"Winemanden" > wrote in message >...

Just this last weekend we pressed 300lbs. of Napa Cab I (from one
vineyard) and 500lbs. of Napa Cab II (from a different vineyard). We
racked the 2003 Chardonnay, which we had 500lbs. of as well. I meant
to go get some Syrah as well, but didn't get an order in time. I'm
sure I still could have scouted around, but I have to be honest, I
harvested 1,000lbs. of that with a little help from my friends, but it
was still and enourmous amount of work. If I could have found a place
in time that would have picked the Syrah for me, I would have gone in
for another 500lbs. Or maybe an odd 700lbs., which would have rounded
out this year's harvest to a nice round ton.

From 2002, I still have Merlot that's cycling through a French oak
barrel. Then after that the 2002 Amador County Cab goes in after that
(can you tell I like Cab?). We just bottled the 2002 Sauvignon Blanc.
Got about ten cases of that. I guess I'm kinda late on oaking and
bottling the 2002 stuff, but now after some years of doing this I have
such "back stock" that I only seem motivated to get it out of bulk
ageing when I need carboys for the new batch, which is exactly what is
going on here.

I took a picture of all the carboys and whatnot around the barrel. It
was cool the different colors and all. I guesstimated around 150
gallons or so of misc wines. This year I bought splits to bottle in
smaller amounts (375ml) as well, which will be nice for topping off,
and also for picnics, backpacking and whatnot. I also have been
considering doing a bigger bottle, for show, maybe a 3L or 5L, jsut
for the hell of it, and hand print a label for it.

I still really wanted to do a Syrah. Never have, and I love Syrah. I
just had a Rabbit Ridge Syrah the other night at a friend's house, and
it really was elegant. Can't remember the year. Oh well.

Well, 'tis the season for winemaking! Good luck with you and yours,

Deadend