A First Taste of the 2011 Harvest

A few staff at the winery were treated to a tasting of the fresh wines from the 2011 harvest before Thanksgiving last week – here’s a few pics to share from the afternoon! 

Most of the whites have gone through fermentation, but are still unclarified and cloudy.  It was fascinating to try the different tank samples of Riesling, each fermented with a different yeast.  Some were more fruity, some held a smoother mouth feel.  By the time these wines are ready to go, each of these different components will be blended together to improve the sum of the parts. 

Unfinished Riesling

 

Next we moved on to the 2011 Pinot Blanc from the Hawthorne Vineyard – another very promosing fruity and floral white wine – can’t wait to get these finished and in the bottle!The 2011 Pinot Grigio is looking terrific and is expected to be released early 2012 – and with this record setting harvest year, highest tonnage on record, we won’t be running out as with previous vintages!

 

Unfinished Riesling

Chateau Chantal CEO and Winemakers

HPB = Hawthorne Vineyard Pinot Blanc

Winemaker Brian Hosmer Gives some Riesling a Whiff

 

Chateau Chantal Harvest 2011 Winemaker Update

Chateau Chantal, Sept. 9^th, 2011

It’s almost that time of year again!  Paul, Brian and I are anxiously watching the weather, counting clusters and scrambling to get ready for the 2011 harvest.  As of Sept. 6^th we were at 2,147 growing degree days, base 50.  The 21 year average for Old Mission Peninsula is 2,055 so we’re ahead of that but still behind last year when we were at 2,414 for this date.  Growing Degree Days (GDD) are a little like pH, nobody really knows what they are, but they are the only objective way we have in agriculture of comparing one year to all of the rest of the years.

Bird Protection Netting

 

 

 

The bottom line is that we are quite excited about how things in the vineyards look this year.  I’m estimating the crop size to be almost 30% higher than last year and that’s good because we need to build up our stock again after last year’s small crop.  The challenge will be in getting that size crop to the proper ripeness; the larger the crop, the longer it takes to ripen.  The number one question in the Wine Shop is:  “when are you going to start harvesting”.  That’s easy to answer, tell me what the weather each day is going to be for the next 4 weeks and I’ll tell you when we’ll start.

This has been a beautiful week with plenty of sun and warm temperatures.  The red varieties are changing color quickly now and the whites are starting to go from green to a little more yellow.  We have been eating the Himrods,( table grapes) outside of the Wine Shop for a week now and they are tasting really good.  Things are looking good through Monday but then it looks like rain and much cooler temps. for a few days.  Who knows after that?  In all likelihood, we’ll probably start harvest around the 3^rd of Oct. which is just about average.

We have been busy putting bird netting up on many of our vineyards and installing electric fences in an attempt to keep raccoons out.  If you come around you will also be treated to the melodic sound of propane, bird scare cannons and Avalarms, which broadcast bird distress calls.  (If you don’t believe they’re ‘melodic’, just ask the neighbors who occasionally have to remind us when we forget to turn them off at night!)  Everything wants our grapes because they are so darn good!

In the cellar, our hugely expanded cellar which already feels like it’s too small; we are frantically trying to get everything we will need for sale before the end of the year bottled.  We also have been distilling cherries for Eau-de-vie, cherry wine for brandy for Cerise and Cerise Noir and 2010 grape wine for our grape brandy.  Speaking of grape brandy, we will be releasing our first brandy around the Christmas holidays.  It has been in barrels for 5+ years.  Marie-Chantal can write all about the name and packaging and price but I’ll just let you know that, as a brandy drinker, this stuff is REALLY good.  Stop by after Thanksgiving and we’ll try a little.  You won’t be disappointed.

So, that’s going to have to do it for now.  Wishing all of you a beautiful fall season and all of us a great harvest!

Mark

Harvest 2011 Update

The 2011 harvest season is coming upon Northern Michigan – our grapes have been ripening nicely in the warm summer weather, tempered by cool evenings of late. 

Verasion – the beginning of the ripening process is well under way.  Here’s a shot of our Estate Pinot Noir – you can see some clusters turning purple while other still need more time. 

 The other item we’re keeping an eye on right now are growing degree days. Growing degree days (GDD) are a measure of heat accumulation used by horticulturists, gardeners, and farmers to predict plant and pest development rates such as the date that a flower will bloom or a crop reach maturity.  We can see by the chart below this varies much depending on the season and how much heat gain we obtain per day.  2011 is represented with the white line which ends September 1st as that is how far we are in the growing season.  We had a slower start than most years, but have caught up to a mid-level year. 

There is still about another month of ripening to go, we expect harvest to begin the first of October.  The vineyard crew is busily working to put up nets on some vines to protect them from hungry birds, prepping the harvest machine, and hoping for continued good weather.

Check in with us during our Harvest Day on Sat. October 1st for an update – we’ll be having an open house from 12-4pm, including the option to get in a barrel and stomp some grapes!

Warm Weather and our Copper Pot Still

At the end of June, Winemaker Mark Johnson gave us his spin on the growing season this year to date:  Good day all!  Spring is sprung, Fall is fell.  Summers’s here and it is supposed to be hotter than usual, but it isn’t!  We’ve had a very cool Spring and, in some ways, that’s been a blessing.  I think it is part of the definition of farming to be behind in your work, and we sure were in April and May, so we were glad to be having cooler than normal weather.  This gave us a chance to catch up on pruning and tying, spreading compost, fixing the trellises, planting a new vineyard and all of the other things that just seem to “spring” up.  Also, the cool weather delayed bud break which reduced the risk of damage due to late Spring frosts.  We came through without any problems, unlike last year when we lost up to 10% of the crop due to a freeze in May.

Blossom started on June 27, but you really have to look closely to see it.  Unlike fruit trees which blossom right out of the bud in the Spring, vines blossom about 4 to 6 weeks after bud break, when the shoots are about 16 to 20 inches long.  Also, it’s not a big, showy blossom like fruit trees because vines don’t need to attract bees for pollination; they’re self pollinating.  We need sunny, warm weather now for a few days for a successful blossoming and it looks like we’re going to get it. Blossom, along with bud break, bunch closure (when the individual grapes in a cluster start to touch each other), veraison (the beginning of ripening when the grapes start to get soft and red grapes start to turn from green to red) and harvest are the key milestones in the growing season.  We keep track of these very closely and compare them year to year.  Bud break this year was about 10 to 14 days later than our 20 year average, but blossom in the last week of June is right on track, so we have made up for our late start to the season.  Now we are hoping for warm, sunny weather for the rest of the year!  Whatever sunshine we get  from here on out, we’ll try to capture in the bottles next winter and offer back to you next Spring and Summer.  I promise that it will be just as sweet the second time around.

July 22 update: It’s amazing to see how quickly a perception can change – we’ve certainly gotten the heat we need to “catch up” to last year’s growing season.  With this last week of temperatures in the high 80′s and 90′s, we have added quite a large number to our growing degree days, and helped the vines along their growth track.  With the heat also came the humidity, and we’ve been diligently checking for powdery mildew that can form on the vine under such conditions. 

The cellar is busy preparing our copper pot still for production once again – we’ve been waiting on the Federal government to grant us our permit to use the still in the newly expanded cellar area and received it yesterday!  A few more pieces need to be put together, but the bright copper has been freshly polished and is being readied for cherry distillation.  We expect to have our Cherry Eau-de-Vie back in stock sometime this year! 

Taste Wine with the Pros from your Living Room!

Chateau Chantal will participate with Shannon and Cortney Casey of MichiganByTheBottle.com in their first Chantal focused “Tweet and Taste” on May 10^th at 7:30pm.  Chateau Chantal winemaker Brian Hosmer will be joined online by Master Sommelier Claudia Tyagi and several local wine bloggers to offer their opinions and insight on the wines as they are tasted. 

This is a unique opportunity to showcase Michigan wines and hear from some knowledgeable experts without having to leave your living room!  By utilizing social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, many Michigan wineries have helped create relationships with wine lovers across the state and nation. 

How it works

• Pick up one or more of the wines we are tasting at your local wine shop or at the winery tasting room. You can also place your order by calling the tasting room at (800-969-4009). Chateau Chantal is offering $1 shipping on 1-2 wines and $5 shipping on 3-4 wines. Mention Tweet & Taste to get the special shipping rate.
• Log into Twitter on Tuesday, May 10 at 7:30pm (we recommend using TweetChat.com). 
• Search using #ttmi (this is the hashtag that we will add to all of our posts).
• As we taste through the wines, share your impressions and feel free to ask the winemaker any questions. Add #ttmi after every post, to ensure everyone sees it.
• RSVP  on our Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/ChateauChantalWine#!/event.php?eid=113379312077240

The wines:  2009 Unoaked Chardonnay, NV Virtue, NV Twilight, 2008 Proprietor’s Reserve Trio (Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir).  Wine information: http://store.chateauchantal.com/store/department/51/-Wine/

See a video describing the process:

Vineyard Cuttings For the Taking!

We’ve just wrapped up the winter hand-pruning at our Estate vineyard on Old Mission Peninsula and the vineyards are filled with vine cuttings.  This year is a little more interesting as it was a year that we replaced the old cordon with a new cane to help improve the vines.  The cordon is the thicker part of the vine that lies horizontally along the trellis.  The remaining vine cuttings in the vineyard will be mulched and used to improve the soil.

Cordon Trained Grapevine

As you can see, we’re working on melting the snow, most of the vineyard has shed its winter blanket and is walk-able.  We invite you to come out to our vineyard and help yourself to our vine cuttings – please take only from the cut vines on the ground.  Bring boots as the vineyard is a little muddy!  Simply park at the tasting room and walk into the rows where there are cuttings on the ground.  They make great wreaths or even an interesting home decor piece.  We’re open this weekend and everyday during the week 11am-5pm.  Stop into the wine shop to sample some of the fruits of your vine cuttings while visiting with us!

Here’s a few more examples of our cordon vine cuttings from Chateau Chantal! 1-800-969-4009

Cordon Trained Grapevine

East Vineyard

Vine Cuttings in the Vineyard

“Edward Vine Hands”

2010 Vintage Progresses

Greetings from the Old Mission Peninsula!                      

Just when it looked like Spring might be just around the corner, we’re in the midst of receiving 5 to 8 inches of snow as I write this.  Oh well, I’ll be in Mendoza next week for the Malbec harvest until April 2^nd so I’m not too worried!

It has been a good winter for us.  We were able to harvest Ice Wine on 2 different days, one in Dec. and again in Jan.  That stuff is still nicely bubbling away (fermenting) in the new cellar.  Fortunately, we didn’t get below 0 F. this winter so we’re not looking at any winter damage so far to the vineyard.  Something could still happen, but with the bays still ice free, the chance is very slim. 

Vineyard Manager, Paul Dalese Pruning Vineyard

We finished all of our pre-pruning that we have to do by hand last week and will start pre-pruning with the machine once the snow is gone.  After that, we’ll start back through all of the vineyards to do the final pruning.

Last Friday, Brian and I did an extensive tasting of all of the barreled wines.  It was a treat!  We started with the reserve Riesling.  Yes, Riesling.  We made the reserve in older, neutral, French oak barrels.  There are no oak flavors but a wonderful, broad richness without any loss of the classic Riesling acid structure.  There won’t be much of this wine but it would sure make a statement on some of our better restaurant lists.  If ever there was a great food wine, this is it.

Next came the Pinot Gris.  Because we had such a great growing season last year we were again able to produce both a Pinot Grigio and a Pinot Gris.  The Grigio is harvested very early in the season and fermented in stainless steel.  It’s showing wonderful freshness and fruitiness and was bottled last month.  Try the 2010 if you haven’t already.  The Gris was harvested very late in the season and barrel fermented and aged.  Because they were on the vines longer, these grapes had more sugar and more concentration.  The barrel fermentation in relatively neutral barrels gave just a hint of oak and a broad, almost creamy palate.  Again, this is going to be a great food wine that will hold its own with any fowl, fish or pork.

With the reserve Chardonnay we used several different yeast strains and many new barrels as well as some tried and true (old friends) barrels from the past few years.   The regular Chardonnay from ’10 will still be all stainless-style with bright fruit flavors.   The problem is that we’re having so much fun tasting and deciding which barrels to use for the Reserve that we might never get around to bottling it!

Barrel Samples

Finally we arrived at the Pinot Noirs.  What a pleasure!  They are all ripe and rich and fruity (mostly cherry and plum) and every barrel is unique.  Again, it is going to be difficult to decide which make the cut for Reserve and which go into the regular Pinot Noir.  You will be able to taste the difference but the regular certainly won’t be lacking!  Both will be GREAT values when compared with Pinot Noirs from elsewhere in the world.  (Did I mention the color?  Fantastic!)

Come up for a visit soon to experience some newly bottled vintages.   In the mean time, have a great rest of the winter and I’ll see you when I get back from Argentina where it’s sunny and 85 degrees.

Mark Johnson, Winemaker

Friday Afternoon Winemaking Chores

Well, maybe not in the usual connotation of the word “chore!” 

This afternoon winemaker Brian Hosmer led a few of us staff members through a vertical tasting of Semi-Dry Riesling from 2009 and the yet to be released 2010 vintage, plus 07, 08, and unreleased 2010 Late Harvest Riesling. We were comparing the vintages to ensure the new 2010 blends are consistent with prior flavor profiles.   It was amazing to see how Riesling ages, the 2007 started to acquire a petrol character, common amongst aged Rieslings, in addition to maintaining great floral notes.  

The petrol character in a Riesling comes from a compound group called terpenes.  Terpenes are found mainly in the skins, and the concentration of each terpene accumulates as the grape ripens.  As 2007 was a very warm summer here on Old Mission Peninsula, the terpenes developed more quickly than other vintages in this Late Harvest Riesling.  So, after 3 years of aging, we are already tasting these characters.  The 2008 hadn’t quite reached this point yet in its ageing, but is expected to be able to live for up to 7 more years.  We expect the 2010 vintage to yield a very long aged wine, up to 10 years due to climate and ripening conditions that growing season. 

All the Late Harvest Riesling’s were picked at 21 brix, or the measurement of sugar in the juice of the grape.  It’s a fun learning experience to compare vintage variation given that constant harvest ripeness throughout the years.  Other elements such as acid levels come into play to make each vintage taste different from one another.  Here, we do what we can in the blending process to keep the style relatively similar from vintage to vintage. 

Look for the 2010 releases of the Semi-Dry Riesling and Late Harvest Riesling later this year!

On the Job Training at Chateau Chantal

The staff at Chateau Chantal was treated to a tasting led by winemakers Brian Hosmer and Mark Johnson earlier this week in our newly expanded cellar.  On tap were the wines from the 2010 vintage.  It’s amazing to see the progression of a wine- harvested this past October, most of the wines were still going through their “growing pains,” but you could certainly grasp what the end wine will taste like. 

We started with some white wines.  The 2010 Pinot Blanc is looking to be spectacular, as well as the 2010 Dry Reserve Riesling.  This reserve is from our original 1986 vineyard and is promising to be excellent.  We also tried what will be the 2010 Semi-Dry Riesling – lots of bright grapefruit in this vintage!  In the barrel room we tasted the Reserve Pinot Gris – a rich and luscious mouthfeel here making you want a full glass.  The Proprietor’s Reserve Chardonnay is showing excellently with ripe pear, tropical fruits, and just enough oak to provide added richness and nuttiness – absolutely delicious! 

We then tasted some reds – starting with three different vineyard’s Pinot Noir.  The Pontes, Hawthorne, and our own Estate vineyard.  It’s amazing to see the differences that site location, as well as vine clone, can make within the same vintage.  Each of these vineyards are located within 5 miles of each other, yet produce different styles of Pinot Noir.  The Pontes was more delicate with greater finesse, while the other two were more tannic and spicy.  Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cerise Noir were all well on their way to becoming great wines. 

Look for the 2010 vintage whites to be released this Spring!

Winemaker Brian Hosmer with Cold Stabilization Tank

Pinot Grigio Tank Sample

Pinot Grigio from the 92 Vineyard with Type of Yeast Listed

Amongst the Tanks

Brian & Brian at the Pinot Gris Barrel

Samples of Barrel Aged Pinot Noir

New Tasting Room Complete!

Our 1700 sq ft expansion to our tasting room is complete!  Come on in and experience the spacious bamboo topped bar and amazing East Grand Traverse Bay views!

Original Tasting Room from Front Door

New Tasting Room to the East

New patio to the south east

New Patio to the East

Kyle at the Original Bar