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C&C Summer Cellar and Vineyard Report

The beginning of summer is busy enough, but there’s no unifying theme or overly pressing tasks in the cellar. Much of the bottling has been completed. All of the blends are made and resting comfortably in barrel. There’s routine winemaking to do in the form of regular barrel topping and tasting (not particularly onerous this time of year when the wines are quite approachable). It’s a good period to take a little time off and be fully rested before the madness of harvest commences sometime around Labor Day.

Claiborne & Churchill Estate Riesling

The vineyard on the other hand is going gangbusters at this point. Now that a bit of warmer sunnier weather has arrived the shoots are growing at a crazy pace, and will soon need to be hedged. Many are commenting that they cannot remember ever seeing such vigorous growth. Flowering and fruit set are complete now, and the tiny berries are starting to size up. Based on the timing of bloom we can expect harvest to start around the 10 th to 15 th of September – a bit on the late side for us.

Winston Churchill was reputed to have said that the three most beautiful phrases in the English language were, “summer day, summer day, and summer day”. I couldn’t agree more.


Spring Cellar Notes

Winemaker Zack Geers preparing our Pinot Noir Blends.

While much attention is devoted to harvest as it must be, there are parts of winemaking largely hidden from view that are at least as important, and in some years equally crucial. The late winter and early spring are when blends are put together. For barrel aged wines such as Pinot Noir this entails tasting and grading every single barrel in the cellar before you can even begin to think about putting the first trial blends together. Once blends are proposed and tasted another round of even more detailed barrel tasting begins especially in regards to the top reserve wines where even a single barrel can make a big difference in the outcome of a ten barrel blend. The reality of this process involves scrambling up and down the barrel stacks at nine in the morning with a glass in one hand and a piece of chalk in your pocket for marking the head of the barrel.

New growth on our 2019 Estate Riesling, Claiborne Vineyard

At the same time the vines are beginning to set the pace of the upcoming harvest. This winter’s relentless rains and cold has made for a late start to the growing year. Whether this will be a good or bad thing will remain a mystery until the harvest is complete. We are just now seeing the young shoots emerging – at least three weeks later than average. Each growing season is a bit like having a child – you hope for the best, but you really have no idea of how they will turn out. Your job is to do the best you can.


2018 Harvest Recap

We are happy to report that the 2018 Harvest at Claiborne & Churchill is complete, and the new wines are resting comfortably in barrel and tank. We had a lot of fun sitting down with our Assistant Winemaker, Zack Geers to catch up on some highlights from this 2018 harvest.

How was the 2018 season?

Cool throughout which was exceptional during the fall when heat events are pretty normal. The last harvest since this one that had no heat during September and October was 2007. This type of weather benefits Pinot Noir in particular.Processing Fruit in the Europress

What variety are you most excited to work with this year and why?

Rhone varieties from cool climate vineyards are making exciting wines which are getting a lot of attention from winemakers. We get Syrah and Grenache from Spanish Springs Vineyard a few miles up Price Canyon Road from the winery. These vines are only two miles from the ocean so are about as cool climate as you can get.

What made you laugh hardest this harvest?

It’s the first time I had to strip down to foot stomp some fruit. The French use the term pigéage à pied (or “punch-down by foot”).

What is one aspect of your job that people would be surprised by?

I often describe winemaking as glorified janitorial work. Get it dirty – get it clean – repeat.

Processing Fruit

Has the drought affected this year’s growing season at all?

No we didn’t see any direct effects from the drought this year. We received some rain in late March that really set things up nicely for a moderate growing season. All of the vineyards we work with are able to supplement with irrigation if needed.

Harvesting Estate Pinot NoirWhat are ideal conditions for the aromatic whites and Pinot Noirs you produce?

This vintage, while still very young, looks to be ideal. The varieties we produce do well with moderate temperatures and long days that are not too hot and not too cold. These conditions allow the fruit to stay on the vine as long as long as possible. The marine layer from the Pacific Ocean also plays a big role in the growth cycle by helping cool off the fruit at night. These conditions are especially vital at the end of the grape growing season to help the plant shut down for the winter time.


Encompassing the Charm of Alsace

A Brief History of Alsace Wines

Part of what makes Claiborne and Churchill so unique and special is our production of Alsatian white wines.  These wines  are virtually unheard of among novice wine enthusiasts.  Alsatian wines originate from the region of Alsace in France, producing delicious, high quality wines, dryer in contrast to their neighbors in Germany.  The German-influenced wines are often sweeter, but produced from the same grape varietals.

Map of Alsace Region of France

 

Wines such as Rieslings and Gewürztraminers are today generally misconceived as being “too sweet” in the United States.  This is mostly due to a sweeter style with higher residual sugar evident in these wines in the 90’s.  Many producers who work organically didn’t want to pick grapes before they reached total ripeness and didn’t want to add store-bought yeast to complete fermentation that indigenous yeast couldn’t.  This resulted in the wines retaining more sugar post fermentation.  Due to the popularity with consumers and some wine critics preferring the sweeter wines and rewarding them with high scores, winemakers were discouraged from changing their methods until more recently.

 

Vintners began to adjust their viticultural methods to define ripeness with lower sugar content in the grapes.  Winemakers have worked to achieve beautiful acidity and vibrancy rather than letting the sugars take over and being stuck with a syrupy product.

Gewürztraminer Grapes on the Vine

 

Embracing Tradition

Our take on Alsatian wines pays homage to how they were traditionally produced and enjoyed. Because of our proximity to the ocean, cool coastal breezes and morning fog create a growing environment similar to that of the Alsace region, yielding in Rieslings and Gewürztraminers with evident floral, spicy, and an array of fruit notes balanced with excellent acidity.  We celebrate a harmonious balance of fruit and oak, structure and texture.

 

For more information, click here for a fabulous article that goes more into depth on the history of the Alsace region wines.

 


Harvest Interview with the Winemaker

Harvest 2017 Q&A with our Winemaker Coby Parker- Garcia

Pinot Noir Clusters at Twin Creeks Vineyard

In general how does this year’s crop look?

2017 Vintage is looking average for most varietals. The only varietal where we see lower yields is with Pinot Noir.  Rain and cool weather contributed to poor flowering within our Pinot Noir Vineyards.

Which varietal will Claiborne & Churchill be harvesting first?

Pinot Noir from Greengate Ranch & Vineyard will be picked first starting this Thursday!  We will be picking two select clones of Pinot Noir,  Pommard and 2A. This makes up about 8-10% of the total amount of Pinot Noir for C&C. The soils at Greengate are not as heavy as the soils in the Twin Creeks Vineyard which allows the fruit to ripen sooner.

As weather changes during the harvest season, how do you adapt?

As harvest progresses, things get crazier and more compacted with less free time. We closely monitor and watch the weather making sure we are still on track to pick at the best time for each varietal.

How do you decide when is the optimal time to pick a vineyard?

It all depends on the varietal. We typically pick Aromatic White Wines earlier at lower sugar levels. This allows us to make white wines with lower alcohol and higher acidity. For Chardonnay and Pinot Noir we pick a little ripper allowing the flavors to fully develop.  Syrah and Grenache are picked last and at the highest sugar levels. Another factor in harvesting our fruit is tracking weather patterns. If the weather starts heating up, some grapes may be picked earlier before they get too ripe. If there is a cooling trend there is no need to panic and the grapes could stay longer on the vine.

Pinot Noir, Pommard: Greengate Ranch & Vineyard

Pinot Noir, Pommard Clone: Greengate Ranch & Vineyard

Pinot Noir, Clone 2A: Greengate Ranch & Vineyard

Pinot Noir, Clone 2A: Greengate Ranch & Vineyard

Are most grapes harvested around the same sugar levels?

No. Each varietal is treated differently. We look at the sugar levels but we also look at the pH and acid levels. It also depends on the vintage; certain vintages allow for grapes to be picked earlier where flavor profiles develop earlier and need less time to ripen. Sometimes the grapes taste better at lower sugar levels and are more balanced between the sugars and acid.

Do you typically go in and harvest from each vineyard all at once or do you do multiple picks from each vineyard?

We typically pick multiple times through a vineyard. If we are only getting a small amount of fruit then we pick it all at once. For our Estate Twin Creeks Vineyard we pick multiple times to get grapes at different ripeness levels.  Harvesting a vineyard at different times allows us to get different flavor profiles that add to the complexity of the wine.

What is one of your biggest challenges during harvest and how do you manage this?

Time is a big challenge. From the actual harvest and making sure we pick at the right time, to making sure each person on our production crew is doing their part to processing the fruit into wine.

Multi-tasking is another challenge with the different grapes coming in to make the variety wines we produce. I’m constantly traveling back and forth from vineyard to vineyard and then back to the winery.

During harvest we put in long hard hours day after day. As a winemaker this is what I look forward to each year, it’s my time to shine and make the best wine possible.

Harvest has wrapped up early in the last couple of years, what are you expecting for this year?

Last year was one of the earliest harvests on record. It looks like we are two weeks behind last year which puts us closer to our average cycle. I’d say we should wrap up harvest with Grenache sometime in late October or early November.

What are you most excited for this harvest?

It is always interesting to see what the “ theme” of the vintage will be (high acid year, good color, bold flavors). After spending so much time in the vineyards, it is exciting to get my hands on the grapes and make wine. I always look forward to the smells of fermentation; this is something that never gets old, even after my 15th vintage at C&C!


Bud Break Starts Harvest 2017 Excitement

We are finally starting to feel the spring weather on the Central Coast. It is so refreshing after the winter season we’ve had. The region was refreshed with many storms after years of drought. These storms were great for our dormant vines, as they flushed the toxins and salts in the top soil lower past the root zone and replenished our water storage. The recent sunshine has left the hills of the Edna Valley so green and wildflowers are starting to bloom. As the cherry trees are filled with flowers, we know something else is coming: bud break! In this post, we want to share what has been happening in the vineyard since Harvest 2016.

After Harvest:

As we were finishing up all of the hard work that goes into harvest, we began to prepare the vines for the upcoming winter season. The vines had been under a lot of stress from producing the fruit we use to make our wines. After harvest we give them some water and nutrients over the next two weeks to supplement and prepare the vines for the upcoming dormant season. This process is what all perennials go through and resembles hibernation where little energy is used.

Claiborne & Churchill, Pruning, Vines

Pruning

In late February we begin to think about pruning the vines. Since we do not have any frost protection, we wait as long as possible to prune the vines. We are able to do this since we have so few acres and it doesn’t take much time to get through all of our vines. The old wood is removed to maximize the amount of one year old wood (fruiting wood) and minimize vine density thus encouraging airflow and circulation.

Bud Break

After pruning and the soil and weather warm up, you typically see bud break start to happen. Here in SLO Wine Country bud break occurs sooner than most AVA’s in North America. Typically, bud break is seen first in the Santa Maria and Arroyo Grande valleys, then in the Edna Valley, and lastly in Paso Robles. At Claiborne & Churchill our vines have just started to burst from the warm weather over the past weekend.

Claiborne & Churchill, Vines, Bud Break

Preparing for Harvest:

In the next few weeks, we will mow the cover crop and disk the cuttings back into the soil. We planted barley between the rows to add nitrogen back into the soil and also to keep the topsoil from eroding. Cover crops like barley attract beneficial insects and help maintain the soil structure during the rainy season. We will start to see rapid growth on the vines as shoots and leaves begin to form. After that, we will see flowering then berry set. The berries will begin to grow and start to look like little clusters. The red varieties will undergo veraison, when the berries change color from green to red. Over the next few months the grapes will ripen and develop tannins and phenolic compounds which contribute to the complex flavors found in wine. Before we know it, the fruit will be ready for 2017 Harvest!

Stay tuned for more production updates throughout our growing season!


Stay & Play in “America’s Happiest City”

We are proud to call San Luis Obispo home. Between San Francisco and Los Angeles, our town is nestled  along the coast on California’s historic Highway 1. This tourist destination has become popular due to its sunny weather and slow paced lifestyle, which is why the town is called SLO! In fact, Oprah Winfrey herself named San Luis Obispo “America’s Happiest City.” Check out her video here! You won’t want to miss a chance to visit (or live) in this gorgeous region of California home to SLO Wine Country.

slo, san luis obispo, Claiborne & Churchill

Wine:

We may be biased, but we think this is one of the best highlights of the region! Following in the footsteps of Napa and Paso Robles, the Edna Valley has become an established wine region. As SLO Wine Country shares, “in 1979, Lawrence Winery was established as the region’s first modern winery, and the property is today home to Center of Effort Winery. Chamisal Vineyard began making its own wine in 1980, and Edna Valley Vineyard followed in 1981. Claiborne & Churchill Winery, Laetitia Vineyard & Winery, and Talley Vineyards soon added further momentum to the local winemaking scene. These early wineries paved the way and put SLO Wine Country on the map.” The region welcomes thousands of guests each year to taste our award winning wines. The cool climate and diverse soil profiles help create amazing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay along with other varietal wines. Check out the SLO Wine Country Map to see where all the wineries are located in our region. Look here for six unique wine trails to hit, including Claiborne & Churchill on the Old Edna & Biddle Ranch Road Trail. Grab a picnic and enjoy your day with some great wines!

slo, san luis obispo, Claiborne & Churchill

Play:

The gorgeous weather, breathtaking landscapes, and close vicinity to the beach gives our locals and visitors unlimited options of things to do! The best way to take in our rolling hills or coastal views is to take a hike! Look at our previous blog post to see the perfect trail for you here – from a casual stroll to a challenging hike!

Spend the day relaxing by one of our many beach towns just miles from SLO. Shop our local spots such as Downtown SLO, the quaint Village of Arroyo Grande, or the Pismo Outlets! Even shop for dinner – checkout the SLO Farmers’ Market on Thursday nights offering an amazing selection of local produce. Find an event to attend, everything from an art show to a concert on the SLO Happenings App. This is a great resource to create a fun trip to SLO!

slo, san luis obispo, Claiborne & Churchill

Dine:

The Central Coast has become known as a “foodie” destination! There is no shortage of great restaurants from breakfast to dessert. SLO Wine Country has a great list of some of the top restaurants to hit! Trying to figure out where to visit for dinner? Ask a local!

slo, san luis obispo, Claiborne & Churchill

Stay:

There are a wide variety of options to stay while you are on your trip! SLO Wine Country has a list of their suggested hotels here! The most well known place to stay is the famous Madonna Inn. The whimsical guest rooms are perfect for a unique experience with access to a delicious steak house, boutique shopping, and horseback riding. Grab a hotel in Downtown SLO or one with an ocean view! Wanting to try something other than a hotel? Checkout VRBO or Airbnb for fun options, including our Winery Guest Cottage!

Start planning your weekend getaway or summer vacation to SLO; you will love the time you spend in “America’s Happiest City.” Make sure to visit us at Claiborne & Churchill while you’re here!


Winter Release Tasting with the Winemaker

Come and join us for one of our Winter Release with the Winemaker tastings! These intimate events take you through a tasting of our newly released wines guided by our winemaker, Coby Parker-Garcia. This fun and interactive experience has been a favorite amongst the staff and we are now giving you the opportunity!

 

tasting, claiborne, claiborne & churchill

 

What?

The tasting will begin by exploring the newly released wines as you analyze the characteristics you pick up on and discuss why those characteristics are showing through. Our Winemaker Coby will educate Club Members on the growing season for these grapes, the production process of the wine, and food pairings in addition to sampling cheeses that have been perfectly paired with artisan cheeses from Fromagerie Sophie.

 

Who?

This is an event for wine lovers and novices alike. We want to have an intimate experience allowing a small group to hear the decisions that went into making the wine, what characteristics are coming out in the wine, and what these wines pair well with. With only 18 guests per seating, you will have the chance to interact with the winemaker himself and ask him your questions! Though it is only available for members of our wine club, it is not too late to join!

 

Tasting, Claiborne, Claiborne & Churchill

When & Where?

These 6 tastings are going to take place in our cellar at the winery. Check out the time most convenient for you!

Tuesday, February 7 – 3pm

Tuesday, February 7 – 6pm

Thursday, February 9 – 3pm

Thursday, February 9 – 6pm

Friday, February 10 – 3pm

Friday, February 10 – 6pm

How?

Buy your $10 ticket on our website here! Tickets are limited to two per Club Membership.

Not a member? Learn more here and sign up to be a member here!


Harvest 2016: Preparation & Predictions

With the beginning of August behind us, we are looking forward to our most exciting time of the year: harvest! The grapes are almost ready for their metamorphosis into some great wines. We have some special inside information into Harvest 2016 for Claiborne & Churchill from Winemaker Coby Parker-Garcia. Keep reading to see his explanation of how harvest works and his predications of how it will turn out this year.

Claiborne & Churchill, Harvest 2016


Harvest 2016 predictions:

Things are looking great for the upcoming 2016 Harvest! We are expecting higher yields of fruit compared to 2015. This year’s harvest will still be an early one, however, we will begin picking fruit about two weeks later than last year. Over the past decade we have seen a consolidated in the time span of which we harvest our grapes. There are some days where we are picking Riesling and Pinot Noir on the same day. So, we are seeing the ripening track close together.


How to decide when to pick:

We are expecting to start harvesting fruit in the next week. To decide when we start, it is important to test the fruit to make sure the flavor profile and sugar levels are at the right spot for optimal wine making. Coby makes frequent visits to the vineyards to sample the fruit, even the Riesling and Gewürztraminer vineyards in Monterey county. In the last days before picking, Coby is keeping a close eye on the forecast as heats spikes will accelerate ripening. August has had great weather for the end of the growing season with the morning fog and afternoons in the eighty degree range.


Next steps:

After the grapes arrive at the Claiborne & Churchill crush pad, it’s time for the next steps for Harvest 2016! This is where some of the processes differ from one variety to the next. See how it works for reds, whites, and rosé below!

White Wines:

All of the white grapes for Claiborne & Churchill wines are whole cluster pressed; that takes just over ninety minutes to extract the juice from the skins. After this, the juice is pumped into a tank to cold settle ( at 40 to 50 degrees) where the solids fall to the bottom and the juice is racked off its solids to another vessel for fermentation. The clear juice then ferments in the vessel of choice, which at our winery is either barrels or stainless steel tanks. Fermentation in the barrels takes about three weeks compared to the stainless steel tanks which takes five to six weeks. After that, they can be transferred into a new clean vessel.

Red Wines:

For the red grapes, we de-stem the grapes and leave them as full berries. For some, we even leave the stems on! The grapes then sit in fermentation vats for two weeks and get punched down 3-4 times per day. The grapes do a three to five day cold soak and then we inoculate with three different yeasts or allow for native fermentation. All red wines go through malolactic fermention (about 3months) with the exception of our Port. After secondary fermentation SO2 is added to the barrels and topped every two to three weeks. After aging for 8-14 months the wine is filtered and bottled.

Cuvée Elizabeth Rosé of Pinot Noir:

We pick the Pinot Noir a little earlier for the Rosé and then crush and de-stem the grapes into ¾ ton fermentation bins. After 17 to 24 hours of skin contact the juice is Saignée and racked into neutral oak red wine barrels. Select yeast is added, and the juice ferments for about 3 weeks to a month. The Rosé is then racked back into clean barrels and ages for 4-5 months.

A small percentage of finished white wine is blended into the Rosé to increase aromatics and fruitiness. The finished blend goes into stainless steel tank where it sits for about one month before being fined, filtered and then bottled.


We are excited for harvest 2016 to begin and are looking forward to making our ever popular Sparkling Wine, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as a new Grenache/Syrah blend. Check out our social media accounts for updates on Harvest 2016 at Claiborne & Churchill!


Interview with the Winemaker

Through this Interview with the Winemaker, get an inside look into Coby Parker-Garcia‘s predictions on this year’s harvest and what he is excited about! As he says, our wines “are challenging to grow and fun to make!”

claiborne and churchill, coby, winery, vineyard, Q & A with the Winemaker, Interview with the Winemaker

Where did your interest in the wine industry begin?

“My first interest probably stemmed from wine tasting. I became really excited about the wine making process and the ability to turn grapes into an alcoholic beverage. I wanted to be able to do that process myself.”

Why do you like to work with the unique varietals Claiborne & Churchill is known for?

“I have always believed these characteristics and more interesting flavor profile than your typical Chardonnay and Cabernet. They’re unique wines that go with a variety of foods. They are challenging to grow and fun to make.”

Is your winemaking philosophy similar to that of Clay’s?

“Clay would put a lot of trust in the vineyard management, but I like to spend a lot of time in the vineyards. We are making the Riesling and Gewürztraminer a little drier than in the past and using a different yeast than before. There is more time spent doing lab work and monitoring the sulfur levels, pH and the total acidity to make the best decisions in the vineyard and prior to bottling.”

What are you most excited for in the upcoming harvest?

“Every harvest and every vintage brings a new challenge. I’m excited about how happy and healthy the vineyards are looking. We’re getting some really nice growth on the vines and starting to see that we’re going to get about two clusters per shoot. This is a good indication that we’ll have a good crop this year.”

Was bud break early this year? How will that impact harvest?

“Bud break came later than last year, but still earlier than usual. Our Riesling and Pinot Noir vineyards had bud break about two weeks earlier than usual. The next few months will help us forecast when harvest will come this year. Growth will slow down if we have cooler months with rain, but will speed up if the weather is warmer. It’s looking like it will be an early harvest, but not as early as last year.”

claiborne and churchill, bud break, vineyard, winery, Q & A with the Winemaker, Interview with the Winemaker

How important is our vineyard practices? What do we focus on in the vineyard?

“It is known that you need great fruit quality to make great wine. We follow the SIP (Sustainability in Practice) protocol which has shown it ensures quality.”

What are you doing different this year?

“We don’t have any frost protection on the property, so we left some extra canes to ensure that if we had frost damage, we have the chance to get secondary growth. Now that we are through the frost period, we will begin thinning to get back to a more balanced vine.”

How has the drought impacted our crop and wines?

“In 2015, the quality remained high, because there wasn’t a lot of mildew pressure due to the lack of rain. These wines are really concentrated and have a lot of density. We were able to make balanced wines that aren’t too high in alcohol but have a nice balanced acidity.”

How will the wines be different this year from past vintages?

“I believe we will have higher yields, but will have a better idea once we see the fruit set and how the berries form. Right now things are looking good, but there is still a lot of game to play.”

What are you doing now to prepare for harvest?

“Now is the time when we implement practices to prevent mildew and other harmful problems. We are getting the weeds cut back, mowing the cover crop and tilling it back into the soil to improve the nitrogen levels. We are thinning back a little bit, especially the extra canes we left incase of frost damage. It is  a waiting game now.”

claiborne and churchill, winery, vineyard, Q & A with the Winemaker, Interview with the Winemaker

Where do you want to see Claiborne & Churchill Winery in five years?

“With the size of our facility, we are currently at maximum case production. I think we will see more wine club members and people coming to the winery. We will rely less on distribution, and more from the tasting room and direct sales.”