The wines are in tanks and barrels, fermenting away. Evelyn is excited about the overall quality of this year’s harvest, and early indications suggest excellent wines will be made from 2015 grapes. Our Russian River Valley Rose of Pinot Noir and Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc will be the first releases, early next year.
The long warm growing season has come to an end. Mike Martini and I went to the Sierra’s over the past several days for a trade tasting and were treated to the first snow storm of the year. This weekend several ski resorts open for business. Closer to home, we in Sonoma County enjoyed over an inch of rain last weekend; and although it did little to alleviate the overall drought situation, it did provide enough moisture to ensure a healthy cover crop for the county’s vineyards. Here’s to a long, wet winter!
This weekend marks the annual Russian River Wine Road’s Wine and Food Affair, where local wineries pair their wines with dishes emphasizing local food products. Instead of creating a dish or two to pair with our wines, this year we have decided to go straight to the sources, and will team up with neighboring bakers and cheese makers and bring it down to the essentials – bread, wine and cheese. We will proudly feature the cheeses of neighbors Bohemian Creamery and Joe Matos Cheese Factory and the breads of nearby Wild Flour Bread. This is truly an opportunity to taste the best Sonoma County has to offer.
Now is also the time to enter our wines into the first of the 2016 wine competitions. We have entered two of the country’s biggest competitions – the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Wine Competition (not a typo!). Results will be made public right after the first of the year.
It is time to stock up for the Holidays. We have wines that are made for celebration; from crisp whites to full bodied reds (and a delightful rose to boot). Come by the Tasting Room now that the summer crowds have taken leave and discover what family wineries are all about.
Cheers,
Mike Tierney
President, Taft Street Winery