop independent of a distributor and therefore free to take whatever she tastes and believes to be good and unique. Personally, I feel it would benefit to know which outlets are "Free Houses" and can select what they want.

Next Thursday we're at Jungle Jim's emporium in Cincinnatti where we get a shot at having them carry our wine. This is due to the Doctor who attended La Tavola's first wine pairing dinner earlier in the month. We love customers like this. Thanks, Doc!

Next friday we're at the Clintonville Co-Op. Eugene - tell us what you want and we'll bring some reserved just for you!

Inventory Update
JorroMa (syrah) is almost gone.
Pinot Noir (un-named as yet) is going to be so good it will not form part of any tastings unless bottle price is paid as it's an extremely small production - and it's very good. It will also first go on release to those on the mailing list for first chance to buy. It will be first come, first served. Availability around May or June this year for this fresh 2007 pinot noir.

Trying Out Self-Streaming

2009-01-19T09:26:00.005-05:00

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Getting Busy again

2009-01-16T20:17:00.005-05:00

So a lot is happening again.

Saturday 9am - 12noon - if you know us, pop on by see what's up - shout when you arrive, we'll help you across the snow.

We checked out or old barrels and rejuvinated them. This consists of cleaning them out and filling them with water to rehydrate them. We have put wine in before hydrating and just watched it leak out again, whilst frantically caulking the head with sliced cork - can't do that with a plastic cork. Luckilly it has always been the head that leaks and even luckier, the head you can see, not the one against the wall.

So all went well with 2 barrels. 1 barrel decided it would pursue an alternative career as a sieve impressionist and got into character by happily leeking like one for about 12 hours.

It leaked from the head and the staves. But happily for us, it eventually gave up and decided to join us in maturing the 2007 wine and closed up as tight as a, well, a barrel.

It all helps with cutting down the expense of ordering more used french oak barrels and helps the planet.
We ordered morebarrels for 2007 too. They may be here next week, and we may start transferring soon after. I think the secondary fermentation is more or less complete. We'll see.

These barrels will be rehydrated too.

Tomorrow we try out our new filling machine. For thos eof you familiar with the Tom Baker Dr. Who, the filler looks like the machine used by the Santarans (Sultarans?) to go around kidnapping survivors of a crashed ship on an earth many years in the future. I dare not copy a photo from the BBC since they jumped all over those who copied the TellyTubbyies. remember them?

Well what about the Clangers, BagPuss, Chrystal Tipps and Alistair, Ivor the engine and Ludwig (what was that all about?). And long before there was Captain Jack, there was Captain Pugwash and Noggin the Nogg. Feel free to add to the list of nostalgic programming.

By the way, the Pinot Noir for 2007 is out of this world and will get even better over the next 6 months or so. Reserve now as we already have people who have tasted from those barrels making offers!

Also, Jorro-Ma (the Syrah) is getting very low.

La Tavola Food and Our Wine

2009-01-05T17:38:00.005-05:00

Get the New Year started right...what better way than to ease into that post New Year's holiday first week back with some food and wine.

Sounds good, yes/ then get to La Tavola - the people who know a good wine by its smell alone - Tuesday Jan 6 for 7.30pm.

It's $25/ticket and for that you taste the wine and their paired foods.

We'll be there too, with some paraphenalia .

Hope to see you - wear you VV buttons so we can identify our supporters easily.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-24T20:20:00.004-05:00

To all our friends, restauranters, retailers and private consumers....have a great holiday!

If you need more wine this season, and you can't find it at any of these locations, please contact us - details at right, and we'll sort you out.

Remember also, we do open up for private tastings if you book ahead.

Photos at last!

2008-11-16T17:54:00.008-05:00

A few photos for you. There's been a dirth of images lately, so here's some to make up for it.
And just because we don't grow the grape, doesn't mean there isn't more labour involved with our heritage process and there isn't left craft. Thankyou.

But first, our 2007 grapes are still making soap. Latest batch for sale arrived. Contact us for purchase. Thanks

Pump Out Free Run.

Well, Strictly speaking, free run should come out under its own steam...but that's modern day corruption for you. We still have primary fermenters (the blue drums) with taps on to let it out, from the days everything was done by foot (excluding this year's foot stomping of the merlot), but we pump it out now.

Press Out the Second Wine.

The wine that's pressed out of the skins and seeds after the free run has been taken is traditionally used as a second-grade wine to drink pending your first drinkable wine in the New Year. I don't think any winery does that any more as it's all money. We use this to top up the headspace in the ageing barrels during ageing - any left goes into its own barrels when the vintage is totally bottled and we keep tasting it until we decide what to do with it.

Second Wine Storage

The second wine is storage in demijons. Since the 2008 merlot had to pressed by foot, we thought it appropriate to store and manage it in one of the original old boys from Tuscany - who's pushing 120 years old by now. Look at him go!
By the way, the wine is sealed with virgin olive oil. It floats on the wine and doesn't let air in whilst letting fermentation gasses out. See if you can find a photo of the tool used to extract the olive oil in an earlier posting.

Secondary fermentation Underway.

Free run wine now in secondary fermentation in these blue drums. See some of 2007 wines ageing in french oak barrels in background.

2007 Grapes are in Soap Again.

Here they are. Order some - order them all!

Now for Some Fun.

There are many items of very specialised and costly equipment in the winery, that only trained personnel can use - only kidding, just common sense and a lack of fear is all you need. There are also good luck charms in operation too - winemaking t-shirts are worn, luni-head necklaces are worn, and so on. However this year it was like super-hero-dom in the winery with special appearances of that dynamic duo Mermaid Man and Apron Boy, with dandy yellow gloves of imperviousness and apron of skirtness.

First time yellow gloves have turned up , 'cos it's obvious what would be said, but the apron's been around since the beginning - see if you can count how many pictures through this blog it appears in (hours of fun).
Unfortunately we cannot divulge the identities of Mermaid Man and Apron Boy.

Lane Avenue Tasting & La Tavola

2008-11-16T12:18:00.005-05:00

The fire at Whole Foods Lane Ave didn't burn up our barrel display or ruin the wine so we were there doing a tasting yesterday.
Justin said we did and awesome job and can come back anytime.

Thanks to the local customers who bought - nearly all of you did.

Also, Rick of La Tavola just bought in his first tranche of Trouve from us. We're interested to see what menu he's putting together for it. Thanks, Rick

Locally Minded

2008-11-09T09:50:00.002-05:00

Just a reflection on just how small a community can be.

So we get about a bit now and talk to the people we meet at tastings and the retail owners, and we find out how there's a lot of interconnectedness (is that a word?). For example, the retailers in different parts of town seem to know each other, they know the same buyers, and as you build up these acquaintances you can help each other out with referrals, their ideas for business and now, Christmas parties.

With our charitable giving, it leads to introductions to others to experience the wine, who in turn make connections with you with their acquaintances. We're at a stage where we're experiencing the ability to say we do know a name that is offered up to us by a new acquaintance.

(Note on charitable wine auctions - a bottle of ours just went for $560 at an event hosted by Hexion)

With people, it is great to recognise them out and about. It's fantastic that some turn out to be evangelists for us - true locally oriented heroes. And it is a measure of their integrity and determination, in the face of all that's convenient and mass produced and cheap, when they turn up to further support you beyond the wine and also buy the chickens' eggs - thanks, Janice.

Personally, I like to be able to use these connections to help those I meet. It happened recently at Whole Foods where I met a gentleman (who bought a mixed case of wine) whose father was growing berries and was getting into mead making, but needed support and guidance, so I was able to put him in touch with the Simply Living organisation and Local matters, both wonderful resources for putting local producers in touch with retailers and people.

Finally, I connected over time, generations and geography when an older gentleman challenged the authenticity of our wine making methodology at a tasting with a healthy synicism. On recognising his heritage I switched to using Italian and soon, after probing questions to test my authenticity, he understood, to the point of buying wine. He promised me feedback too, which I hope he does do.

Tasting at House Wine, Worthington

2008-10-21T18:47:00.005-05:00

"Thursday Night Tastings at House Wine

6-8:30pm, no reservations, taste at your own pace, $15/person

October 23rd - Via Vecchia of Powell, OH"

We're on again, this time at House Wine in Worthington.

We'll also be taking along grape samples, so you can truly experience the grape.

We Stomped - Again

2008-10-18T15:35:00.005-05:00

GET WINE

Friends

Thanks to all those of you who turned up on 10/11 and to those that helped out. We hope you stayed for food later on in the day and enjoyed the now traditional bonfire.

(above - the start - all clean - rollers prepped to take bins of grape to wooden tippers that feed the crusher's hopper with grapes)

The day did not go as smoothly as we had hoped as we had machinery issues with many a tear down. This was particularly annoying since we had replaced the main bearing on the destemmer's axel only a couple of night's earlier and hoped for clear running.

Also, some grape varietals just turned to a jam in the collector and refused to go through the pump to the fermentation vats, so there was a lot of reverting to Plan B which meant crushing into open top tubs that were then carried to the fermentation vats.

As if this wasn't frustrating enough, on Wednesday 15th we decided the Merlot was just like concrete so we reverted to Plan C which is foot stomping. We stomped by feet 2,160lbs of Merlot that night to free up the juice and produce a must capable of fermentation.

We're not called Via Vecchia (the old way) for nothing!

Needless to say, none of us found time and energy to take photos, although we hope to get some from Kay and Dan who were filming us again for The Documentary. Actually, I think Carrie posted some, but I lost the link... can you please provide again, thanks?
All in all 13,500lbs of grapes were crushed that day.
We did Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.

Again, thanks to those that persevered with us on the day... Special mentions to;

Holly, you are an excellent stand in for Joe S;
Carrie, your enthusiasm amazes;
Nick & Joan, your apron appreciated your return visit;
Mr & Mrs H, what can we say, STARS!

But Mike H, you mean to say Colorado's got something better to offer?

And for those requesting it, here's Cynthia's Pasta Recipe. The veg and basil was picked from the garden that day.

Cynthia writes,
"I didn't get to all the guests on Saturday, and many people like the
sauce. So if you'd like to email them a thank-you with the recipe or
post it on the blog that might be fun.

Crush 2008 Fabulous Pasta Sauces

Fry 2 diced onions and 6 cloves crushed garlic in a good quantity of
olive oil. Then add 5-6 quarts of quartered fresh tomatoes, a bunch of
flat-leaf parsley, and an eighth cup of finely chopped basil, and a
teaspoon of finely ground rosemary. Simmer with 1/2 bottle of wine for
3 hours, and salt to taste.

Heat your serving plate in the oven. Then layer pasta, sauce, and
grated Parmesan cheese in about 3 or 4 layers for your average
platter. Makes about 4 platters.

For sausage sauce:
Cook 3 packages of nitrite-free hot sausages (Kroger is best), cool
and cut into rounds. Fry chopped mushrooms in olive oil, add diced
sausages and simmer until mushrooms are floppy. Add basic sauce and
simmer. Serve over penne layered as above onto a hot platter.

Yum!"

Thanks again. Next piece of work is transfer to secondary fermentation,

Crushing grapes 2008

2008-10-01T17:47:00.001-05:00

This Saturday we'll be crushing grapes.

Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Franc
Merlot
Syrah
Sangiovese
Pinot Noir.

All Done (well, nearly)

2008-09-13T06:09:00.004-05:00

Bottling.
We seem to have just about finished what has turned out to be a process that started in January. Yes, all our 2006 wine has been bottled, apart from one barrel of Adamo (Cab franc and Sangiovese).
Last week we bottled and labelled the last of the Trovato (Sangiovese and PinotNoir).

2008 Wines
For 2008, whose grapes will arrive on a few weeks, we're going to be doing largely what we did for 2006 and 2007, but we'll be doing more of some wine and less, or none, of others. It's purely based on where we feel the market is and what type of a range we have.

Other.
a) And those on you on the mailing list, you'll hear about a potential new product that we hope to bring out in the same way that we offer bath and body product from our wine's grapes, seeds and sediment (lees). Those not on the list will have to wait until the news is posted here - just an advantage of getting on that list I guess. Hey, I've got to push it somehow, right?

b), Tasting - At Whole Foods on Sawmill today 12-2pm. See you at the podium, and if you having lunch by the podium, let us recommend one of our wines to go with it.

Sales Outlet Update

2008-09-04T20:28:00.004-05:00

Thought it was about time to update the list of where you can get our wines, outside of the web.
Apart from Whole Foods, please call them for availability...remember, we'll deliver too!

a), Shane's Gourmet Catering & Market

447 E. Livingston Ave., Columbus, OH 43215-5534

Phone: (614) 358-5555 Fax: (614) 358-7777

b), Simple Indulgences

20 West William Street, Unit A Delaware, Ohio 43015

Phone: 740.363.5763

c), Clintonville Community Market

200 Crestview Road, Columbus, OH 43202

Phone: (614)-261-3663

d), Whole Foods Market

1,
3670 W.Dublin-Granville Road
Columbus, OH 43235
(614) 760-5556
2,
1555 W. Lane Avenue
Upper Arlington, OH 43221
(614) 481 3400

e) House Wine
644 High Street
Worthington, OH 43085
(614) 846-9463

f) The Winery
8231 N.High Street
Columbus, OH 43235
(614) 847-8115

f), Buy From Us Direct

The ship kits are here we have FedEx lined up, so place your order for our wines.

We take VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover, Debit. If paying by check, you have to mail your check in first.

Phone - (614) 893-5455

email: viavecchiawinery@yahoo.com

A Temple of Our Wine

2008-08-21T18:57:00.008-05:00

So, you know we're pretty creative bunch what with soap dishes made from our barrel staves, soap with our grape skins and so on and so forth, not least the design elements of our labels, choice of bottles...well, looks like we have surpassed ourselves this time!

It didn't start out as being a Temple of Wine, but that's what it ended up as.

We took a used French Oak barrel of ours, cut out the front, used the staves to make internal shelving, burned images and text into the wood, made it safe, but all from the perspective of a floor display.

Then it gets borrowed and it ends up in the air and looks like a Temple of Our Wine. See photo. That's our wine bottles around, in and on it.

Some behind the Scenes...

This is our corking machine. Place cork in brass hopper and pull lever down.

This is our filling machine. Place bottle under nozzle (teat?) and fill.

This is our labelling machine. Place on labelling table in exactly same spot as last time, labeller in exactly same spot on table, get template bottle with secret marks on it to align, then place bottle on it, hand crank and the labels are on...maybe first time if you've been a good lad. If not, you will suffer the endless torment and agony of micro-adjusting misaligned labels.

Bottles, upright in cases on our roller conveyor, resting to allow the cork to decompress in the bottle neck, before going on to labelling and then being placed upside down in cases to keep cork wet.

All Wines Have "Come Out"

2008-07-05T17:17:00.002-05:00

If new and aspiring wines were ever treated to Society's "coming out" then Via Vecchia's wines had their coming out party at Whole Foods in Columbus.
There they all were , each in their higher quality bottles, sporting real cork and tin caps all expressing their individuality in the modest rendering of their name on their embossed labels. All anxious to see if they were going to be marked on a taster's "dance card", or not.
Needless to say they comported themselves with charm and character and a fine time was had by all.
So all our wines are now out there, officially, and we're looking to fulfill orders.

If there is one thing we would have done differently at the tasting is collect the details of those who bought and were promising to bring us to tasting parties etc as we'd now be following through with them.

June was a very good month for us - our best. However we face HUGE labels bills and are looking to offset those with a healthy July.

Via Vecchia Needs You

Delaware City Council, Some Shops, Restaurants and Stuff

2008-03-16T19:05:00.003-05:00

[apologies for lack of pics - will remedy that]

Delaware City were very impressed with our presentation. Our theme was Sustainability, Community and Integrity, rather than the "give us" attitude. They really appreciated what we had to say and have put us in touch with property owners in Delaware, who we're working with. This is all coming a couple of years ahead of plan as we were going to stay where we are for three production years and here we are, barely into year 2, and we're off speaking with Cities.

We had a great time at the Columbus Local Matters annual meeting putting local producers in touch with local business and we're following through on good contacts made at that event. Needless to say, we targeted those people who were in chef uniform first.

Going out to shops is an experience. You get all kinds of opinion expressed and it never ceases to amaze me just how subjective a subject wine is. I do not think we've had two tastings result in the same comments from the stores we have done. It has all been positive, but everyone finds their own thing in the wine.
The differentiator among stores is currently falling into two camps; those who are interested in the connection with the winemaker and how the wine is made, and those just concerned about marketability and price-point. All are equally valid - this is just an observation is all.

The restaurants are totally different though. They seem to need that connection to the winemaker, that we offer, so that they can talk as well about the wine and what it took to make it in the same way they can explain the food they make. We even have Scali's inventing a desert for the Trovato there and then as we took him thorough tastings of our wines!

Finally , all our labels are approved and are with Bob at Tapp's for printing. We hope to have them very soon as we have sales for the unlabelled wine too.

Last week we check the naturally occurring sulfite level in our wines. After 5 months from crush, the range is between 35ppm to 55ppm of naturally occurring sulfites. We added enough to get to 60ppm to stabilise through a year of upcoming ageing. Remember, 60ppm still well below the organic standard of 140ppm!

We're still seeking insurances - product liability etc. As a new venture this is not that easy and potentially limits sales as there are some entities that require you to carry the requisite insurances. We'll get through it though - always do.

We also thank Joe Mercurio for his support and introduction to Giuseppe's. Thanks, Joe.

Ageing, Selling, and Robert

2008-02-10T18:54:00.002-05:00

1. Let's deal with Selling and Robert first.

1. Robert - if it's you in L.A., and you really want a case, then we'll apply for the 2nd part of the license California doesn't mention - the $500 for the Dept of Equalization (sounds funny, but not as funny as who issues the Direct Ship Permit, the Dept. of ABC ( kid you not).

Shipping kits are ordered and should be here this coming week.

LOCAL SALES POINTS

a), Shane's Gourmet Catering & Market

447 E. Livingston Ave., Columbus, OH 43215-5534

Phone: (614) 358-5555 Fax: (614) 358-7777

b), Simple Indulgences

20 West William Street, Unit A Delaware, Ohio 43015

Phone: 740.363.5763

c), Clintonville Community Market

200 Crestview Road, Columbus, OH 43202

Phone: (614)-261-3663

d), Whole Foods Market

1,
3670 W.Dublin-Granville Road
Columbus, OH 43235
(614) 760-5556
2,
1555 W. Lane Avenue
Upper Arlington, OH 43221
(614) 481 3400

e) House Wine
644 High Street
Worthington, OH 43085
(614) 846-9463

f), Buy From Us Direct

The ship kits are here we have FedEx lined up, so place your order for our wines.

We take VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover, Debit. If paying by check, you have to mail your check in first.

Phone - (614) 893-5455

email: viavecchiawinery@yahoo.com

3. AGEING (aren't we all)

Deliveries to Ohio seem to be a problem. This past week we got let down with the delivery of our French Oak barrles. This meant we were not able to transfer out of secondary fermentation to ageing in these barrels. Never mind the fact that Colporteurs, who supply the barrels, took our money around January 24th! We have shipped from Australia before, and that's quicker and logistically simpler than shipping from California to Ohio.

We haven't quite worked out the blends, but the starting point is to work with what volumes we have in secondary fermentation and translate them into barrels based on prior behaviour. There will always be some give and take with short quantities and so on and it can be quite a mind-bender of an exercise. Actually, it's Wine Soduko: just when you think a certain combination of secondary fermentation varietals will work for a finite number of barrels, you'll then notice that you're short on another blend...and so it goes on.

This is much more of a challenge for us since we don't have the luxury and buffer of huge quantities of wine to deal with and we have less room to manoeuvre with choices and the blend configuration for a given number of barrels. Then you have to allow for top-up.

Finalmente!

2008-01-25T13:44:00.000-05:00

We bottled, corked and capped.
WE NOW HAVE WINE TO SELL.

We sold our first case too!
We need to send out a mailer to those of you on the list announcing availability of our wine, but in meantime just email or call-in your order or turn up to buy (call ahead to check we're here or arrange a time with us). We'll also deliver in Columbus area.
Our shipping containers are not here, so shipping beyond our immediate world has to wait pending the containers (sorry, but we've all waited sooo long anyway).

Update.
1. Got the California direct ship permit - we can ship to CA now (need those containers)
2. more bottles being delivered today
3. final final labels arrive today for Trovato (thanks to Bob at Tapp for getting the temporary run of labels to us in time for our first sale)
4. more corks on their way
5. hooking up with German Village caterer, Shanes
6. Valentine's Day baskets being worked with Zen Tree Soaps
7. We have a film crew doing a documentary on us too. Hopefully we'll be at Sundance Film festival in 2009. They did some filming last Saturday - need to get photos up

NICK AND JOAN...just turn up on Saturday if you can, you have open invite here.

Soon, Very Soon. Oh, the Soonity of it all!

2008-01-07T18:10:00.000-05:00

Apologies for neglecting this blog. There's no excuse for it.
But there has been a lot going on. I may do a podcast of each post for those of you hooked onto those iPods, in fact it may be easier for us to do it either as a videocast or straight aural cast.

1. We got the trovato labels approved - they're below.
2. ZenTree Soaps sold scrubs, dishes, soaps and face packs from our skins, seeds and lees.
3. Bottles for trovato are on order and on their way
4. labels are just about ready for printing
5. corks are personalised and on their way
6. tin caps are...silent...need to follow through.
7. fedex shipping works
8. industrial quality corker bought
9. sold two t-shirts on skreened.com - see link top right-ish
10. paymentech credit/debit card facility running
11. labels approved at state level too

Things on the go...

12. California direct shipping permit
13. Delaware county tax registration
14. fintech payment solution in progress - Whole Foods said we would have to use fintech to process payments for the wine.
15. web site - but sort of holding now
16. possible donation of first wine to a charity fundraising event...Recreation Unlimited

Full Moon Racking

2007-12-02T20:03:00.000-05:00

Well, we're truly in the midst of secondary fermentation. This weekend saw the final racking of the wine. Last weekend was the full moon, dead on, so we transferred the bulk of the wine at this auspicious time. A lot of our process is dictated by moon phases and other un-scientific methods, but it means we can make wine without the treatments, so who're we to question millenia of practice.
This weekend we finished the wine in the demijons. The demijons manage our silty wine, enabling it to clear with time separate from the free run wine. Here's a picture of us racking from the demijons by siphoning. The demijon on the floor in the iron cage is thought to be around 100 years old (see previous post).

Our process, in part, relies on the lees in the wine to provide natural anti-oxidation/protection against air. It's the rationale behind the "sur lees" method of winemaking. Here's a view fo the lees that have settled out against the sides of a demijon that has just been racked. Lunar-esque n'est pas?

Now those same lees have fantastic astringent qualities too and make great face packs, as demonstrated by Via Vecchia's own Apron Boy (aka Paolo at right of pic) and Rob' Clone (aka Marty at left of pic).
Also note that Zen Tree Soaps uses these lees of ours in its face pack product.

And speaking of Zen Tree Soaps, here they are at the North Market in Columbus. The upright and longitudinal wooden display stands are made out of an old wine barrel of ours (Marty ran them up) and on them you would see, if you were there, soaps using grapes skins from our Pinot Noir and Syrah, sugar scrubs using grape seeds from our grapes and the face pack using our wine's lees.
This is a nice venture for us

Just a Few Things...

2007-11-12T09:37:00.000-05:00

As we creep ever nearer achieving that most excellent event of seeing our wine in its bottle, fully dressed, there are events going on that heighten this excitement and serve to douse it somewhat. In short, we're experiencing a decidedly mixed bag of emotions right now. Its effect is seen in how few the posts to this blog has become.
So this post will be plain and just go through some high and low lights of the past few weeks. It's ameasure of things when we really only have one low, but it is of such fundamental importance, it seems to dominate and negate all else.

Highlight 1 - Soaps and Recycling Grape & Seeds.

This is so cool. Lucia of Zen Tree Soaps found a use for our grape skins and seeds. She makes soaps and all manner of our related products. When she came by to see us transfer from primary fermentation to secondary fermentation she went away with about 3lbs of each grape varietal we had - taken right from the fermentation bins.
Within a week she had returned to show us her Pinot Noir soap. A soap with our pinot noire grapes in it. Paolo has been using this for two weeks now and reports the bar is at the stage where the grape skins are really poking up and so as you soap yourself they act as an exfoliant.

Highlight 2 - Recycling Grape Sediment (Lees).

Still with Lucia, we gave her about a cup of lees from which she is experimenting with a face pack. The lees are a great anti-oxidant and we know from our own experience, that if you smear it on your face, as it dries it really cleanses your skin.

Highlight 3 - Candle lab

Curt of The Candle Lab stores visited. They make custom candles and they run candle making parties. he likes our wines and is looking for a way to introduce them into the business. State laws, such as they are, do not simply allow him to sell our wine, or readily include them as a private event party beverage.

Highlight 4 - Maca's

Michelle (of Mamapalooza fame in prior posts, and partner in StarfFish Clothes), called us from Maca (a Tapas Bar in Powell, no website) . She had got the owner interested in our wines. So we went down with some wine for him to try. This was very nerve-wracking as it turns out that Norm, who was a basketball player for Barcelona (No.15), Spain, was taught how to taste wine by the winemaker of Chateaux Margaux.
Long and short of it was that he liked it, said we were doing the right thing, and that it was amazing that we turned out a nice wine as he thought we had a big handicap other winemakers don't (our shipping of our grapes).
So he wants the wine. And again, State laws being such as they are, this is not as simple as it sounds due to minimum markups etc. But we'll get there.

The Abyss - 1

Our label approval is a grind.

Federal laws being such that they are, means that because our State of Ohio does not touch California, where we get our grapes, means we cannot claim the California appellation. Fine. However, if you want to state the grape varietal on your label, you need the appellation, so we are prevented from stating the varietal on the label. And, without the varietal stated, you cannot put the year.
So, even though , we do get our grape from California, we do use sangiovese etc, and we did produce our wine from the 2006 harvest, we cannot say any of that at all, anywhere.
All we can say is Red Wine, state alcohol content and give the blend or varietal a fanciful name.
We were not allowed to state that we don't sulfite either, or use minimal sulfites, or sulfites below the organic standard.
At one point we were prevented from using "produced" even though we do produce the wine - that got sorted out in our favour - eventually.
We feel penalised. We cannot state what we have done on our label. we cannot state truth. In fact, during one enquiry of the Feds, we were accused of doing something illegitimate because otherwise we wouldn't be querying their rules and trying to find loopholes to get the true information on our label!
How does this serve the public, when we are prevented, through regulation, from stating truthfully on the product's label what is in the bottle so that the consumer can make an informed decision?
Whatever, we'll get there. If anyoen has some helpful industry advice, it would be very welcome.

Columbus C.E.O. Magazine Article
Yeah, we'll talk about this later. Lessons learned in journalism, we guess.

Transfer to secondary fermentation

2007-10-27T17:34:00.000-05:00

Over Friday 12 and Saturday 13 we transferred the wine from primary fermentation to secondary fermentation.
Deciding when to do this was mostly driven by the finger method, but had to include some allowance for the must rising and peaking, then falling back into the wine. Whatever.
The transfer is a hard slog. We had a guest staying, Roger, who was here for a spiritual healing event he'd set up, but he soon found himself helping in the winery.

Here's Roger being plied with food and drink, prior to the forced labour.

The transfer is roughly divided into two processes.
1. Free Run
Up until 2 years ago, free run for us meant opening a spigot and letting the wine flow out of the primary fermentation vessel. Now it means what we pump out. With free run we pump the wine from the primary to the secondary fermentation vessel until it's full, then seal it with an airlock of olive oil.
2. Press
After we have got the wine out of the primary, we then take the grapes and seeds (marca/must/cap) and press these out. We collect a lot of wine this way, but it's a bit more silty. This we separate into demijons and use it to manage our barrel losses whilst ageing and also to keep the secondary vessels topped up. The silt will settle out quite effectively without use of chemical or mechanical filtration.

Here's our press. It's all manual. We make it a bit of fun too as you can work the press like a ship's capstan, so obviously we stand around the press and sing sea-shanties as we pull and push the lever on the ratchet. Before the press really "bites" into the grape the ratchet spins quite freely on the central screw, hence the capstan effect. When the press has bit, then one person cranks the lever, end of capstan.

This part of the operation takes a while and is monotonous. Long into the Sat's early hours, Roger listened to us singing sea - shantys. We are pirates, you know.
Sea shanty's are great as you can take it in turns to make up your own verses...you can but imagine.

After the wine is pressed out, you dismantle the press and you get a compacted "cake" of grape and seed - see below.

Another piece of fun was pressing Mike's cap. Here you see a short (and dark) video of him finding his cap.
[video to come - fed up of waiting for yahoo video to process it]
Now we did have some labour saving device this year int he form of that conveyor that you saw us use during the crush itself. Now you see the conveyors on the floor providing a great way to get heavy drums of pressed grapes out of the pressing area and into the area where they're staged to go out of the winery.

Oh, did I mention this was messy?

Next post about how we have collaborated in the community to use our waste grape skins and seeds and how we're going to reuse the silt that settles out of the wine.

Punch Down Tool & Stomping

2007-10-14T21:14:00.001-05:00

Recent activity on this blog reveals an interest in Punch Down tools and Stomping Grape by foot. Luckily, Via Vecchia, always authentic, can offer you true grit on both topics. When we say we do it by hand and it's crafted, it is. Where else could you see punch down using your arms or stomping by feet?

1. Truly hand (arm) crafting the wine.

From last year check out this most manual of punch downs where it's literally all elbow-grease.(you may have to scroll down a bit).

2. Evolution.

From this year, see evolution in action as we learn to use a tool, which is a highly specialised stainless steel disk on a stick.

See it in operation as it punches the grape skins and seeds (the "must" or "cap" or "marca") down into the wine, which is becoming less like grape juice with each passing day.

3. Stomp Grape by Foot.

Now for stomping. We always do a bit of this, and here's a photo. Maybe if there's still enough interest we'll do a compilation of foot stomping over the years. And of course, stomping is communal, as demonstrated by N&J below, who are incredibly good sports and were such a lot of help.

Other Matters.

Of other matters, we transferred from primary fermentation vessels to secondary fermentation vessels over friday evening and saturday. More of that in a later post.

Bursting Wine grapes.

2007-10-04T20:33:00.000-05:00

We took delivery of the following grapes from California.
SanGiovese
Pinot Noir
Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Syrah
[here we are with some of our grapes]

These grapes are then transferred to our stainless steel crusher and destemmer. We handle the cases of grapes across roller conveyors and sorting tables, and eventually they end up on a rig that tips them into our crusher.
Sorting. By this we mean we go through each case of grapes to remove all leaves, dried out grapes, green grapes and moldy grapes. This year's grape was very clean, even by our picky standards and although there was more leaf than expected, there were virtually no bad grapes.
[here's Mr.H on sorting duty. Stirling work as always]

Crushing. This is done by our crusher. Actually, it should be called bursting instead, since the rollers through which the grape passes are set such that they burst the grape and do not crush it flat. All we need is for the juice to become loose so that nature can start the fermentation.

Our crusher also has a destemmer which removes the stalks from the must that ends up in our fermentation drums. This year was different in that the usual handful of stalk did not make its way into the fermenter.

[here's Mike at the rig with the stainless steel crusher in the middle. The black sorting bins go in the platform to Mike's left. thius platform is then raised to tip the grape into the crusher. Notice juice and grape in the rig. Mike has his hands in the crusher's hopper - do not try this at home]

Next post will talk about the food we served up.

We Stomped!

2007-10-01T18:54:00.000-05:00

Well, we stomped again!
As our first year's production is still ageing in barrels in the cellar, the second year's grape is crushed. A lot went on that day, so we'll do a little each day or so to take you through it, rather than produce one huge post.
We'll touch on the food we prepared and the trouble we went to in ensuring it was produced with the same care and pride we take in our wines; on the various parts of the process we use; the efficiencies and the inefficiencies we encountered; and, most importantly, the community of people that help us do this.
It is most fitting to therefore start with The Community.
This post is dedicated to those of you who turned up and contributed to a great day.
Thankyou.

(if you are not in this photo, it's very likely you will be in photos of the rest of the day's proceedings - to be posted)

Upcoming Grape Crush/Stomp 2007 - Sept 29

2007-09-22T07:06:00.001-05:00

It looks like Saturday 29 is when we'll crush those grapes to make our wine. However, it may slip a week due to transportation.

Michael's working on evites for people, but just in case he doesn't get that done in time, you know now.

Quite a bit's happened on the equipment front over the last week or so...

Grape Handling.

Two things here 1), Marty went out into the virtual world of our collective thoughts and brought back into the physical world two platforms that stand along both sides of our grape crusher, such that they can receive two bins of pre-sorted grapes and tip the bins into the hopper of the grape crusher and 2), Mike found a roller-conveyor, so he and Paolo went to Cleveland on Friday night to collect it. This conveyor will work to help with getting cases of grape to the sorting table and the bins of sorted grapes from the sorting tables to Marty's platforms.

Rear Label Design.

Anton's geared up to meet Kim on Tuesday to run through rear label design. Kim had produced four versions of a specification we had provided her and, naturally, inevitably, we'd like to explore a few changes.

Below you will see pictures of The Plan for placement of equipment for crush day and a marked up printout of a rear label to work from with Kim.

Last of the 2005

2007-09-09T20:00:00.001-05:00

Today was, in retrospect, a watershed. It passed almost without significance and yet, it marked an end to making wine outside the "bubble" of the bonded winery status of Via Vecchia Winery. Why? Well, today saw the breaking of the last remaining barrel of our Bordeaux blend (Truove) from 2005 which was not produced under bond. From here on in, any bottling of personal use wine will come from the bonded 2006 barrels.

We leave you with images of that last barrel, a stack of wine cases duly receiving their bottles, and Michael standing proud beside his quarter share.

Well done all.

Labels (again) with more Crush Prep, MamaPalooza #2

2007-09-04T19:04:00.000-05:00

Label Update.

We have settled on a front label for the SanGiovese, SanGiovese/Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet Franc. The last corrections went off to Kim today to take care of.

We also got our rear label through. My own initial impressions were good. The four different takes of the rear label that Kim worked up for us will be discussed at tomorrow's winery meeting. Personally speaking, I hope we can have a definitive vote for one of them, in the same way we did for the photo for the rear label. If we do we can then proceed to get the labels reviewed and approved by the FEDs, and then Ohio Liquor Control Board.

Crush Prep.

Last week saw a re-think of the crush equipment set up. We had initially designed and built a chute system, but on further consideration this was actually the right solution to the wrong problem and so one redesign later, we're doing something different ... keep watching for a post and pictures on how this new development shakes out.

MamaPalooza #2

Remember we went to MamaPalooza a while back? Well, we're invited again. Those on the mailing list will get an invite too as we can invite others. There will be a pie competition too - those of you getting invites please look out for invite for website containing the details.

I guess we'll have to take more wine?

Crush prep" 2007 - part 2

2007-08-25T08:03:00.000-05:00

More preparation for the upcoming grape harvest and crush.
This week we did the foll0wing;
Took all our primary and secondary fermenters outside for a clean.
Made safe the sharp edges all over the grape crusher
(Anton cleaning crusher)

Collected more fermentation barrels and rinsed them out
(Marty cleaning out a couple of the new ones)

We also took delivery of a few more bits and pieces since the grape crushing operation is swinging around to the other end of the winery this year. This meant an extra 10feet of hose and more electrical cable. Included in this was a punch down tool that may be a tad long, but we'll cope or grow into it, and a mystery item.
This is a picture of the mystery item. Can you guess what it is? As a clue you may want to access this photo from last year.

For those of you interested in Carbon Miles, here's some interesting notes on our primary and secondary fermenters. The blue barrels/drums you see us use are food grade drums that we have donated to us by James. If he didn't do this, they'd end up in a landfill, or be taken away for more processing involving more energy. We collect these drums and reuse them so no carbon contribution apart from the 50 mile round trip to get them. We do not count the carbon contribution of the energy that went into making them either because that is counted by the original user of the new drum - we're re-using what already exists and no extra energy goes into them.
So, we can say that our primary and secondary fermentation comprises carbon neutral equipment. Not bad.
Here's us turning a drum into a primary fermenter by cutting top of and then making safe the rough edges - photos from 2006 prep in this blog.
Here they are in action - primary and secondary fermentation, courtesy of 2006 blog.

Crush Prep 2007

2007-08-19T11:39:00.000-05:00

2007 grape crush is coming up and it seems that each year we're devising something or other to hopefully make the work easier.

(at left, Marty works on making safe rough edges).

Last year we were solving the issue of primary and secondary fermenters (see here), and having a lot of fun with it too! This year the process of getting hand sorted and cleaned grapes into the crusher is up for experimentation.

So it starts out with plans about a platform onto which the bins containing grapes are placed and then tipped into the crusher, but ends up with a chute system into which grapes are placed and delivered directly to the grape crusher without lifting heavy grape bins.

To compensate for the lack of an aggressive angle, especially on the chute that will run along the sorting table, Marty will make two long chute hoes to assist the grapes on their way downwards.

(at left, end view of lower chute atop grape crusher's hopper).

PLAN B - always has to be a Plan B, is if this doesn't work or it's just too much bother, we will take the crusher outside and revert to the old method of lifting grape bins to the grape crusher's hopper and tipping them in.

(at left, side view of lower chute atop grape crusher)

(below, from left to right, Paolo and Marty grin for the camera, and salute you with old-man Moretti beer).

Been An Age, Hasn't it.

2007-08-14T20:10:00.000-05:00

So what happened? too much too tell. Getting to be that time of your again.
So, briefly:
1. We racked the top-up wine in the demijons and also took the opportunity to top up the barrels.
2. We tested the Sangiovese and Trovato blend for free sulfites and adjusted. Paolo again demonstrated great paranoia by wrapping up the tops of the flextank maturation vessels in cling-film and heat shrink-wrap plastic.
3. We measured up the production area as we're shifting where we crush this year and will have a different setup. this resulted in us needing another 10 feet of hose, couple of hose bards, a tri-clamp etc.
4. And we compiled a Wish List.

5. Went to Oregon to see Bob of the labels and Carl of the grapes - more on these two in a later post.

The Wish List.
And who says wishes don't come true?
Anyway, the wish list for Wednesday's consideration is;
a) Racking tube - this is a stainless steel equivalent of our pipe and fishnet stocking filter we used last year to separate wine from seeds and skin when we went from primary to secondary fermentation.
b) Punch down tool - a stainless steel equivalent of your arm, which we use to push down the cap on the wine during primary fermentation.

Alcohol Levels

2007-07-27T18:25:00.000-05:00

Here's the latest on the wine's alcohol content. Now, remember, we don't chaptalise; we don't add sugar to the crushed grape and juice to give us the alcohol we want; we let the wine get on with it.

Of course, it's not THAT easy. There's a fine balance between the timing of the transfer from primary to secondary fermentation so that you a), don't kill fermentation and b), don't let the wine oversteep in its skins. A fine balance that doesn't prejudice the naturally occurring yeast's abilty to eat the sugar that's naturally present and convert it to alcohol.

So, given no sulfiting and no sugar, relying on experience and intuition, this is what our grape gave us:

a) Bordeaux Blend - 11.5% to 12%.

b) SanGiovese - 11%

c) SanGiovese/Pinot Noir - 11%

d) Shiraz - 12.5%

e) Cab franc - 13%

This is the high end, if not the pinnacle, of what you could hope for without artificially adjusting the fermenting wine.

This is wine alcohol levels (let's ignore the Cab Franc) that you can comfortably drink with a meal at lunchtime and return to work sober on. On a hot day, what better than a wine with a cool lunch that won't knock you for six.

The Cab franc. Remember we reported it had kicked up again? Well this is what it was doing; creating an (I would say) impossible 13% for a wine with no artificially added sugar. Go figure. We don't run a laboratory so we'll live with it.

Labels, Pricing & VZ Navigator

2007-07-19T17:29:00.000-05:00

Tonight we went on a field trip to look at approved wine labels. We got frustrated with the regulations which state that if you can only substitute the "class/type" of wine with a varietal name if you put the appellation (where they came from) on the label. This is frustrating because since we are located in a place that doesn't geographically touch California, we cannot put California or Lodi or San Joachim on the label. We can put American Wine on though - big help that.
So we went looking for examples of American Wine and how other wineries producing wines from grape in other states/parts of the world do it. And we were pleased to see many just do not comply. Our label will be submitted for approval with varietal and no appellation, the appellation being reserved for the rear label where we think it can stay as it is a statement of truth and why wouldn't we be able to state the truth - that our grapes come from California?
As to pricing, nothing really happened. The wine selections were not that great either, with a mighty overpriced ( I mean 1,000s of %) French table wine I used to pick up in Calais, France, on my way back home from work/holiday weekends in France.
But VZ Navigator worked well. This is the GPS application you can get on your Verizon wireless phone - put in where you want to go and it gets you there. It has voice and graphic directions. This is the second time I have used it and it makes for very relaxing trips, via routes you wouldn't take, so you see something different.

Foil Spinner (again) - Boys 'n' Their Toys

2007-07-12T19:35:00.000-05:00

Weighing in at around 16lbs, Via Vecchia Winery took delivery of its first new/used foil spinner. Here we have a precious moment as Mike and Marty get acquainted with the new arrival. They just couldn't wait to remove the cowling to expose its gubbings and see how it functions, or were they trying to figure out if its male or female?

Foil Spinner Update - C'est Arrivee!

2007-07-10T18:11:00.000-05:00

For those following the foil spinner saga, it arrived. Only a week later. we should count ourselves lucky in that it survived being handled for an extra week.

This piece of equipment is possibly the heaviest-smallest piece of equipment we own. It's also possibly the one that's going to take a fair bit of stamina to use.

Anyway, we'll photo it tomorrow and post it's pic for you.

In the meantime, enjoy Columbus' own DOO DAH Parade.

Foil Spinner Update & Another Back Label Candidate

2007-07-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

The Foil Spinner

So, it turns out that UPS Customer Support didn't mean "cash" when it said "cash" as it really meant "money order". This meant the 2nd attempted delivery of the foil spinner aborted on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday, UPS Customer Support said the foil spinner was in its distribution depot at Trabue Road, so we went down to get it, accompanied by a money order.

After about half an hour at UPS on Trabue, we were told it was buried somewhere and wouldn't be scanned 'til Monday, when it would be re-delivered.

Monday. Monday we'll finally get it. We hope they accept money orders issued by United Dairy farmers, otherwise it's third strike and the spinner's being returned to the sender, Frances. Stay tuned.

Another Rear Label Photo Candidate.

This photo of us at Via Vecchia is another potential candidate that may end up on the rear label (see other candidate Here).

Again (left to right), Marty, Paolo, Anton and Michael.

PhotoShoot

2007-07-03T20:13:00.000-05:00

This post was meant to be called something really great. Michael came up with it, but I forgot it. So, it's not great.

Anyway, Monday we had a photo shoot. We got together as a group for the photo for the back label of our bottles. It was all ironed white shirts in the heat and unfeasibly delicate glassware.

Michael was on time, and I think I can add, "for once".

From the photos below you'll see our props;

1 - mocked up bottles of Sangiovese/Pinot Noir and Bordeaux (former in Burgundy style bottle with the sloping shoulders, the latter in the other one);

2 - barrels - the barrels here are what contained our private stash of Sangiovese/Pinot Noir and Bordeaux;

3 - dangerous and nerve wrackingly delicate stemware, courtesy of a brave, or foolish (I cannot decide which), Anton. I mean, the life expectancy of glasses in the winery is shorter than that of WW1 pilots and he brings these along. By the way, what's the similarity between the stemware and the flextanks? They're both big! Look at the size of these glasses - they have bowls the size of your head.

Our photos were taken by Peteris Osis. Peteris is Moose Bend Images (peterisosis@gmail.com & http://www.moosebend.com/), specialising in landscape photography and kind enough to help us out.

This is Peteris.

Anyway, this is a potential candidate photo from the shoot which may feature on the rear label. Thanks to Michelle and Brian (of Mamapalooza post) for location.

And this is via Vecchia

(left to right as you view this)

Marty, Paolo, Anton, Michael

(this was slightly enlarged as it pixellated badly on loading - I think that's because Peteris' file is so big blogger couldn't handle the number of pixels at the original loaded size - I hope we don't get pixellation when this is reduced for the rear label)

Foil Spinner Update

2007-07-03T20:10:00.000-05:00

So we got the deal done on the foil spinner. We're happy. It was sent via UPS. Howver UPS wanted payment in cash - it was COD - not a check, not a credit card, not a debit card, but cash. So it was not surprise when we couldn't raise the $38.79 needed.
The foil spinner was taken away - to be redelivered Thursday when we've found the cash.
It Beggars belief!

Labels, Labels, Labels

2007-06-28T18:06:00.001-05:00

Well, it really does seem like it's all about the label. We haven't even go to the point of bottle on the shelf and yet the label dominates the activity at the moment.

Front Label
We think we're done. However experience shoes there's always "something".

Back Label
Broke out of a Catch-22 situation by taking bull by horns and drawing up the back label ourselves. All we need do now if point to each design element of it and specify size, font etc etc etc.

Photo
Peter's on for Monday. That's when we go have our group photo taken for the back label. We may as well post it on the blog, as a preview type of thing - or should we reserve that for those who're on the email list?

Foil Spinner.
We're doing metal/foil caps so we've closed on a foil spinner. Used - obtained via the classifieds in Winebiz.com. An over-engineered piece of kit if ever there was one for what it does. At least we're bringing it in for well under the usual price.

Bordeaux bottling
Bottled more of the private bordeaux stash from 2005.

No Headache Red Wine, Gaston Huet & Mary B

2007-06-18T17:09:00.000-05:00

Just in case some of you still don't get what we at Via Vecchia Winery are accomplishing, let me put it in terms of potentially the No.1 complaint of Red Wine, the HeadAche.

Yet again, another red wine lover who dallied from her passion due to the headache, went through two bottles of our wine this weekend (one San Giovese and one Bordeaux blend) and declared that she did not get a headache. That's right, no chemical buzz. It's all terroir with us.

And to put it in terms of one of the superstars of Post-1945 French WineMaking, Gaston Huet of Veuvray, "A well-treated wine is an un-treated wine".

Yes, we make the un-treated and well-treated wine to which he refers.

Now, do yourself a favor, go back and read through this blog, then sign up to get on the list to buy a few cases (or barrels) of this unique wine.

"Nuff said. Lesson over.

Oh yeah, Mary B of Raleigh... it is unfortunate but perhaps unsurprising that you learn of Michael's engagement through the postings of this blog, and for that Michael begs forgiveness (what penenace do you require of him?). We urge you to check in here on a more regular basis so that you do not miss the wedding invite.

Le Crav - Union for Viticultural Action

2007-06-17T12:10:00.000-05:00

The BBC cover a story of French winemaker action by CRAV (in the Languedoc) against falling wine/grape prices in the midst of fierce global competition and larger and larger cuts of the pie taken by middlemen/retailers (where a bottle of wine bought at $1.33 from the winemaker sells in the store for $19.95). Here's the Link and there's a short video to go with it.

As CRAV says, it may/has pushed their businesses to the wall. What do they do? Whatever they do let's hope CRAV does not, as it threatens, shed blood, and pulls through this as winemakers did with phyloxera, two world wars, the depression and US prohibition (yes, it affected the globe as the US was a major market for wine, especially chanpagne).
In the BBC article there's reference to WWII - if interested, there is a very good history book of French wine and WWII, "Wine and War" (Don & Petie Kladstrup, published by Broadway Books).

Bottling and Corking Wine

2007-06-14T19:40:00.000-05:00

[At Left, Anton filling a bottle of wine with 2005 "Bordeaux"]

[At Right, Clone Rob and Apron Boy

then cork the filled bottle]

As requested in a prior post, more on the wine filler. We do have video of this, but it's currently on private view in youtube because, as usual, the production possibly suffers too much from bloopable innuendo and double-entendres. Oh well, if we vote to release it, it will be released - check back.

Racked the Top-Up Wine.

First task yesterday was to decant the wine in the demijons into empty demijons, leaving the lees behind and giving it an airing. We missed the full moon, I know, but hope the new moon did something

We've had a lot of queries from search engines on lees and sur lees, but we forgot to take a picture of the lees in the demijons so those searching for them could get an idea what they are. In our process the lees serve as a natural anti-oxidant - any ladies want some as a natural face-pack?

As we racked the wine we tasted. All was A.O.K.

Topped Up the Barrels.

We also took the racked wine and topped up our barrels of wine to eliminate headspace. Again, some tasting and stirring and smelling. The wine is progressing nicely.

Broke into another private stash.

We bottled another lot of 2005 "Bordeaux" with our incredibly efficient, not-a-drop-is-spilled wine filler. We still are not filtering, relying on natural sedimentation to do the job naturally.

Michael.

He's back from some place with "hole" in its name, somewhere out west. Apparently our resident feats-of-strength-I-may-have-a-thing-for-Carmen Miranda-fruit-headwear man got himself into a bit of bother with a kayak and a raging two foot deep torrent of water. Nature IS very deceptive. But a big "THANKYOU" to Shep who risked all to save him.

Labels and Bottle Filler

2007-06-07T17:42:00.000-05:00

Bottle Filler.
The bottle filler arrived this week. It did not cost $1000, unlike almost every other piece of equipment. It is also, apart from our barrels, funnels, hoses, and demijons, our only piece of equipment not made of stainless steel or aircraft grade aluminium.
Since the winery board that met was at only half strength (Anton and I) we decided to try out the bottle filler. Michael was attending the funeral of someone who took part in a very significant piece of history and who didn't tell their story, and Marty was in a "busy", "may turn up later", "it will be late" kind of situation.
Anyway, this filler, which vacuum fills, treats the wine extremely gently as it fills bottles. It dispenses just enough wine for your size of bottle and the wine does not even foam as it goes in. We thought the fill level would differ with varying bottle sizes, but it didn't.
So we broke a 5gallon demijon of Bordeaux just as a trial run. We're always trying things for the first time otherwise so it made a change to practise first on a bucket of water, then on the Bordeaux.
It was a very civilised process. Very calming almost. And at the end the small amout of waste that was collected was just enough for a couple of glasses of wine.
I think the most impressive fact about this wine filler is that there was not a single drop of wine wasted during the bottling process!

Labels
We have agreed on the two label types we're going to be using consistently across our blends and varietals. We even have a different name for the Bordeaux. We could be at the printers by the end of June.

Molly.
Thanks for the photos. Very flattering - yeah right.
Actually there are some good ones and they're all fun.
Look out for them appearing now and again.

Of Friends and Fun

2007-05-31T19:04:00.000-05:00

(This is Rob P (left) and Marty. When Rob P left for California in 2004, Marty was created to replace him. To avoid them being mistaken for each other Marty was given pinned-back-go-faster-ears and made to wear a cap)
Yet again we find ourselves just having too much fun!
Is such a thing possible!
How do we do it?
Remember a few posts back we asked where in the world was Rob P? Rob P who was meant to turn up for the BDX barrel break? Well turns out we were so happy to learn he was going to visit us from California that we all refused to read his email correctly when he told us that he could make it anytime except the day we planned. Anyway, Rob P showed up yesterday at the winery...and it turned out to be (naturally) one of those late night / early morning affairs.

There was also the added and delightful bonus of Molly. This is not to say Rob P isn't in himself a delight - I mean, we all love a wine critic, right. Molly wasn't quite sure about what we were about but as we toured the winery with her and explained what was happening and what we did, she settled in as it jived with what she had learned from a Discovery Channel programme about true/real winemaking.
Rob P and Molly showed up after we were just about done with winery business. Just as well. Which was:
1. Bottle Labeller.
The bottle labeller arrived. Ok, this probably needs a post of its own with pictures, but this piece of equipment has just got to be the world's most expensive inexpensive-looking product. I mean, it is very well made, with some very nice touches, but even so... If you want to check it out go visit Great Engineering and click on the BenchMATE product for demo and spec sheets. Thanks Greg for getting it to us all the way from Oz at a price cheaper than the US can provide and in a quicker timeframe too.
2. Bottle Filler.
This is on order and due in on 4th June.
3. Labels.
Real good progress here. We're just about to lock off on design format between designer and printer and have our label size worked out. We need to do the back label though.

Other business.
a) Wine tasting.
We tasted the BDX, now in its 13th month in the barrel. In the words of Borat, "You like."
b) Rob P and Molly.
Oh, that was just too much fun. We sampled the BDX, then went back and tried some 2004 and 2005 SanGiovese/PinotNoir.
We handled the Chambourcin with tact.
Needless to say we probably overdid the real wine propaganda, but hey, when you're passionate you can't stop yourself. And we hope Rob P and Molly enjoyed themselves too (guys, we'll send pictures and you can let us know which ones we can publish - Molly, we'd love the video of you naming your barrel and Rob P the one with your stylish headgear).
c) News from the frontLine of Wine Tasting.
After a tremendous campaign of endurance and self discipline in which no quarter was ever given, Mr. H of Westerville, possibly our biggest reader and, together with Mrs. H, the most gracious and generous of hosts, accidentally drank a 2004 Sangiovese/Pinot Noir. Any disappointment he may have felt upon the realisation of such a lapse in self-discipline that allowed the out-flanking of his long term strategy was then successfully countered with the satisfaction that he had drank something quite special and smooth. Well done, Sir!

MamaPalooza

2007-05-21T19:04:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, we got invited to a local MamaPalooza event. It was later that same day we broke the penultimate barrel of Bordeaux wine we made back in 2005, so we were able to take some wine and what we didn't eat to MamaPalooza.

It was a great event. Michael discovered his poetry side and we all enjoyed a bit of the attention we got as a result of the wine. One kind lady took off with a jug of wine and toured the guests no less. Indeed, Via Vecchia Winery was, as the mc said, in the House.

There was a lot of appreciation for a "real wine" and we have some more volunteers for this years stomping of grape. Ray is one such volunteer, and our story and what we had to say about our method and integrity in the wine making process remionded him a lot about the winemakers he lived with back in the Rhone region of France.

We found there were people who knew restauranteurs and one lady worked for NPR and had some useful ideas about programming, who later sent through the media-pack for their radio and tv advertising.

Anyway, here's a glimpse of MamaPalooza. Thank you Michelle and Brian, for a perfect end to a perfect day.

Barrel Break

2007-05-15T21:13:00.000-05:00

This will be brief. It's late.

So, Saturday. Where was Rob P? And how about the stress of a late arriving Joe without whose container Scott would be short a few gallons of our finest Bordeaux blend?
Despite all this and more, such as the multiple appearances of Mr Hankey (sp?, Michael?), the "Pink" branded sun hat, and ceremonies of dubious worth, the penultimate barrel of Bordeaux from 2005 was distributed.
Later that day we went to MamaPalooza, as we were invited and which will get its own post and video in due course. The best bit was the announcement from the stage that "Via Vecchia is in the House!" That was fun. But, as I say, more to come in a future post.
Quick Update on Winery business - we've committed on a labeller, label design is going great guns and we're enquiring about 2007 SanGiovese.
Are we having fun yet? Stupid question, course we are.
PS - anyone know who wont the Eurovision Song Contest?
And below, left to right on all three rows
Back row - Scott, James, John; Centre row - Paolo, Joe, Anton, Marty (yellow cap); Front Row - Linus (dog), Mike, Michael (with hat).

Labels, Labels Everywhere

2007-05-10T22:36:00.000-05:00

Hello ! Michael here... Our latest and one of our most significant projects is progressing. We are in process of designing our wine label. As most of you know, the label needs to attract the customer to try our wine. In my opinion once the customer tries our wine, they will be pleasantly surprised by the real wine taste. They might never "go back" to the artificial and chemically enhanced wines again. If our label does not tell our story, we will never gain the customer loyalty and following we expect. In conjunction with Kim James, our designer we have taken the designs in our heads and placed them on paper. Anton suggested we use the elements from our business card in our label. I have one word for Anton. Brilliant!!!! While the design is getting finalized, I decided to gather estimates from wine label printers. First of all, we realize we are a small winery. This year our bottle total should equal just over 4k. However, I was surprised by the smugness that I experienced during my inquiries. One California printer,Metro Labels, went as far as telling me to call back when we have a bigger quantity and their salesman had poor customer service and did everything he could to defer our business elsewhere without even a referral. We will have a bigger quantity soon but I can assure you we will not be giving you our business based upon this experience. Everyone begins a business small and we made the decision to grow organically to avoid the need for outside/3rd party investment. Meanwhile, we are continuing conversation with Tapp Technologies ( referral from Carol Harvey Renaissance Mark) and Brent Cardwell. I have worked with Brent on a previous project but we felt the need to do our due diligence to gather a few quotes. (Stay Tuned...

Topping Up

2007-05-03T19:08:00.000-05:00

There are many who claim to have fun with what they do, and yet... and yet you look at what they post to their web sites and blogs and they all look so serious and well, not having fun. I know we have been accused of just having fun, but frankly, since when does having fun lessen the importance or credibility of what you do? And that's not rhetorical, you can answer and debate that one with us if you like.

So anyway, today's fun was topping up the barrels. We also had the pleasure of Mike coming over to visit and help. We haven't seen enough of him lately and it was good to have him joining in the fun - or should I say, work.

We topped up from our reserves in the demijons. All hand pouring no less, with lots of sampling. We have some video of that, but can't post it here as some of us got a bit colorful in our comments.
The Cabernet Franc had kicked up again! We won't interfere with that though and we'll let it burn itself out. We do not want high alcohol wine but that Franc may well push it for us, so we may actually withhold it from sale this year and blend it with something next year.
We also tried a 50% Cabernet Franc and 50% Syrah mix - too early too tell what it would be really like, but it was pretty much alright, good even, anyway, we drank it.

So now to pictures.

This is our hand crafted process in action. Careful pouring to top up the barrel. Please note that there you see direct evidence of our natural filtration process - note the sediment at the bottom of the gall jug? well that has settled out and will not go into the barrel. The same happens in the barrel. When we siphon the wine out of the barrel the sediment will be left behind. In the meantime it's a lesser form of a sur lees method of winemaking. The lees are reputed to be natural antioxidants too, and is why we are able not to rely on sulfiting.

This is our board room. Very serious, as if!

This is us under the watchful eye of Bacchus. A gift from Katrina, who Michael (white shirt) proposed to.

Finally, we got the 2005 Winery Year DVD out - we have two versions 1, the fast cut/lively music version and 2, the sepia toned/Italian folk song soundtrack. As those of you who have seen these productions of prior years, I hope you'll agree they're just full of fun. But then, we do have fun, as I said.

Everything in Moderation

2007-04-26T18:47:00.000-05:00

[Candida resigned herself to sitting out the next hour as Cristina ranted on about how screw caps were ruining her cork sucking/cork chewing habit and were the work of The Dentist Devil. It was her own fault; she shouldn't have ordered Cristina the Fortified Grappa Cappucino. A bottle or two of Via Vecchia's fine wine would have been a far safer option].

Business-wise, we have our ThankYou cards printed up. Thanks, Michael, for getting another task off the list!
I think we need to sit down and list out who gets them as we've met quite a few people now who have been helpful and kind to us, not to mention those that are also sales leads.

Since we're still relatively small, it is Via Vecchia Winery's intention to do the customer experience to an extent not matched by any other winery. These thankyou cards will therefore feature in customer transactions too. Similarly with our labels, we hope to go beyond a simple printed label and individually number and/or autograph them.

This will also serve a practical purpose of tracking feedback on our wines from customers, who can then quote the label number back to us which will help in identifying the process or barrel of a particular wine bottle. And for those limited special wines, we'll do like the artists do and give the wine bottle its number out of the total number in the batch.

Feedback & Fun Time.
Yes, we'd love feedback and participation from you on the following;

a), a caption for the ladies above (best one to be published here); and
b), ways of improving or enhancing the wine experience of a customer (how would you like to interact with us after buying our wine?).

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Goblets of Wine

2007-04-21T15:09:00.000-05:00

In the earlier post of May 16, 2006, Anton went Grail Hunting. In the later post of March 12, 2007, Paolo went to the Ohio Craft Museum. Not until last Wednesday's Winery meeting can we draw a tenuous link between these two events.

The meeting was a lot of fun, and I think we're all having that much more fun with this. Could it be because we have those business cards now and two solicitor licenses under the belt? Whatever, there's a renewed energy around this venture. But back to tenuous links...

So anyway, at the meeting there turns out to be a show and tell. Michael produces a huge face of Bacchus to hang on the wall - I'll photo that when it's installed, for a later post - and Paolo brings out the goblet he bought at the silent auction at the Ohio Craft Museum. You have to admit, The Grail has been found!

[Marty, left, displays great reverance in the handling of The Goblet]

It already has us giving it parts to play in certain winemaking events, like the breaking of the barrel.

Although it is The Goblet, it's official title is "Blown Glass Vessel, Blues and Gray". Dan Schreiber, an Ohioan craftsman created it

[Goblet shares a joke with Anton]

Another Historical Factoid

2007-04-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

You know we have a thing for history here at the winery, you know you do. I mean, who can forget the Barrel Spinning post and video? And what about the Barrel Monkey post and video? Well, we've done it again.
Whilst on my trip back to Italy a couple of weeks back my Aunt passes me a load of back issues of the Italian agricultural magazine for true rural farmers, "Vita in Campagna" (literally translated as "life in the country", or more loosely as "country life"). On its front cover you will see children being educated in viticulture - I post the picture here.

The blurb that goes with the picture is as follows - "under the eye of their teacher, a group of students try pruning vines of the Agrarial School of Marzana (Verona). Schools like these produced the best technical agrarians who through their work have contributed to the following of Italian agriculture."
Of course this photo is credited to Vita in Campagna, Jan 2007, from the collection of Giovanni Squaranti.
The picture was taken in 1930.

The teacher is just visible at far left top half of picture - wearing a natty hat and pin-stripe suit. Dressed as such he obviously had no intention of even touching a vine. He probably dressed up for the photo. Of course there's one boy who is in deep trouble. This rascal (in the left group of boys, face visible above the head and cap of the third boy) has deliberately forgotten his regulation cap and is getting the evil eye from the master - no doubt he's in for it later! In fact, he's dead, because from my clear copy this rascal is not even looking at the vine but at the camera and is ruining the photo for il professore.

Maybe the left group of boys are the trouble makers and is why teacher gets to watch them instead of the right hand grouping, who are beavering away with not so much as a yawn or sideways jaunty slant of their caps. I bet the left group have been issued with regulation blunt punishment pruning shears too until such time as they buck their ideas up.

Old School

2007-04-12T18:29:00.000-05:00

"Going back to my roots, yeah...", as the song goes. Well, here's some Via Vecchia roots for you. This is where Via Vecchia derives its inspiration and process from; from the heart of the Lunigiana in Toscana, Italy. Village of Grondola in the Appenines to be precise. Also managed to pick up some great agricultural oriented magazines that feature a lot of wine making and I think the rest of Via Vecchia will get a kick out of them to see we do it the real way. In fact, I was grilled by no-nonsense-hunt all year round- slaughter my livestock in my garage- neighbor, Giannino, over the technique we use here and I think I passed muster. He threatened to visit us too.

These pictures show a traditional cantina in use. Via Vecchia would be at home here as all the equipment and method is familiar to us. In fact, this is where Dad has his wine kept for him and from where I brought back two bottles.

This picture is of the cantina. Below a house and it's made entirely of block stone, even the floor, great for that stable temperature with right amount of humidity. In this view you can make out the wine primary fermenter (back left) and grape baskets (back left below red hose), an oil siphoner on the shelf at left (old style glass with straw protection around the base), among the demijons we all know and love.

In this picture you see the primary fermenter. Grapes are thrown in, crushed by foot, then left to ferment. This one's really old and Dad remembers using it in the late 1930s. To help with scale this stands about 6 feet tall and about 4 feet in diameter. Notice siphon hoses.

In this one you see two grape picker baskets, stacked one upon and in the other. When full they were strapped to a donkey and brought back to this cantina (and others) for the crushing of their contents.
More from the annals of tradition to come...keep watching.

Hey, how about that Sanjaya? Wot?

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Final Four Tournament and Wine???

2007-04-01T00:21:00.000-05:00

Michael here...Today we at Via Vecchia Winery congratulate our hometown Buckeyes from The Ohio State University. We are very proud that our Buckeyes advanced to the Championship Finals and will be facing the Florida Gators. Florida is becoming our newest rivalry both on the field and on the court. While I watched the game today, I thought about how odd it was that I was enjoying a glass of wine rather than a beer. Based upon the annual wine sales, I am sure I was not the only one. This year during football tailgate parties I found myself and my 40ish year old friends drinking wine and not beer. Wine is becoming not just an acceptable alternative to beer but the preferred choice to some. What I especially find ironic is that my father owned and operated a beer distributor in Pennsylvania for much of my teenage years. Beer literally put the "bread and butter" on our dinner table. Today, I do not find a pint of beer nearly as satisfying as a glass of our wine. Therefore, today I raise my glass (of wine) to my Buckeyes for a great season and wish them the best as they attempt to end the season as National Champions! Please feel free to comment. Based upon their incredible size audience, I would love to see our friends at The Winery Website Report or Wine Diva ask their audience: "While watching the big game (could be basketball, football, soccer or baseball) do you prefer a glass of wine or a bottle of beer?

Via Vecchia Winery Management Team

2007-03-24T13:17:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! Michael here. With Anton, Marty and Paolo taking much needed holidays, I am "in charge". Therefore, let me introduce you to our Management Team.. Pictured to the left you will find us sampling our 2005 Bordeaux Blend. The item peeking out of the top of the barrel is an ullage preventer. This innovative product is from our friends at Flextank. Pictured beginning from the left side is Marty, Anton, Michael and Paolo. We all have full time positions outside the winery but that does not keep us from giving our hand crafted wine the attention and care we feel it deserves. What was once friends gathering to make wine the old way for our own purpose has turned into a strong desire and demand to craft a quality wine the old way and share with the public. In the coming months, we will be revealing our trade marked logo, wine label and the release date of our wine. We have received thus far very good feedback from the public, fellow winemakers and industry peers. We appreciate you visiting our blog and hope you enjoy our journey to create a wine that is free from added sulfites, sugars, flavor and color. After all, our ancestors did not feel the need to add these chemicals...why should we? Please feel free to comment and ask questions by email at viavecchiawinery@yahoo.com. Cheers!

Testing and Tasting

2007-03-23T20:44:00.000-05:00

[siphoning wine into hydrometer - left to right, Paolo and Michael]

We tested the specific gravity of the wine this week. We just used the hydrometer. As long as the specific gravity shows that most of the sugar's burned off, then we're doing well.

It is always a bit of a nervy moment because we do not calculate adjustments to add yeast or sugar to ensure a result - we want the wine to do it itself and show us what it is / what it wants to be. This way we produce a wine full of its own character, rather than of our own subjective ideas of what it should be like.

The alcohol content is simply a matter of deducting this reading with that taken at the stomp and dividing by 7.36, or 7.39, can't remember. We had very good readings at the stomp and we're showing below 1 now, so that's good - dry wines here, but not acidic as there will be some residual sugar.

I'm concerned that we'll have too high alcohol - over 12% on some. We prefer a normal level of alcohol so you can actually drink it without it being a chore - so 12% would be good.

[ measuring specific gravity]

We may got to Vin Italy in Verona too to check out winery equipment and wines.

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Testing for Alcohol

2007-03-19T11:41:00.000-05:00

This week we will be topping up the French Oak barrels.
We'll also take a final specific gravity reading so we can calculate the alcohol content by volume. If the wine is dry (should be) then we may get a vinometer to produce a more accurate result.
We've also heard that if you think your initial specific gravity reading, taken when you first crush, is accurate enough then a very accurate way to tell how much alcohol you have left is to now test the wine using one of those test kits that diabetics use. The kit will measure very accurately the sugar content. You then take this result from the initial potential sugar content from your first specific gravity reading and Bob's your Uncle, you have your final alcohol content.
For example, if your initial specific gravity reading shows a potential alcohol content of 15% (assuming all sugar is burned up), then a diabetic test result showing 3% residual sugar in your wine gives you a 12% alcohol content.

The Ultimate Party Girl Dress

2007-03-12T18:26:00.000-05:00

Ever on the lookout for those rare or interesting wine related pieces, we stumbled on the wine-lover's or, dare I say, "Wine-Diva's" (her of the blog of same name knows who she is), must-have, feel-good, equivalent of the "little black dress."
Yes, here it is, the "Ultimate Party Girl Dress". Note, it is for perhaps the traditionalist among wine lovers since the corks are cork and not plastic. Note also the absence of screw caps.
I also think Apron Boy has an idea brewing... yes, bespoke waistcoats made of cork for Via Vecchia cellar rats to wear on their all too frequent holidays. You know it's going to happen. Send in your corks now!
Anyway, all credit to Lauren Hoell of Pickerington, Ohio. This photo of her dress was taken in the Ohio Craft Museum , Columbus, where there is currently an exhibition of art from trash called "Transformations East."
If I get enough votes from you lot out there, I may publish photos of the following;
a) Black and white stripe dress, made from Duct Tape; and
b) black skirt and bodice made from strips of tire inner tubes.
Up to you the voters - no recounts will be entered into.

Paranoia

2007-03-10T18:04:00.000-05:00

The paranoia continues...

Just broke out the shrink wrap pvc and sealed each Flextank with it. In effect, each Flextank is now like a big wine bottle, with the shrink wrap pvc being its cap.

But why do this?

Unfamiliarity. That's all. Remember we don't do the chemical risk mitigation against air and so our wine is less tolerant than others and our wine maybe needs that little bit more protection than most from any air that may leak into the Flextanks. The pvc is just another air barrier in addition to the cling-film and the floating lids in and on each Flextank.

Here's the two Flextanks we have with SanGiovese and Pinot Noir. The one on the left has the headspace filled with a bag of CO2 and has a floating skin on the wine.

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Ernest Gallo

2007-03-07T09:14:00.000-05:00

As fellow winemakers we would like to take this opportunity to mark the occassion of the passing of Ernest Gallo.
Gallo, known for his old world manners and aggressive business tactics, kickstarted the Californian wine industry with his brother, Julio, and by the 1970s had made good progress with straightforward wines in line with his vision to make wine readilly accessible to the people. Many of you may remember "Thunderbird", for example, and his innovative efforts with combining grape with citrus juice to make "Bartles and James" wine coolers.
Gallo was self taught; I heard him on a NPR radio interview recently talking about his start in the industry and getting the book on wine making from his local library.
Since then Gallo has developed 40 labels and grown to be the #2 global wine producer, active in 90 countries with production being 75,000,000 cases of wine (2006) and revenues of US$980,000,000 (2005), producing @ 2,640,000 bottles a day.
Now that's a legacy.

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Non-Wine Busy-ness

2007-03-06T19:37:00.000-05:00

I believe we'll each update our own tasks, so I won't speak for the others except to say they're working on;

Liability Insurance

Label Design, label approval and regulations

Bottles, caps, corks

Software to run the business on.

My brief update is on Labellers.

Basically the Italians make a lot of the equipment, but the Australians have cornered the niche of labellers. I found quite a few models and even their respective manufacturers. It will come down to price in the end and what we think will work well.

There are two types - manual and semi-automatic, if you ignore the high end machinery. The labellers range from small production of up to 300 bottles and hour to a couple of thousand an hour then jump to something like 20,000 bottles an hour. Yes, well, quite.

Manual is a good start for us, but there is doubt on maintaining the accuracy of the placement of the rear label on the bottle as people tire or shift their position relevant to viewing the machine's guide that is used for alignment.

In fact, a French contraption, La Nantaise, seems to work well from its video, but they use a cute slight of hand to not show you how the rear label is not aligned with the front label. Their product is good but French bottles not sold here in the US do not have rear labels, so La Nantaise works for their front label only requirement but fails for us.

The Australian manufacturer of BenchMate is in contact with us. I don't see how he can ship it, customs cleared, cheaper than the US distributor, but we'll see.

And on Solicitor Licenses.

Another Form. But very simple. We need these to be able to sell our wine - or more precisely go out there and start marketing it, and offering it for sale.

The weird thing is that we have to write to ourselves outlining our sales duties, a copy of such communication to accompany the form.

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The "Business Side" of News

2007-02-27T20:22:00.000-05:00

Michael here...I want to take time to update everyone on the "behind the scenes" of our winery with a business update.
While the wine was in production, we were all busy finalizing our logo. The logo appears to the right of our posts. Our logo creation was an exercise in the collaboration of ideas and creativity for us all. We learned so much about one another. It is amazing you can stand beside some people for years crushing grape and not really know how to work together to create something great.
We have come a long way and am so proud to know we persevered to be where we are today. In addition, I feel I am a better person for knowing each one of my partners through this project. So, we hope to take our "lessons learned", passion for the business and bottle it all up to make a product that you can be proud to serve.
After our logo was finalized, we began the process of creating a business card, thank you card and label creation. To assist us in our efforts with creativity, we have once again asked Kim James, graphic and photo designer, to employ her creative insight.
We as managing partners meet every week to discuss the state of our business and our next tasks. This week we will be meeting to discuss our complete sales cycle. "What will it take to move the wine from our barrel to your table?" We will update you along the way. In addition, we will be discussing the direct to consumer state shipping laws.
Many thanks to a great website source http://www.wineinstitute.org/ / Finally we hope to center more discussion around the customer intimacy to create an emotional connection.
By the way, we will continue to improve and succeed but only with customer insights and comments. PLEASE COMMENT!

Wine Transfer Notes

2007-02-24T10:10:00.000-05:00

[Two of the "Old Boys". These demijons came from Grondola in the Tuscan Appenines. They're at least 55 years old if we give it a break, 'cos if it travelled with Paolo's family in the first migration to England, in the 1920s, then they're older]

Some basic info on the wines we've been transferring over the past couple of weeks.

Please note that the Natural Sulfite Level ("NSL") is that which occurs in our wine naturally. We measured it last weekend. What we measure here are the Free Sulfites that are able to deal with oxygen in the wine and keep it locked up out of the liquid, preventing it turning the wine or feeding any residual yeasts/sugars. You'll remember that we have not added anything to this wine at all.

"ppm" is "parts per million.

The Organic Standard for Wine is 120ppm free sulfites ("Org")

The Federal Standard for Wines is 350ppm free sulfites ("Fed")

The Californian Standard for Red Wine is 175ppm / White Wine is 225ppm ("CA")

"Bordeaux Blend" comprises Cabernet Sauvignon, cabernet Franc and Merlot.

Varietal or Blend ------------- NSL --------pH------------Final ppm

-------------------------------------------------------------------- (Org = 120ppm)

San Giovese ----------------------- 31ppm -----3.8--------------80ppm
San Giovese/Pinot Noir Blend - 33ppm -------3.8--------------80ppm
Shiraz ------------------------------ 37ppm -----4.0 - 4.2-------60ppm
Bordeaux Blend ------------------ 40ppm -----3.8 - 4.0-------60ppm
Cab Franc ------------------------- 35ppm ------3.8 - 4.0------60ppm

For wine to be drunk between now and September, the NSL sulfite levels are fine. Since we'll be ageing these wines, and then they'll sit in bottles, these levels are too low and there are not enough free sulfites to deal with the controlled oxidation as they sit in barrels and any residual yeasts/sugars that may want to get something started.

Yeast can survive in up to 15% by volume alcohol. Maybe why we see a lot of those higher alcohol wines is that it's hoped they'll deal with residual yeasts so sulfiting can be reduced, but you need very high acid to deal with high alcohol so lord knows what's thrown in to knock the acidic taste back.

For us, this is a difficult time. We do not want to lose the wine. We do not want to use even, in our minds, the excessive Org standard for sulfiting. We are fortunate to have good Acid. So we make a judgement call. This year we decided to add minimum sulfite still way below the lowest Org Standard and below the recommended sulfite levels for the given ppm, pH and volume. If the San Giovese and Pinot had ended up in French Oak barrels then we would have stuck to 60ppm, as it is, we're using new (to us) technology and don't know how the wine will age in it so we erred on caution but still well below Org Standards.

As far as our chemical intervention goes, this is it the beginning and end of it.

[Two of our Bordeaux Blend French oak Barrels. They're handsome aren't they]

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Barrel Monkeys

2007-02-20T20:07:00.000-05:00

Pictures at end of post.

On saturday we put the San Giovese and Pinot Noir into ageing in the flextank maturation vessels. We were particularly pleased with the Pinot Noir, which we could have bottled there and then. In fact, we should not be that surprised since the technique to which we adhere was structured so as to allow you to drink your wine early without extended ageing and the expense of keeping things barreled for a while. After all, this is a product to be drunk! In fact it is interesting that even today in Italy "il vino rosso di Toscana" can only be labelled "vino di tavolo" - table wine. No more no less. It's made to drink. You can do what you want to it and age it and have the planet deem it a super-Tuscan, but at the end of the day, it's table wine.

A further post this week will talk about ph and free sulfites.

But speaking of tradition (remember we explored "barrel spinning"? see link in list of links at left for that), well Via Vecchia Winery keeps alive the tradition of Barrel Monkeys.
The work of a Barrel Monkey is a forgotten trade, eclipsed by the popular movement that liberated the child chimney sweeps and child labour during the mid Industrial Revolution. If Dickens had lived in a viticulural region he would have written about Barrel Monkeys instead of Chimney Sweeps.
Barrel Monkeys would climb into huge fermentation vats and crushing troughs (we'd love one of those) and clean them out. Sometimes the fumes from a fermentation vessel would be too much and the child would pass out. This would be dangerous were it not for the fact that the child was made to wear a bell around their neck. For as long as the child moved, the bell tinkled. If the bell stopped tinkling the child would need rescuing. If the child played a trick and deliberately stopped so as to silence the tinkling, the vintner would bore them with that fable of Aesop's about The Boy Who Cried Wolf. "nuff said.
There is one school of thought that says the term monkey was used in reference to the bell the child wore which was like the bell a performing monkey would wear on his costume when employed at the hurdy gurdy with cup in hand.
Here, we see Via Vecchia making use of a volunteer Barrel Monkey for a day.
In the video and pic you see him with a maturation vessel lowered over him. He then turns around and around, wiping down the insides of the vessel as he turns. Obviously we helped, but we didn't fancy having him crawl in and roll it around from inside on the floor to clean it.

Here are the flextank maturation vessels. They each hold 200 gallons of wine.

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Barrel Spinning #2

2007-02-16T22:51:00.000-05:00

That ancient art of barrel spinning, as featured and demonstrated earlier on this blog in video format by Via Vecchia Winery (see tag at left) is featured on "Vinter's Cottage" alongside video of ...
a) News from R. Merlot Estate
b) the Art of Making Wine
c) Wine Making in Colorado.

I kid you not, people.

http://previewlock.info/san-diego-film-festival/vintners-cottage.php

Also, Paolo on Winery Web Site Report. Mary B liked his insight into tags and google analytics.
http://blog.winerywebsitereport.com/2007/02/comments_on_a_w.html

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2007-02-16T21:54:00.000-05:00

Finally! There's light at the end of the tunnel or, should I say, wine at the top of the bung hole?
Yes, flextank got those maturation vessels shipped out to us and Anton and I collected them today.
They look good in the winery - quite a different dynamic goes on looking at them. What do I mean by that? Well, everyone knows about traditional wooden barrels and you all know what they're about, laying on their sides, being barrel-ish. Their size and presence is a known quantity and nothing grabs you. When it comes to these Flextank maturation vessels though, now that's another story.
You see they have Presence. For a start, they're taller than us and wider. So you stare at this big thing and realise it's going to a big thing full of a lot of wine! A big lot of wine, if you like. So, something bigger than you are AND full of wine, stood there just being full of wine. It's full of wine and it's really large. Imagine something you can climb into, being full of wine. Imagine floating in it full of wine. It goes on and on. Far more imposing that the subtle and unassuming wooden barrel on its side that you have dominion over.
Anyway, they arrived so tomorrow we put the San Giovese / Pinot Noir in one and the straight san Giovese in t'other.
Photos tomorrow then. TTFN.

More Wine Goes Into Ageing

2007-02-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

Saturday - and we put the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc into ageing in their French Oak barrels.
The pump played up again. Nothing to do with the impeller - Paolo repaired the torn blade and it held all day - but the motor itself. Seems like the motor wants to turn over, but there isn't the "kick" to start it off. We checked the load on the drive wheel, the tension of the drive belts and they were fine. It's just that the drive wheel didn't turn even with no load upon it. Anyhow, since it was making noises like it wanted to go, we resorted to "kick-starting" it. This was achieved by running the pump with the drive exposed and Marty hand cranking it until it 'caught". This worked all day long and we got through it fine.
However, since the pump is meant to be both self-priming and self starting, this is not good. We believe the starting capacitor is "fried".

Paolo designed a dip-stick to measure off how much wine was being pumped. This was needed to roughly gauge when we had enough of a Varietal in a barrel, essential when wanting to achieve the different percentages of each Varietal in each barrel. It worked fine.

Topping off the Bordeaux blend barrels was done by siphoning out of the demijons we had racked in December for the Cab Franc. We left the Cab Franc until last because it is the smallest percentage in our Bordeaux blend and our pump cannot pump with the responsiveness needed to be shut off in time when the barrel is full. There is a device that can be bought that senses the change in pressure at the barrel full point and shuts the pump down there and then.

The Bordeaux blend dealt with our Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. We had enough Cabernet Franc to make up its own barrel. Anton reminded us all that Cabernet Franc is the father of Cabernet Sauvignon, and for my money, at this stage, it seemed better in many respects. The remainder of the Cabernet Franc went into storage in a bag from FlexTank that will keep the wine safe for up to two years -you place the bag in a 60gallon drum.

Only the SanGiovese and Pinot Noir to go.

[l to r - Paolo, Marty (holding drum), Michael in back of drum, John in front of drum holding red funnel]
Here we're carefully pouring off the last several gallons in the drum into a demijon. We don't pump out all the way to the end as we do not want to suck the sediment (lees) back into the wine - remember we rely on natural sedimentation as our filtration method as we do not mechanically nor chemically filter our wines. This wine will be again siphoned into the French oak barrel.

This is Anton siphoning out of the demijon the Cabernet Franc into the French oak barrel.

This is Micheal diligently tagging the Cabernet Franc barrel.

Technorati Tags:ageing, natural, organic, wine, bordeaux, cabernet franc, via vecchia, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, flextank, french oak barrel
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We're On the Air!

2007-02-09T19:04:00.000-05:00

Boy, that was fun!
Today Michael and Paolo did a Radio Show - the "Kitchen Sink" program hosted by Zachary Lamas for WSCS 90.9FM, out of New Hampshire. They also have online Radio too - hope you caught it.
We tried to stay focused on what Via Vecchia holds dear in its wine making, with the emphasis of minimalist intervention and experience. We did not criticise the industry for what it generally does to make wine as we couched that in terms of they couldn't risk making wine our way and therefore needed the comfort blankets of the cultured yeasts, the copper sulfite, potassium suflites, sulfites, bentonite, filtration and so on. We said that wine drinkers, as consumers, should just check out the claims the wine makes as to being unfiltered etc, before they buy. We nearly got onto the dumbing down of food, but "Rasputin" pulled us back. "Rasputin" being the code word that Paolo and Mike agreed would be used by one if the other was ranting, grand-standing, being nasty or generally obnoxious.
I wonder what the listeners thought of us?

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Barrels, Drama & We're On The Air WSCS 90.9FM

2007-02-08T20:49:00.000-05:00

[here's Anton (left) and me (Paolo) with French Oak loaded up]
The French Oak arrived on Tuesday - and so did the snows. Mid afternoon Anton and I did a sanity check - do we just get them because we're excited and will do it under any conditions, no matter how bad, or do we wait. We decided to get them but not take the trailer and risk it sliding all over the place pulling the back end of the pickup all over the place.
In the end we loaded 6 barrels on the pickup and secured them with straps. They were held in place by a stand on the end. The remaining barrel and two stands when in the Explorer.
Marty was at the winery to help unload.

[above - here we all are with our pet cellar rat in middle - left to right, Michael, Marty, Cellar Rat, Paolo, Anton]
Drama.
Since the flextanks won't be here for the weekend there's no rush to do the Bordeaux so all we did on Wednesday was the Shiraz. Everything was going fine but then Marty said that the barrel we were filling was creaking. Was it the wood responding to slightly warmer wine? Was it the barrel settling on its rack as it got heavier? Creaking? So I turned the pump off and went to go see. Just as I arrived Marty pulled the hose out of the barrel and the wine exploded out of the bung hole!
What had happened was that as we were filling there was no air escaping and so the barrel was creaking as the pressure built up inside. You'd think the hose would have popped out of the bung hole. So a good thing we didn't keep on as we may have burst the barrel itself. Has that happened before?
We couldn't start the pump after that until after we disconnected all hoses and stripped the impeller housing down and then took a look at the drive pulley. We got it going again.
After we filled 2 barrels (@158gallons or 790 bottles) we then decanted the Shiraz in the demijons. This will be used to top up the Shiraz barrels.
On Saturday we'll do the Bordeaux blend, and next week the Sangiovese Pinot Noir.

Friday we're On Air at WSCS 90.9FM New Hampshire - I think they broadcast on the web too. We'll be talking at 2.45pm EST on the Kitchen-sink program. Soap-box time! We must behave.

And this is John who came by to lend a hand. He's siphoning the Shiraz in the demijon.

Where's The Stuff #2 - Barrel Update

2007-02-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

[no pics for the mo' - so here' s something we initially threw in with a file on images we associated with Via Vecchia Winery - it's someone waiting to get into the Galleria Degli Uffizi in Firenze. My nephew Stephen knows all about that because I took him there when he was about 12 years old and I made him queue for about 1 and 1/2 hours and I remember saying, "...because it's the Uffizi and you'll be grateful I made you stand in line to see the stuff inside when you're older." ]

The French Oak barrels are in Chicago. Will they get here tomorrow - Tuesday - ? We've been hit with some cold weather, so any excuse to delay shipment. They closed the schools here today because it was 5F / -15C and poor kiddies couldn't wait for their buses. I don't know, when I was a lad....blither, blather, rant, rave...what the world's coming to!

All I can say is I'm glad I buy the engine oil that's good for up to -20C below otherwise the engine would be very hard to turn over in the morning and probably wouldn't. As it is my gearbox is a bit stiff for the first few miles, so I guess that oil's not as tolerant of the cold.

I actually had ice form on the windows inside the car today despite the heat turned all the way up and on the second highest speed.

Anyway, enough of that. Hopefully we get the French Oak tomorrow and we'll get them into the winery. We'll let them "sit" for a day and then on Wednesday we will blend into them the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. That will probably do, then on Thursday we will do the Shiraz and bag up into storage the excess Cabernet Franc, if we don't bag it up on Wednesday.

The Sangiovese and Pinot Noir will have to wait the arrival of the flextank maturation vessels. Still looking to ship out on Feb 9th (not good, not good).

Technorati Tags:cabernet, pinot, sangiovese, merlot, french oak, flextank, maturation, cold, beauty, uffizi
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Scali's & Let Down

2007-02-02T16:21:00.000-05:00

[pic of Dante, in Pisa not Firenze as you'd likely assume]

Wednesday we had a change of venue for the weekly Via Vecchia Winery meeting. We went to Scali's restaurant. Quite a gem of a place, really. We met Frank (came over from Italy about 37 years ago with his parents) who runs the place and enjoyed his hospitality - he treated us to un piatto d' antipasto e poi, un digestivo per tutti. It's a great place that takes care of your needs and if you're appreciative you may get to sample something special that's not on the menu.
He actually loves our sanGiovese wine and was really impressed when he learned we make the genuine article without any added sugar, yeasts, coloring, glycerine, sulfites and so on as everyone else does. It was also nice to speak in Italian as I don't get that much of an opportunity these days and great to talk of mutual experiences of dining in Italy and so on and so forth. I'm sure we'll get into war stories before too long. Here's his link...
http://www.scaliristorante.com/home.html

As to putting the wine into barrels, which was meant to be tomorrow's activity, we had to cancel that because all shipments of French Oak barrels and Flextank maturation vessels have let us down.
The French Oak will get her next Tuesday (we hope) and the Flextank won't ship until feb 9!
Flextank cannot explain why they didn't ship since they were meant to go out 2 weeks ago! In fact they shipped the storage bag from Australia and it arrived here in three days! I suspect shippers play havoc with delivery due to the recent restrictive laws on driving hours that now include waiting time for loading/unloading - so they don't move until they have full or "economic" loads.
Flextank will see if they can get the maturation vessels out earlier. I do hope they can.

Welcome to ...
Yugoslavia
Slovakia
Brazil
Rep. Of Korea
China
Israel
And more from in the US, Canada and Italy.

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Where's the Stuff?

2007-01-30T23:48:00.000-05:00

(left to right - Marty, Paolo (me) , Anton and Michael).
Well, the storage bag arrived from FlexTank. All that way from Australia and it still beat the local shipment of the barrel equivalents out of California. oh Well. The French Oak barrels are on their way too as are the barrel bungs.
We hope they will all arrive for Saturday as Saturday is the full moon ("luna piena"). We like to do things by the full moon. A lot of people doubted me on that, but seems like I'm not alone. I don't even feel the need to explain why we do it ... it's good enough that it has been done that way for as long as people can remember (well, a very small group of people in Toscana).
If any of you have yahoo mail, I think i can hook up a webcam and run it via Yahoo Chat so you can see what we're up to on Saturday. If I do I'll let you know on here which Chat Room we'll be in. Just go in and request to see our webcam. I do not promise anything though. In fact it might be dangerous as we will be tempted to show-off and do stupid things. So maybe not such a good idea after all. Forget it...maybe.

Almost forgot - going to a restaurant interested in our wine tomorrow.

Hello to...
Italy, Belgium, Ireland, GA, KY.

New Ageing Area #2 & a Chainsaw

2007-01-28T10:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we all completed the organization of the new wine ageing area rather quickly. After a mere hour the pickup was loaded up and ready to go - all that delayed us somewhat was waiting for Sofia to get ready.
The area we have allocated for ageing should keep us going for a while. It's tucked away off the main production floor too. Getting it ready for next week, when the first French Oak and Flextank barrels go in, mainly involved clearing out junk. We saved off some nice pieces of wood though as they always come in handy, but cut up an old bed frame that Jerry will take down to those who live in the woods so they can use it as fuel. Jerry should be back from New Mexico soon.
Here's a movie of Marty firing up the chainsaw. Not the correct nor safe way to start it up though. And this from the Marty who forbid Michael to ever touch the "straps of death" (more on that later). Sorry, forgot you can't change the orientation.

Michael did touch the straps of death though. these are the thin metal straps used to hold the pallet loads of grape cases together. On crush day there was a lot of "be careful" about cutting those straps. Anyway, Micheal touched them but only after asking if he could, but by this time we were either more nonchalant about injuries or just didn't care anymore as he went off with barely an acknowledgment from us. And he did a nice job too - here's a picture of them coiled into a cardboard box. Still deadly all coiled up waiting to strike - now with added rusty bits.

We set off in Anton's pickup to the waste transfer station. Some of us had never been and there was much talk of an almost mythical group of people, the Salvagers or Dumpster Divers. No doubt these folk play havoc on the unsuspecting dump as we saw many signs whilst at the dump warning them off. How dare they just come in and try to recycle stuff! So it was fun throwing trash into a pit and Anton didn't suffer any punctured tires.
On the way back we stopped off in Delaware for elevenses, for it was 11. Michael, Paolo and Sofia opted for a slice of Americana at the Hamburger in, est 1932, but just like stepping back in the 1950's. Paolo resisted the biscuits and gravy. Anton and Marty went to the Acapulco for uevos rancheros. After that we visited the quality wines and gifts shop. it was very encouraging that the first words out of the shopkeeper's mouth was, "have you got any wine yet?" I'd only been there once before and we got talking so this was a nice surprise.
Back at the winery we finished organising the space and after a bottle of wine (Sangiovese/piot noir 2005) we got to configuring the hoses for next week's pumping. There was a moment when it looked like we were a connection and clamp short, but we finally figured it out.
And then some more wine, this time from our friend at Sorrenti Winery in PA (Cherry Valley Vineyards).
And a little while later, some of our BDX from 2005. Here we see Towelie organising getting a bottle of wine out of the barrel.

And so, after a lot more chat, ended a very fruitful drive around the dinner table.

PS - Almost forgot...
Welcome to Nigeria, Spain and Australia ('bout time too).

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New Ageing Area

2007-01-26T17:43:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow we sort out the new ageing area where we'll store the barrels of our wine. I hope that we'll have pics to show you as we've been too long without them, but please go back over our Archive to see lots and lots of pics and video.
We're concerned you're getting bored, so please go back and see just how interesting and amusing we can be.
Michael - no trials of strength please - we don't need more injuries.

Kelly - thanks for your Comment. We discussed it on Wednesday. You certainly brought up a couple of experiential aspects of the cork that we had missed.

Cork or Screw & Welcome to New Visitors

2007-01-22T19:50:00.000-05:00

Now I can quite easily lower the tone on how I phrase this, but the question was asked by Kelly ( OR), on whether we're going to go "screw cap" or cork? (the best rude way of phrasing this question wins "something").

Of late this has become very topical with many a published opinion, but for now Via Vecchia Winery will use corks, whether of best 5-ring quality or made up of cork pieces (agglomerated?). We will not be doing screw cap. I believe we would also entertain plastic corks, but forget what we said about that... it has been a while.

There are many theories out there on which solution is best for preserving quality, and which is best from guarding against unwanted bacterias and growths, but all that aside, would you use a renewable source (at face value and not going into the ins and outs of this) and was bio-degradable or one that introduced more non-degradable stuff to the landfill?

From a buyer's perspective, which would you buy for the dinner table, or as a gift and which would you buy for a casual party or for yourself? And be honest, would you avoid wines with screw caps and how would you react to a $30+ bottle of wine with a screw cap? Is the gut reaction to screw caps one of "cheapo plonk?"

[at this point I digressed an went off into a world of chemically adjusted wines tasting of wood and longing to go to next year's Vini Veri (true wines) festival in Italy with our wine. But I deleted it and spared you all]

So, Comments Are Welcome - Even the French are going with it - well, they have always had screw caps , just go into any Mamout store and check out what the Vin de Table's in.

Welcome to New Visitors!
As expected, Oregon made an appearance in the guise of visitors from Portland.
Pennsylvania too - Philadelphia & Narberth.
Maine - South Portland
New York - Canton
Rhode Island - Warwick (I'd say "worrick" as in Dionne Warwick and Warwick castle, but then I say "garidge" for "garage" which is apparently correct according to Anton's research on pronouncing "Meritage")
California - San Leandro

And Further Afield..!
Estonia again, this time from Tallinn
India, Maharashtra represented by the fine city of Bombay
Romania and city of Galati (nice football team)
Canada, Manitoba, city of Plum Coulee (mmm, tasty).

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