Earlier in the month, the NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service) released the 2018 Grape Crush Report which is an impressive 164 pages of all kinds of geeky information. The bottom line is that California Crushed (processed) 4,506,583 tons of grapes…
Pre-dawn one cold morning last November, Steve and I were standing in the Camp Four vineyard in Santa Ynez staring at 12 macro bins heaping with Cabernet Franc grapes. I was contracted for 12,000 pounds but what stood before us…
As the weather warms and the winter clouds begin to fade, the grape vines are waking up. The vineyards have soaked up the winter rains that will nourish the plants throughout the summer. As the sun warms the vineyard and…
As spring rolls in, it’s time to rack and roll in the cellar. The 2017 wine is getting ready for bottling and the 2018 wine is waking up and growing up. The French call this process elvage which is comparable…
[dc]L[/dc] ast week we talked about barrels, but what about bottles? Starting about 6,000 BCE large earthenware containers called “kvevri” were used in the country of Georgia; they were coated with beeswax were used for both the fermentation and storage…
[dc]A[/dc] s a winemaker, I smell a lot of wine. Some wines are very aromatic and others are more reserved. Some smell like fruit while others are earthier or herbaceous. Each wine has its own set of aromas based upon…
Next week a small armada of Koi Zen Cellars folks will be converging in Sacramento. Nothing starts the new year off as a trip to Sacramento for the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium. On January 29-31, thousands of merchants, vendors,…
The 2018 harvest is about to start and Mother Nature has decided she is not going to be easy or timid – she wants to start with a bang! The grapes have been ripening in what most farmers are calling…
We are so happy to announce that we will be releasing our 2016 Syrah during August’s Wine Club Release Party. Wine club members will be the first to taste this great wine – it will be released to the public…
This year we are contracting for 5 tons of Grenache which is a new varietal for us @KoiZen and I am getting super excited along with all of the anxiety with the rapidly approaching harvest. Grenache (Garnacha in Spain) is…