I’ve worked at Michel-Schlumberger for something like 14 years. It always amazes me to tell that to folks because I’ve always been the type of guy who’s always on the move. I get bored very easily and I love to learn new stuff. Status quo is my biggest turn-off. But I’m not the only one with such an affliction.

Brunson’s the kind of guy who absolutely thrives on trying anything new. Here’s a classic example – years ago I began plucking on an electric guitar and I casually remarked (joked) to Mike that he should learn to play drums so we could start a band and become rock stars. Within a few months he saved up and bought a kit, set it up in his garage and began practicing. That was about 10 years ago and now he is a rock star. The guy is crazy like that.

And it’s not just extra-curricular stuff. For all the hours both Mike and I work growing grapes and making wine we spend at least an equal amount of time thinking and pondering and dreaming of cool new stuff we can try out in the vineyard and cellar. One of the reasons this year’s harvest was extra special and fun for us was because of all the experimental stuff we had going on. Here’s one small (but fun) example from Crush 2009, complete with shots of the action!

First, we selected the very best fruit from our very best Cabernet vineyard block – 100% “Jackson Selection” cab from our organically-grown Bradford Mountain vineyard. This is the same stuff that is the base for our stunningly stellar Deux Terres Bordeaux blend.

These days the status quo in wine production is big lots of grapes fermented in huge stainless steel tanks utilizing pumps to mix the must for extraction (“pump-overs”). We decided to take a much more minimalist, old school, and hand-crafted approach to this particular wine.

Cellar Master Ramiro Leon carefully removed the heads from 3 beautiful French oak barrels and we very gently de-stemmed and crushed our prized cab grapes into the wooden vessels for fermentation. The must was “punched-down” three times daily, entirely by hand. Winemaker Brunson opted for a completely native yeast fermentation in respect for the special grapes and our very special Benchland terroir. Once fermentation was complete we carefully dumped the barrels onto a screen over a sump and Mike, Blair (our good friend and intern from Australia) and I HAND PRESSED the must. At about 20 minutes of pressing per barrel it was a lot of hard work but it was also a fine, sunny Sunday and we were having such a blast doing it and the wine tasted KILLER!!! And in the end our 6 hands pressed enough wine to perfectly top a single French oak barrel – how’s that for meant to be?

I don’t mean to be a tease – this wine will likely age in barrel for over 2 years and get another year of bottle age or so on top of that. That means there’ll be no cork popping for almost 4 more years. And if we do decide to release the wine on it’s own there will be only a precious 20 cases or so to go around (yet another reason to join our Wine Bench Club). More importantly, I think projects like these clearly demonstrate Mike’s steadfast commitment not to be steadfast. There’s always something new at Michel-Schlumberger. Bored? Why, no…

Hey folks! Really sorry I’ve been blog-free for a few weeks. As you can imagine it’s been a bit crazy with Crush in full swing the past month. But I’m back and I’m very, very pleased to announce that Harvest 2009 is officially over at Michel-Schlumberger — the last grapes were picked on Sunday, just before the dreaded typhoon storm hit Sonoma County on Monday night and dumped several inches of rain on us.

WOW, what a year! Seriously folks, I’ve worked in the vineyard and cellar of M-S for 13 years and I’ve never seen happier vines or tasted better juice. At the risk of jinxing the vintage I have to say that these will be among the finest wines ever produced by Mike Brunson (please don’t tell him I said that). I’ll elaborate on this in future posts but right now my brain is foggy and creativity is running low. What? I’m going to take the easy way out this week out and post some random camera phone shots of 2009 Crush. Check it out:

O.K., you probably can't actually see them but this shot is from the crush pad, minutes away from the end of Harvest 2009, as the pickers work their way through Bloque Loco (cabernet sauvignon).

Basura bucket.

Fermenting must in small bins. These are punched down several times each day by hand.

Brunson shows his son Zach the finer points of making wine.

Ever wonder what it looks like to clean the inside of a 12 ton press in the dark?

Intern Oren punches down some cab in an open top fermenter. Notice how the picture quality is all fuzzy -- that's what happens to your cell phone camera after you shoot pics in a dark, wet press.

This post is dedicated to Oren's dog, Gisele... A very good dog.

So Harvest 2009 is cruising along at Michel-Schlumberger. All the pinot blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir and zinfandel has been picked and squashed and is bubbling away in barrels, bins and tanks. The big reds aren’t far behind. It rained a bit yesterday (no picking today) so I have a chance to get caught up on catching people up.

Hand-picked Dijon clone chardonnay from the benchlands

Winemaker Brunson is busy walking the vineyards, sampling grapes, checking numbers, sniffing, tasting, hauling hoses, hydrating yeast, driving forklift and making the occasional beer run. But in between these activities I was able to pin him down for a quick Q & A Harvest update:

How many Harvests have you done in your life?

This is my 22nd harvest. More than half my life.

The best thing about Harvest is:

To finally have a chance to taste all of our efforts in the vineyard.

The worst thing about Harvest is:

That the growing season ends.

I know it’s early but what’s your favorite juice so far?

I have to say the Zinfandel is tasting very nice as is the Chardonnay from Bradford Mt.

What has surprised you most about the Harvest so far?

How calm things are. We have the finest crew in DCV…hands down.

Winemakers often say that they have dreams (or nightmares) about grapes during Harvest. Have you? If so, describe it.

I had one the other night. I walked over this bluff -where some of our finest Cabernet Sauvignon comes from- and everything was gone gone. Trellis wire, end posts, irrigation lines and vines…all gone. Just bare land. Even in my dream I knew that it wasn’t very realistic.

da man

What’s your favorite music to pop in the Cellar stereo in the middle of a long day of crushing?

I like reggae music. I call it musical air conditioning. Bunny Wailer’s Blackheart Man is an amazing album.

Is there any Harvest crew in Dry Creek Valley that could beat the M-S team in a game of hoops?

Winemaker Brunson doing some night dunking

Beat MS? I don’t know about that. Maybe Gallo could field a team to challenge us. They have a lot more to choose from though. Dry Creek Vineyard might have some gamers. Amongst the little wineries, probably not. Preston? Nope. Quivira? Nope. Bella? Don’t know. Unti? Probably not. Raffanelli? One of the daughters played college hoops I think, but I don’t think they have anyone else. Maybe Mauritson? I don’t know their crew that well. I think Peterson could round up a team. They just won the softball World Series. But we all know that softball isn’t the same as hoops, right?

Rumor has it that the annual Cellar and Vineyard Crew Harvest parties are legendary. True?

Yes…

We’ve all heard Winemakers go on and on about the complexities of a new vintage. I’d like one simple haiku that sums up the 2009 Harvest at Michel-Schlumberger.

Stony fruit arrives
To the careful waiting hands
Now transformation

A flock of starlings over a field. Beautiful.

Folks who stop by Michel-Schlumberger during the Harvest season are almost always shocked to see the Cellar and Vineyard crews drinking beer instead of wine in the afternoon after a hard day’s work. And, believe me, it’s not just us – our local little store in Dry Creek Valley can barely keep the coolers stocked with the stuff come late August. If you don’t see the Winemaker or Cellar Master around the crush pad during Harvest there’s an awful good chance he (or she) is out making a quick beer run. And why are we not sipping a nice Pinot between press cycles? Well, I guess mainly it’s because we’re working with and tasting wine all the time, every day. It’s just simply nice to mix it up – give the brain and palate a break from all that is grape.

In that spirit, this blog post has virtually nothing to do with wine. No, I’m writing about salad. Or more specifically, I’m writing about the greatest salad in the world — Salade Niçoise And I have about 20 minutes (and half a can of beer) before the next press load to do it.

As suggested by the name, Salade Niçoise is a specialty of the Cote D’Azur region of France, originating in and named for the city of Nice. There are all sorts of variations on this classic but I’m going to focus on what I know and love – my wife Lorraine’s rendition. It’s quick, cheap, easy, healthy and oh so French. So here’s how Lo rolls:

Slice up some nice heirloom tomatoes from your garden or your local Farmer’s Market. Plop ‘em down on a plate or shallow bowl. Break up nice good canned tuna over the tomatoes. Yeah, you can be all hardcore and use a seared ahi steak but, to be honest, I’ve tried both and canned is actually better in this dish. Besides, Salade Niçoise supposed to be simple and quick.

Next, dice up some fresh bell peppers, green onions, and red onions. Sprinkle liberally. Toss on some very thin slices of radish. Toss in some green or black olives. Plop on a quartered soft-boiled egg.

O.K., now for the critical last touches. In my opinion there are two types of people in this world – folks who realize the indescribable brilliance of anchovies and folks who just don’t get it. Lay down a few choice anchovy fillets right on top of the heap. Don’t be bashful. And just before you serve up your masterpiece drizzle on some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add a sprinkle of kosher salt. Maybe some black pepper, too.

There you have it. Light a candle, put some fresh cut flowers on the table, call up some Miles Davis on the iPod and you’ve got more than a meal – you’ve got a Salade Niçoise.

And what to drink? Well, I guess technically you could pair it with a crisp Bandol rose but that would be too predictable. Instead, I go for a bone dry Tanqueray martini with Noilly Prat vermouth. Oh my gosh…

Peace and Salads,

Tony

Pinot blanc juice right from the press. Wow -- this stuff is nectar!

IT IS ON! I am extremely pleased to announce the start of the 2009 Harvest Season at Michel-Schlumberger Estate. Busy Brunson will no doubt check in soon with juicy details on the vintage but, for now, I wanted to post a quick photo series of the action.

It all began around 6:30 this morning when our very fine vineyard crew began picking the WPB block – west pinot blanc. I was hoping to get some cool shots of the crew harvesting the grapes in the beautifully misty morning but harvest prep in the Cellar took precedence (there’s always plenty of scrubbing to be done each day before the grapes hit the crush pad). So anyway, here we go. It’s Harvest 2009:

After hand-picking, Ramon drives the pinot blanc grapes down to the crush pad. I tried to get him to pose and smile but he's kinda shy...

There -- I caught him smiling!

Plump pinot blanc grapes ready to be pressed.

But before pressing the crew assembles for the annual Winemaker toast for a happy and safe vintage.

Brunson's blessing.

Sparkling wine at 9:00 AM. Tis the season!

The first load of grapes is dumped into the press.

A lovely cluster of pinot blanc.

Our first tank of juice for the vintage. Soon there will be more. A lot more...

Yes!  The 2008 harvest is finished!  We brought in the last of our Cabernet Sauvignon Thursday.  The vineyard crew was very excited knowing that they had finished bringing in the grapes that they had worked on all year.  

It’s a great feeling.  

As we do every year, we had our Harvest Party the following day.  So, on Friday we did our punchdowns/pumpovers, barreled down one lot of Carmenere and pressed one load of Merlot and off we went to Javier Acevedo Sr.’s house for a evening of unbelievable food, fun, camaraderie and of course a bit of futbol.  

Oh yeah, we also drank some beers.  

Just shortly after we had finished our early dinner (right around the time retired folks normally eat) we had a surprise visitor. Ziggy the Wine Galshowed up with four tequilas and lead us a through a quick (but effective) tequila tasting.  We tasted one silver, two reposados and one anejo.  Each tequila had a distinct flavor and sense of place.  The silver was way too quaffable (reads dangerous).  The reposados were interesting with one tasting a bit like cheese rind (in a good way).  And the anejo was as beautifully structured and elegant as a nice cognac (yum).  As quickly as she showed up, Ziggy (and her one woman “entourage” Susanna) had left the building and we continued with our party.  As we do at all these harvest celebrations, we reminisced about the years challenges.  Like the time Juan slipped on the wet permanent cover crop (tumbling down the hillside).  Or the day that the cellar crew actually beat the vineyard crew in soccer (once in a lifetime).  Or the beauty of all the fruit that is now in the cellar.  And of course all the other happenings from the vintage that I dare not go into here on this blog.  It’s a great way to spend an afternoon and evening.  We played some pool, listened to some music that made us dance, hugged each other and drank some more beers.  It’s days like these that make us all appreciate what we have here at Michel-Schlumberger…one big family. 

Now that the fog has rolled into Dry Creek Valley, the grapes are finally getting the hang time that they will surely benefit from.    With these cool, wet (we call it frizzle…fog+ drizzle= frizzle) days and nights, the ripening process has slowed considerably and flavors, acids and tannins all seem to be coming together perfectly. 

We picked some clone six cabernet sauvignon off the Bradford Mountain Ranch on Saturday and it came in with beautiful flavors and aromas (not to mention color).   The sugar was right where you’d like to see it and the skins were thinner and more delicate than the block adjacent to it. 

Ah, the physiology of vines, the subtleties of clonal selections and the effects of mother nature.  Cabernet seems to benefit from a little moisture on the skins.  It wasn’t until this marine layer rolled in that we began to see a change in the skins of most of the bordeaux varietals (we grow cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, malbec, petit verdot and carmenere).  Up until a week ago, the skins were tough (a response to the extreme heat?) and the seeds were still attached to the pulp.  Now that we have some cool nights, the grapes are moving towards the latter stages of ripening which includes the maturation of tannins in the skins.  It’s a delicate walk here.  You want to have nice ripe tannins, but you certainly don’t want pHat, flabby tannins either.  One way to achieve this is to taste in the vineyard everyday to get a good idea of the status of each block.   So far the season has been kind and with this cool weather slated for the next few days, it looks like we’ll continue to reap the benefits of mother nature’s air conditioning.  I like the fog.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Mike Brunson Harvest Update

It’s very, very quiet.  That’s strange because all week long, from before dawn till past dark, the air has been filled with the usual din of harvest: tractors rumbling in from the vineyard, laden with bins of grapes; the clanging of stainless steel tanks being cleaned and prepped; the roar of the crusher/de-stemmer; scratchy music blasting from the juice-soaked boom box – Ween, Johnny Cash, Calexico, Chris Harford, Funkadelic; the laughter of interns pummeling each other with grapes.

But as I write it is Saturday (tho’ today is Wednesday!)  – we’re not picking today and Brunson is out in the vineyard…I’m the only one in the cellar and, well, it’s quiet.

My primary task today is doing the punch-downs.  Right now we’ve got 3 small open top fermenting tanks filled with very lightly crushed pinot noir grapes, and 6 even smaller “T-bins” filled with zinfandel.  Right after crushing, the must (crushed fruit) in the bins looks like thick, dark blackberry jam – and smells like it, too.  Once the juice begins fermenting the must begins to stratify – the seeds sink to the bottom and the grape skins float to the top to form a semi-solid cap.  Since nearly all of the color, tannin and flavor of a finished wine comes from the skin of the grape it’s very important to keep the juice in contact with the skins.  The punch-down device is a long stainless steel rod with a handle on one end and a horizontal perforated plate on the other (picture an over-sized potato masher).  We use this device to mix the fermenting must.  A good punch-down is vigorous enough to break up the cap and get some much appreciated oxygen to the yeast, but not so violent as to crush the seeds at the bottom of the bins which would potentially release harsh “green” tannins.

The T-bins are easy enough (they’re only about 3 feet wide and high) but the open tops involve some real exercise.  A redwood board lies across the top of the tank, which sits about 5 feet high.  The trick is to put all your weight on the handle of the device and try to slowly punch a hole in the cap.  Once a hole is formed you work along its edges, gradually increasing the size of the hole until the entire cap is submerged and mixed.  The reward for a good, vigorous punch-down is the aroma – a huge waft of fizzy, spicy, yeasty, wild berry erupts from the must when the fermenting juice is splashed around.

I like the quiet cellar.  After all the buzz of the past few days it’s nice to relax the pace a bit and really “commune” with the fermenting juice.  But the syrah is getting close so this peace and quiet is short lived…

I smell busy around the corner.

Yes. Today is the first day in about a year that I’ve smelled red fermentation here in the cellar of Michel-Schlumberger. It’s true that we harvested those grapes about a week ago and the musts are just now really starting to flex their fermentation muscles. After 3-5 days soaking in their cozy little open top bins, they now have had their rendevous with natural (resident) yeast and are in the process of conversion (sugar-alcohol). This produces a beautiful smell that can display some of the characteristics that you’ll see later in the wines life. We have a pinot noir that smells just like fresh crushed strawberries and the zinfandel is showing more cinnamon and spice than I can ever remember. It’s a fantastic process to participate in.

Speaking of participation. It’s about time we give credit where credit is due. Our crew here at Michel-Schlumberger is one of the best around (if you want to argue this, you might want to do your homework first). In the next few weeks, I’ll be individually highlighting all of these folks and how they got into the wine industry. I’m fortunate to have such a great team as it makes my job not only more efficient, but also makes it very fun as all of these folks are my dear friends as well. Things are pretty sweet (pun intended) here at Michel-Schlumberger and they’re about to get even sweeter. Yes.

It has been hot here in Dry Creek Valley. Not just belly aching warm, but truly hot! 109 degrees this past Thursday. Yikes! The Pinot Blanc was already harvested (before this heat wave) with near perfect ripeness for Pinot Blanc. Yes! Even with the extreme heat, we’ve been cozy (55-60 degrees) at night giving both grapes and humans time to recover. That’s when our harvest team comes in and begins picking (~3am) under lights. This insures that the fruit we harvest is cool, crisp and concise. This preserves the subtleties of aroma and perfume that we love in our wines. It also allows our team to work in the coolness of early morning, which, if you’ve ever picked grapes, is very, very important. We like happy pickers to pick our happy grapes. Makes sense, right? The last benefit to the cool pre dawn harvest is that it keeps our electricity use down. If the grapes come in cool, we don’t have to try and cool them down. Nice.

Talking to industry people at the Dry Creek General Store, it’s not just us at Michel-Schlumberger that have been working hard to preserve fruit quality, it’s everyone in the valley that has spent the year trying to grow the best fruit possible. To all farmers, this is nothing new. Every single season there are challenges and this vintage is certainly no different. Monday’s harvest was Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a touch of Zinfandel…and boy, oh boy, does it look good!

Happy Labor Day to all – and what a fitting description of the Holiday as most of us in the wine business are busy laboring today!  And no one is laboring harder than our vineyard and winemaking crew, both headed up by Mike Brunson. 

I got a chance to film Mike late Friday — take a peek at the video below as Mike takes a break from harvest to update us all on the state of the vintage in Dry Creek Valley as well as some specifics here at Michel-Schlumberger. 

All in all, things are looking great.  Being high up in the hills & benchlands above Dry Creek Valley, we were not hurt by a frost this Spring that really challenged other regions in the state.  Frost tends to migrate to the lower parts of valleys — we fortunately don’t really have those!  But we do have steep hillsides which tends to challenge yields in general.  Our grapes are tiny, highly concentrated, & extremely flavorful…but as a result, the crop off these vineyards is small. 

We’ve picked all of the early ripening Pinot Blanc; pulled in several ton of the Chardonnay; picked a bit of Pinot Noir (for a special rose we’ll have available only at the winery!); and a splash of Viognier.  That’s right, Viognier.  We have 15 varietals growing on the Estate — but only 5 have their own label.  The rest are like spices in the kitchen for Mike to cook with as the wines progress.  It is one of the secrets to our fantastically complex and tasty wines!  Check out Mike himself on video and we’ll keep you posted weekly on the harvest progress.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pinot Blanc Harvest 2008

My alarm was supposed to go off at 4:30am. It didn’t. I knew I was going to be late for the first day of harvest. Just as I was getting up, our National Sales Manager Jayme Moffi (who was staying at the estate and had a flight to catch) shot me a text…”FYI, the power is off at the winery.” What?! I’m late and no power once I get there. Argh! This is not shaping up the way I had envisioned it.

I arrived at the East Pinot Blanc just before sunrise. It was beautiful outside. About 52 degrees with clear skies and a crew that was so positive and happy that I quickly forgot about the late start and the lack of electricity issue. The grapes were delicious…cool and snappy with tons of west dry creek goodness. We had one quick chat about fruit quality standards and the crew of 5 men and 5 women took off to pick this small block of Pinot Blanc. The crew must have been training for this moment because it was an Olympic best. The hammered out 5 tons in an hour and a half. One of our Italian tractors decided it needed a rest in the middle of the row with two full bins…it just wouldn’t start. No big drama. Adolfo and Javier Sr. were all over it. Within 5 minutes the tractor was on its way to the winery. Sr. and I joked about the way the morning was starting and how fun it is to face these challenges right off the bat. Ha ha. Ha ha ha. Just then Javier’s phone rings. It’s Juan. He’s at the winery and the electric forklift is dead. Argh! We get the other forklift out and get the bins off the tractor and on to the scale. The fruit looks wonderful. No burn, no mildew, no bugs. Just greenish/yellow clusters stacked one on top of the other. Hand picked by people who care. Grown by the vineyardists who want to grow the very best fruit they can. Once it’s in the bin you can see all of this. And then you taste it…my god! Glorious!

The cellar crew was poised as was Wendy (because she gets there at 8am…nice Wendy!). Wendy rang the mission bell and we toasted the harvest with some sparkling and donuts that Tony had brought for the crew (Thanks Nature Boy). It was at this point that I realized that all these trials were just little speed bumps and that this crew (best ever?) can handle anything. We looked around and the electricity was back on…nice!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I just got back from grape sampling and guess what?  The grapes from our Dry Creek Valley Benchland Estate are getting sweet. The weather was warm (90+ for the past week) but has cooled off (~70) and is expected to stay this way for a few more days.  I’m excited to say that I’m sure we’ll be harvesting by the end of the week.

The Pinot Blanc is fresh and tart with the seeds just starting to turn brown (a sign of physiological ripeness).

The grapes are still snappy and the vines are still green. This cool weather is exactly what the Dr. ordered. Which Dr. you ask? I’ve always been much more a fan of Dr. J than Trapper John, MD,

so let’s go with Julius Erving on this one. In all seriousness though, the vintage is poised to be a great one with light crop levels and distinguished parcel flavors driving the boat.   Javier Sr. and the crew are pacing as they wait for the starting gun (Olympic year reference). If any of you are going to be around these parts in the next few weeks, you should cruise by and check out the fun. 

Stay tuned…