Budbreak has happened in our Mount Veeder vineyards! Take a closer look with Hess Viticulturist Sander Scheer.

Barrels are an important factor when it comes to blending. Specifically, barrels made from French oak  vs. old / neutral French oak. 

Neutral barrels allow the wine to display more of the varietal characteristics, while new French oak barrels add vanilla, smoky, chocolate, espresso and oak flavors to the wine.  New barrels also add weight to the palate, sometimes giving the wine an almost chewy aspect.

Using oak barrels is a way of adding complexity to the wine, through added oak components.  However, these components are not the only thing we are after in using the barrels. The barrels also allow very small amounts air to pass through the air-stave interface.  This oxygen is very important for the wine aging process.  The oxygen allows for softening of the tannins by complexing or binding of tannins with other tannins to make large protein compounds. This makes the tannins softer and more stable in the wine.

 As the blender for your own wines, your audience is going to be different then ours. When we make our blends we are looking to maintain a consistent style, which our customers enjoy. Our decisions attempt to produce the most constituent and highest quality example of the particular wine in question. 

Today I was reminded of the childhood saying “April showers bring May flowers” as it has been raining here in the Napa Valley for the past two days.  The dark clouds and cold winds make me want to open a bottle of my favorite red wine, Hess Collection Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon, and cook something warm and comforting.  Here is my favorite cold day recipe that our Executive Chef Chad Hendrickson created to pair with this wine.

Braised Hunter Style Chicken
Serve with
Hess Collection Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Ingredients                              

1 Tbsp.             Olive Oil

1 ea.                 Chickens cut in 8 pieces

1 cup                Porcini mushrooms, sliced

1½ cup             Onions, diced

2 ea.                 Garlic clove, minced

2 Tbsp.             Tomato paste

1 ea                  14 oz can stewed tomatoes

1 Tbsp.             Fresh Thyme, finely chopped

1 ea.                 Bay leaf

to taste              Salt and Pepper

1 Tbsp.              Italian Parsley, chopped

to taste              lemon juice

Method

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

1. Heat a 12” sautoir or sauce pot over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the oil and immediately place the chicken in the pan,  skin side down. The chicken should sizzle merrily in the pan without much moisture accumulating. Brown the chicken all over, but do not worry about cooking them through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Pour off all but 1 ounce of the accumulated fat. Place the pan over medium heat and add the mushrooms. Sauté until slightly golden, but keep an eye on the fond (pan drippings) to make sure it does not burn. Add the onions and sauté over medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and thyme, cook til aromatic. Add the tomato paste and sauté over low heat until it is slightly browned. Add the stewed tomatoes and bay leaf; bring to a simmer. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Place the browned chicken pieces in the sauce; they should be almost covered in sauce. Bring to a simmer and cover tightly. Place in a 350 °F oven. Let cook for 30 – 45 minutes until tender.
3. Remove the pan from the oven and skim off the excess fat that has accumulated on top. Remove the chicken from the pan, place on a platter. Adjust the seasonings of the sauce. Add fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon.
4.  To serve: place chicken on a plate, spoon sauce on top and enjoy. Try this with polenta and braised greens.

   Yield:  4 portions
   Source: Chad Hendrickson, Hess Collection Winery

“When there is plenty of wine, sorrow and worry take wing.”  The Art of Love by Ovid

Welcome to my inaugural entry for my blog.  I will be talking about winemaking techniques used at The Hess Collection and fielding questions posed to me and our winemaking team.  

This weekend, at The Hess Collection, we hosted our annual wine club blending party.  At the party participants were given samples of Mount Veeder wines, first to taste and then to make their own blend.  So I thought, this would be a good opportunity to talk a little about blending; how to decide on blending components, goals for blending and the audience for whom you are blending.

Our first step, with blending, is to evaluate each wine component. Our winemaking team looks at the balance of the wine, structure, concentration of flavors and complexity.  We also look for flavor and aroma defects.  This information is used to determine what we blend into our wine.

If a wine is overly astringent, meaning that it has a chalky mouth texture, we will look to soften the tannins with another wine, for example, Malbec.  Or, if the wine lacks tannic structure, we will add a wine with good structure to enhance the blend. Mount Veeder wines generally do not have this problem, so we usually look for wines to showcase more of the fruit that grows here. For example, Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon showcases flavors of cassis, anise, plum and black cherry.  In Syrah, you will get pepper, black cherry and sometimes a smoky tar flavor. With Malbec, you may perceive plum, blackberry and cherry.  These wines are frequently used as blending components and were used in last week’s blending party.

 Check out photos from the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22768914@N08/sets/72157616223242695/detail/

Question: What do you do when you’re ready to mow down the spring cover crops in your vineyard but you’re on the side of a mountain and its impossible to bring in the tractor? 

Answer:  You release the goats!

Its been a cold and wet February up here on Mount Veeder but luckily the winter weather doesn’t affect the dormant vines.  So while the vines are “sleeping” our vineyard crew is hard at work pruning to prepare them for the upcoming growing season.

Take a look at our first vineyard video blog of the year that describes what is taking place in our vineyards right now.

Check out the video below to see what we do during the winter months on Mount Veeder.

Winter Erosion Control from The Hess Collection on Vimeo.

La Voz del Monte

Join our vineyard crews as they pick Malbec grapes from The Hess Collection’s Mount Veeder vineyards.

Picking Malbec on Mount Veeder from The Hess Collection on Vimeo.

La voz del Monte

Check out this fan of our Lake County Sauvignon Blanc on Facebook’s Wine Beagles!

http://apps.facebook.com/winebeagles/product.php?pid=411893

While we’re out finishing harvest, click the link below to see a press release on an awesome award that our Visitors Center just received.

Napa Valley Vintners Announces Regional Winners in Great Wine Capitals Competition

http://napavintners.com/trade/tm_3_release_detail.asp?ID_News=35059