After agreeing to buy the
syrah grapes Roger suggested we proceed to the local "big" winery, GV Cellars,
which was embarking on an aggressive custom crush program under its new
winemaker Sal. Freshly armed with my six future tons of syrah I felt like wheeling
and dealing.
I had never heard of GV
Cellars, or any other winery operation in
GV Cellars is about a mile
from the syrah vineyard and surprised me by the size of the vineyards and
winery facility; there were clearly over 40 acres surrounding the winery, which
included a residence, tasting room and the good sized winery. We strolled into
the winery proper and greeted Sal.
Sal is just starting at GV,
having spent time at Chateau Potelle as assistant winemaker. It would be hard
not to know about Sal's stint at Chateau Potelle if you spent more than 10
minutes in his presence. He dropped that name with much more frequency than I
had ever blabbered about Larner (of course he's not lying about his
association. I think). He was enthusiastic about getting me in there as a
client, and it appeared to me that part of the Sal regime at GV would be an
increased emphasis on getting others to make their wine there.
I had frequently discussed
my winemaking venture idea with Mike Larner after class last fall, since at
that the time I knew nothing about custom crushes except that I would need one.
He repeatedly emphasized that the best deals would be had at wineries with
excess capacity rather than dedicated facilities. GV falls into the former
category.
The winery didn't
particularly impress me. I've been inside lots of wineries; the ones I respect
most are impeccably clean and organized (2 things I aspire to but will never
achieve), rows of clean (almost gleaming, if wood gleams) barrels, shiny,
spotless equipment, nothing out of place, etc. GV is the opposite. It was
cluttered from top to bottom with barrels (what percentage were full or empty
was unclear). There was a dripping hose right outside, and a worker kept
cruising in and out on a forklift. While we talked I noticed what appeared to
be the lab and asked Sal about it: it was a lab, but very limited: only for
testing brix (sugar content), PH (degree of acidity) and TA (actual acid
content). I knew from class these were the big 3, but I also knew you sometimes
need more more more testing - certainly they stressed that in Lab Analysis
class, where monthly lab submissions were recommended. Of course that class was
taught by the head of Terravant, who was previously the head of the lab at
Vinquiry (located in CCWS and the main 3rd party lab in SB County),
so frequent lab submissions by winemakers were an ongoing justification of his
job.
The GV lab was similar to
the rest of the winery: cluttered and not exactly approaching surgery theater
levels of sanitation. I have to say that overall I sort of liked the winery. It
has a lived in feeling and has that certain hum of activity in a busy place.
Sal got me a rate sheet and
informed me that my 6 tons were right at the price break. Between 6 and 12 tons
were $650/ton; less than 6 tons was $950/ton, a pretty good spread. Remembering
Fess Parker's $450/ton figure led me to balk at this figure, but GV would do it
for $450 for over 12 tons. Sal assured me that he had brought his crew from
(where else?) Chateau Potelle and that he and his team would do a good job.
Although being a fairly young guy (thirtyish, maybe even younger) he seemed to
know his stuff. Of course compared to me the head winemaker at any winery knows
an encyclopedia's worth.
As I studied the rate sheet,
Jason looked around a bit and Roger even agreed to buy some Sangiovese bulk
wine from GV. Sal remarked that it was good wine but not up top the standards
he was instituting at the winery. My gut feeling was that 1) the wine might be
no good at all or 2) Sal did not want to bottle someone else's wine. Or both 1
and 2.
The whole time we were
standing there talking a middle aged man dressed relatively formally (in slacks
and a short sleeved dress shirt) was standing there, waiting his turn with Sal.
As Roger and Sal discussed commerce he and I started talking. It turns out he
was a winery supply salesman, repping various yeasts, chemicals, lab tools, and
who knows what else. He was a nice guy and clearly knew the inside of the
Following the GV visit it
was back to Wooden Canyon Winery, Roger's winery base. We went into the winery
and met Rick, who is one of the owners and I guess the winemaker. He is in the
immediate family, which has owned the estate and winery for three generations.
Whereas Sal had been a slick talking modern winemaker dude, Rick was clearly a
farmer - laconic, dressed for work in the fields, and certainly not out to
impress anybody. He assured me that they could always squeeze in 6 tons if I
just called a week ahead (he was very casual about absorbing my 6 tons). We
toured the winery, which was tidier than GV and much less busy. In fact there
was nobody in there but us and things were very quiet. We looked at fermenting
tanks. We looked at barrels. We looked at a press. We looked at a crusher. It
looked like a winery. One thing
So Wooden canyon had a
bottling line. Rick warned that it was finicky about labels and bottle shapes,
but if you observed the restrictions in these areas it worked fine.
Rick got me a rate sheet: much
less than Sal's: $375 a ton, period, no price changes with additional tonnage.
And the bottling charge was much lower than Sal's (since GV had to hire the
bottling truck to come around). My problem with
The upshot of my tour of the
2 wineries was that I decided to keep looking. Laurie, my frequent classmate (she
was in 3 of my 4 classes) and good friend informed that Terravant, the brand
new upscale facility in Buellton, was hurting for clients and would talk to
anyone (even a nobody like me) because they were projecting so much excess
capacity in their maiden crush. Laurie writes for a local newspaper and one of
her responsibilities is the wine beat. She seems to know most everybody in the local
trade so I like getting her dirt on wine industry doings. This was a good lead
and I decided to contact Terravant after Jason and I finished getting sloshed
in
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