Stealing a winemaker-friend’s post work recap they do with their crew.
I think this could be a fun share from the cellar folk.
One Rose - let’s not wax poetic about how great the fruit was… “this year I didn’t have to fix a solenoid” would be a great rose… which I did not have the pleasure of… as I once again had a broken solenoid on a press.
One Thorn - ideally you’re not throwing anyone under the bus… vest wearers and first time pressure washers should be safe from scrutiny here. Self sacrifice / self depreciation is always encouraged.
I took over an operation Sept 1st as an army of one in the cellar. I crushed 40 tons of Pinot Noir… for the first time in 5 years I didn’t have any leakers. Finally a place that has enough space to not put empties outside.
Second degree burn on top of my foot from a moment under the release valve on a barrel steamer. Easily one of the dumbest things that’s happened to me. Moving too fast and not wearing the correct shoes that day… I was hobbling for the last three weeks. The worst part was being slow, and not the pain IYKYK.
*** runner up thorn is I engaged in an IG rant about Verjus for multiple days during the haze of fermentation - it seemed to be the only reprieve from grapes at the time. I let myself down.
I’m sure @Matt_Perry will play this game… although he hasn’t played golf with me yet.
Thanks for the bump. If it makes you fill better I played my first post-harvest round of golf last weekend.
My rose for 2026 would definitely be how fast our native fermentations RAGED all the way through ferment. Most of my wines were dry in 10-14 days. Things usually slow down at the end of ferment, and some coddling is required to make sure primary finishes before MLF kicks in. And yes, my fermentation tracking management system is sharpie on duct tape.
My thorn for the vintage would definitely be both of our kids bringing home a stomach bug from school/day care. Nothing like being sick and then having to go check on barrels in a hot and humid room full of reductive Chardonnay ferments.
My wine related thorn for the vintage would be completely my fault and all logistical. We rent space in someone else’s winery. Their press holds three tons and their tanks hold three tons worth of juice, so naturally we bought three tons from each vineyard. This year we increased production a bit and bought extra fruit to support our current vineyard partners. So yeah, twice as many press loads and some filling barrels between pressing to make room in the tank. Débourbage is the process of racking juice after pressing, and these barrels of Johan went sans débourbage.
Rose: This year we experimented with extended maceration. Mostly because of circumstance.. the ferments flew through fermentation and needed more time to flesh out on the skins. Really happy with the results so far!
Thorn: We were deep in to harvest and had 2 presses filled with Riesling, used the sorting line and the whole processing space/crushpad. And then around 4PM lost all water pressure which did not return until the next day. With no direct solution.. those were some stressfull and inventfull hours😅 in the end we managed!
Rose: Decided to make 3 different ‘sparkling’ wines this harvest (I’m referring to them as Methode Ancestrale)
Thorn: Did a rough filtration on all 3 prior to putting in bottle as we will not be disgorging - and in one case, the filter ‘did not work’ exactly as I had intended it to . . .
Oh - and I STILL have one box of syrah that is yet to have been pressed, though will be doing so tomorrow (and NO, this was not picked at 35 brix!!! - it’s a vineyard known to ripen later and the syrah came in about 24 or so . . .)
Débourbage is the process of racking juice after pressing, and these barrels of Johan went sans débourbage.
