Three Rivers Winery Blog

Preparing for Bottling

The past couple of weeks we have been consistently busy racking wines from barrels into tanks to prepare them for bottling.  ‘Racking’ is the wine-making operation of removing clear wine from the settled sediment or lees in the bottom of the barrel.  After the barrels have been racked (emptied) the sediment is rinsed out with hot water. The barrels are then allowed to drip dry before re-filling. We will be bottling 10 different wines the second week in February.

In between daily cellar tasks this week we have had a great opportunity to shovel snow. For some of you this may not sound very exciting but we seldom see any of the fluffy white stuff.

Andy Slusarenko, Assistant Winemaker

 

Wine Club Selections 2008

One benefit to being in the Three Rivers Wine Club is that members receive our limited production and 'winery exclusive' wines before they are released in the tasting room.  A few of the wines we are releasing this year are under 100 cases in total production; about half of this goes to our wine club members. Our wine club members get at least one of each selection to try out and may re-order more if desired.  There is nothing worse than finding a wine you enjoy and trying to order more, just to find out it is no longer available.  We try to eliminate this problem for our members.  Below are the selections for this year's wine club.  Wines marked with an asterisk are only available at the winery or through the wine club. If you would like to be guaranteed any of the wines listed, please visit our website to find out how to join the wine club, or call the winery at 509-526-9463.

Amy Locati, Wine Club Manager

2008 Wine Club Selections

January 2008	2005 Champoux Cab*
	2005 Meritage Red Wine
April 2008	2005 CV Cabernet
	2005 CV Syrah
June 2008	2006 Tempranillo*
	2007 Riesling*
September 2008	2006 Malbec*
	2006 Weinbau Cab Franc*
November 2008	2006 Malbec-Merlot
	2006 Boushey Syrah

Focus: White Wines

Today our goal is to get through stirring and topping our white wines.  We have so2'd all whites so we're also checking the free so2 and adjusting accordingly.  The white wines we have in barrel from the 2007 harvest are, Chardonnay from 4 different vineyards, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon both from Klipsun Vineyard located in the Red Mountain AVA.  All of these wines were fermented in french oak.  The reason for sur lie ageing and the stirring of the lees is to enhance the mid-body and complexity of the wine.  It will also improve the aging potential of these wines by its contribution of oxidizable particles.  In the Chardonnays malo-lactic fermentation was 50% complete, this leaves some of the natural acidity left which I like, it helps balance out the round mouthfeel.  My goal is to create balanced wines with great varietal expression.

Cheers!  Holly

Happy New Year

Hopefully everyone made it through the busy holiday season, now we're on to the new year.  These days, in the cellar we are prepping for our February bottling. We have a few new wines that I'm looking forward to sharing. They are, 2006 Minnick Hills Cabernet Sauvignon from the Walla Walla Valley appellation, 2006 Weinbau Vineyard Cabernet Franc from the Wahluke Slope appellation and a 2006 Columbia Valley Tempranillo. All will be excusively available here at the winery and in very small quantities.  They all show beautiful varietal character, look for them to be released in May 2008. Back by popular demand, the 2006 Malbec and 2007 Riesling will also be bottled next month. I'm glad you liked them. Work will be starting in the vineyards too. It's the season to prune. The vines have gone dormant for the winter, so, we'll keep the buds we want and cut the rest off; This will prepare the vines for spring and bud break.

Happy New Year, Holly