My Adventures in Wine

New Wines, New Winery and a New Crop

Slowly, slowly, the winegrapes are ripening. The Pinot Noir at Olivet Grange is about 80% through verasion (the term used to describe the turning of the grapes from green to their final colour). The Pinot Gris is a bit further behind and the Chardonnay at the small Fredricks Road vineyard has not yet begun to turn. My best guess is that we are three weeks behind a typical year. It is just so cold…it reminds me of summer in Yorkshire!
Besides the work in the vineyard – removing fruit from short shots and applying the final spray before harvest, I have recently bottled the 2009 Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. These are both tiny lots and may all be taken up by the wine club, so if you are not a member, you might like to consider joining. The 2009 Pinot Gris is made exclusively from OGV fruit and just over 100 cases were bottled. The new Chardonnay lot, which is even smaller, will be released later this month.
Although the weather has been a worry, we are so thrilled to finally be in our new winery. The tasting room is nearly complete, and by the Labor Day weekend we will be celebrating our Grand Opening. I have taken great care in selecting the most environmentally sensitive materials – reused, repurposed and recycled – wherever possible and it is thrilling to see them all come together and even better to see how interested the visitors at the winery are in our efforts to minimize both waste and our impact on the planet. We hope you will come by and see us. I am here nearly all of the time and happy to give tours of the vineyard and the gardens, so do stop by. Officially we are open Thursday – Sunday 11-4, but you can always call for an appointment at other times.
They say "membership has its privileges", and there are some wines which in the future will only be available to the wine club because the lots are so small. Are you a member of one of our wine clubs yet? If not, this is a fantastic time to join! With the opening of the new winery, our club members will be the first in line to receive Grand Opening discounts, offered new limited release wines, and will be on the guest list for Grand Opening and Harvest celebrations in the coming weeks!
We have three different Inman Family clubs to join, each tailored to your wine preference and budget. Our Club Members are guaranteed access to all of our limited release wines, and receive discounts on every purchase. Click here to read more about our Wine Clubs, and sign-up today!
COMING SOON for Inman Family Wines Club Members Only! To celebrate our Grand Opening at the Olivet Grange, we will be releasing our first Chardonnay. Sourced from a tiny vineyard on the south west corner of the Russian River Valley, only two barrels were produced of this rare beauty and only 48 cases will be for sale. If you like tropical fruit in your Chardonnay, this will not be the wine for you. I love buttered popcorn at the movies but I loathe it in Chardonnay, so in the interest of full disclosure…there is no butter here – instead look for refreshing acidity, juicy pear, Meyer lemons, hazelnuts and great minerality. This wine was made to be enjoyed with food and is likely to drink best from 2011-2016. Like the white Burgundies Simon and I love, my hopes are that this wine will reward those who cellar it. Available only to our Club Members, there is no better time to join!
 

Aug 17, 2010 at 7:05 PM

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Believe it or not...critic scores Inman Pinot!

Category Wine Reviews and Press - 01/19/2010 Posted by Kathleen Inman

We had some really lovely write-ups on our 2006 Pinot Noirs by Josh Raynold in Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, and I only just found out about them yesterday!

I wanted to share them with you.
I don't send my wines out for scores, but when samples are requested I do. The problem is I don't subscribe to any of the magazines or websites that publish scores, so when things do appear, I miss them.

I have always had the view that wines are too ephemeral to put such a concrete number down to categorize them, when they seem to change in the bottle day to day. Pinot noir in particular is seemingly very changeable.

However, Josh's comments are spot on with how I thought the wines tasted this weekend during the Pinot Days in LA event, and I wanted to share them with you. Also, a little external validation is very welcome, from time to time; especially since I work on the wines by myself and don't really get much input during the production process.

Here are the comments and scores.

2006 Inman Family Wines Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
($45) Light red. Pungent redcurrant and cherry aromas are complicated by musky herbs, flowers and licorice. Light in weight, with finely etched red berry flavors that possess sneaky power and are framed by silky tannins. Dusty mineral and dried rose notes build with air and carry through the tightly focused finish. I like this wine's understated, fat-free personality. ~ 90 Points

2006 Inman Family Wines Pinot Noir Olivet Grange Vineyard Estate Russian River Valley
($52) Vivid red. Cherry, dried flowers, baking spices and smoky minerals on the nose. Supple cherry-cola and blackberry on the palate, with gentle tannins and minerals adding structure and focus. The spicy notes recur on the finish, which leaves refreshingly bitter cherry skin and anise notes behind. I like this wine's blend of depth and vivacity. "OGV" stands for Olivet Grange Vineyard. ~ 91 Points

2006 Inman Family Wines Pinot Noir Thorn Road Ranch Russian River Valley
($52) Bright red. Seductive aromas of black raspberry, cherry compote, smoky herbs and Asian spices. Fleshy red and dark berry flavors are given spine by dusty minerals and complicated by candied rose and cola notes. Suavely blends richness and energy, finishing with echoes of cherry and succulent herbs. Already seductively complex, this has the depth and balance to reward at least another few years of patience. (JR) ~ 92 Points

2008 Inman Family Wines Rose of Pinot Noir Endless Crush OGV Estate Russian River Valley
($25) Bright pink. Fresh strawberry and raspberry aromas are complemented by suave floral and spice qualities. Fresh, incisive and pure, offering tangy red berry flavors and good underlying minerality. Extremely easy to drink, with good finishing snap and lingering raspberry character. ~ 89 Points

Jan 19, 2010 at 11:38 AM

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Visible Progress on the New Winery

As many of you know, over the summer we held out hope that our dream of having a winery and tasting room at Olivet Grange Inman Family Winery from Olivet Roadwould be realized before the end of 2009. This autumn, the date was pushed to January. Now, I have my fingers crossed that we will be open for the Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting weekends in March! Sadly, we have been plagued by delays, but we are now erecting the steel skeleton and in 8 weeks we should have a roof and walls! Once we get an occupancy permit, we will be inviting you to come by and visit. I have been posting images of the various stages on the facebook page as well as sending out a few tweets. I am much better at updating those than I am the blog, so please do follow our building’s progress there.

Our journey began in early 2008 when we applied for a use permit from the county. When that was granted, I foolishly thought the rest would be much more straightforward. Little did I know!

In March we put in the standard septic system leach lines for the domestic waste (toilets!). The goal was to get this done while the vines were dormant, but it was finished just as we had budbreak.

In April we signed the agreement with the General Contractor.

In May we began to install our process waste water recycling system and to bury the 16,000 worth of storage tank for the water.Waste water recycling at Olivet Grange The grading commenced shortly thereafter and they made ready for the foundation.

In August, just before harvest began, the architect finished (or so we thought) the construction drawings. I believe it was on 5 September we submitted the plans to the Sonoma County PRMD, however it was not until 3 December that we were able to pour the foundation. In between we were able to do the driveway, and just as the rains came the entire site became a quagmire.

Yesterday was a big day for us. The steel arrived. Now the height of the new building can be seen as we have the main column supports. The steel for this building is recycled and most of it comes from used automobiles.

Indeed, it has been difficult for me to understand how this whole process works. After smoothing, compacting, and adding Columns rising in the mist: future Inman Family Winerymore reclaimed hard core, they then come and dig a trench and tear it all up. Then after filling that trench in, more rock, more smoothing and then giant pieces of equipment come on site and now it looks like this!

I am soooo looking forward to the end result!

Dec 15, 2009 at 11:41 AM

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I Never Wanted to Join the Circus

Although some kids grow up wanting to run away and join the circus, I was not one of them. However, in the last 4 weeks since harvest began for Inman Family Wines, I have felt like the Ringmaster in a three ring circus that I wanted to run away from!

In many ways, harvest is one of my favorite times of year. I love tasting the fruit on the vine, grooming it in preparation for picking and then enjoying the wonderful smells of the fermenting must in the winery. The 2009 vintage has been very surprising. Severe drought, a devastating frost the year before and a cool spring had me thinking harvest would be later this year. I didn’t think I would begin harvesting until after Labor Day, but even in the absence of warm weather this spring, the vineyard seemed to catch up to ripeness levels on a parity with previous years at the same date.

I brought in the first fruit for our Endless Crush Sparkling wine on August 24th. The following Monday, August 31st, I brought in 12 Tons of OGV Pinot Noir for our estate Pinot and 3T of OGV Pinot Gris. The following week had me going back and forth from our vineyard, where the building project for the new winery continues with major earthworks and two-thirds of the vineyard was yet to be harvested, to the winery to check on the Pinot Gris, bubbling away in stainless steel barrels and the cold soaking Pinot Noir in chilled fermenters, and up to the sparkling custom crush facility in Hopland. Good thing I drive a Prius.

The following week, Kevin Burton, began work as our new Director of Sales and Hospitality, it was our 25th wedding anniversary, we harvested fruit from Ted Klopp’s Thorn Ridge Ranch on the 3rd of September, the following day more fruit from OGV and at the weekend, it was the Sonoma County Wine Country event at Mac Murray ranch, where I was pouring and a speaker on the Rosé panel. By this time I had fermentations at so many different stages and in two locations as well as 4 more picks to call.
The last two weeks have been more wine events (The 2006 OGV Pinot Noir actually won a medal at the Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival on September 13th) and the completion of the first few fermentations. The circus that is Inman Family Wines reached its most chaotic point this week when I bottled 1449 cases of 2008 Pinot Noir, pressed off three fermenters of 2009, dealt with septic system contractor for the winery and organized 2 chardonnay picks…all on the same day. Yesterday was spent barreling down the 2009 Pinot Lots, harvesting and then pressing the two Chardonnay vineyards. Of course the Bucher press which could handle the two lots of whole clusters at the same time went down that morning, so then I had to use a smaller press and do the two lots separately. By this time the temperatures were reaching the high 90’s and with no canopy over the press area, this was hot work. Dry ice was keeping the chardonnay cool, but I was getting a sunburn! Part way through pressing the second lot of Chardonnay, the pump broke. Just my luck! At this point thoughts of running away began to enter my head…exhaustion, heat stroke or a was it a moment of sanity?

This morning I put the blend together for the base wine for the Endless Crush Sparkling, and on Monday I will pick the last Pinot Noir from OGV. Harvest will be over, and in another two weeks all the wines should be tucked up in barrel. As things stand now, this looks to be a stellar vintage for Inman Family. The Pinot Noir wines from OGV are delicate and the alcohols are all below 13%. The Pinot Gris and Chardonnays are lean and steely and are looking very promising. However, I am resolved to cease being a Ringmaster; I have made a note to myself to NEVER bottle during harvest and to learn to say no to wine events in September.

Sep 19, 2009 at 11:44 AM

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Tiny bubbles in the wine

This year will be the first time I have attempted to make a sparkling wine. I love experimenting and learning new things, and although I have wanted to make a sparkling from Olivet Grange since I first began making our wine in 2002, this is the first year I have had the courage and resources to do so.

On Sunday when I was inspecting the vineyard, I randomly sampled a few berries and was surprised that the sugars read between 15 and 17. This morning I went and sampled properly to try and get a more accurate reading. Armed with a handful of one quart Ziploc bags and a sharpie pen, I set down the rows to sample by clone. I have five different clones of Pinot Noir in our Olivet Grange Vineyard and this morning I only sampled the 114, 115 and 777 because those are in my mind the most elegant of the five clones and the ones I plan to include in the Endless Crush Bubbly. For an accurate sample I picked 100 berries of each clone from across the blocks, taking form both the morning side on one row and the afternoon side opposite. The results were a bit of a surprise. Clone 114 was 17.7 BRIX, 114 was 17.5 BRIX and 777 was 19.5 BRIX (Yikes!)

The flavors are very delicate and the acids very high; although not quite ready yet, within a few days I reckon they will be ready for harvest. I plan to harvest 5 tons which will be about 325 cases. I have arranged to make the wine in Hopland at Rack & Riddle. Friends who were formerly with J Vineyards, whose sparkling wines I have always enjoyed, are now up at this wonderful new facility for custom crush. I shall aim to make base wines for a blanc de noir, and I hope to introduce the delicate pink color by using a red Pinot Noir base wine from our vineyard in the “Liqueur d’ Expeditions” (also known as the dosage, which is added to encourage the second fermentation in the bottle which will produce the tiny bubbles in the wine)

I will keep you posted on this adventure!

Aug 18, 2009 at 11:49 AM

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Are you a Potential Harvest Helper?

Have you ever fancied picking up a bandeja and secateurs and playing vineyard worker for a day? Does being at the vineyard at 5am for sunrise send shivers of excitement down your spine? If so, you should sign up for the picking list for Olivet Grange? You can help harvest on one day of the 3 or 4 pick dates, and we’ll pay you in wine. Send an email to Kathleen, and we’ll keep you up to date on when we’re picking and what you need to do to participate. Remember this is dirty, physical work and you must be able to lift the bandeja (a shallow trayKathleen carrying a bandeja of Pinot Noir to the tractor. not disimmilar to a dish busing tray) with 50 to 70 lbs of fruit. The tray is then dumped into the ½ ton macro bins on the back of the tractor. Also, it helps if you are local, because we usually give only 48 hours notice. This is not for the faint of heart or weak of arms! One thing is does give you is an appreciation of the hard work people do in the fields everyday to ensure we have food on our tables.

Aug 13, 2009 at 11:51 AM

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