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

Holiday Gift Ideas

It is that time of year again! Phone calls are coming in from customers and businesses scrambling for holiday gifts, usually not quite knowing what to get.  So I thought it would be a good idea to post a few gift suggestions to make your lives easier. 

For corporate mailings, a really simple but elegant idea is a wooden box with 2 bottles of wine nestled inside.  The wooden gift boxes run $15 each plus the cost of wine (we have wine anywhere from $13 to $50 per bottle), and they ship really easily. 

Another affordable gift is a bottle of our 2004 Merlot paired with our Custom Chocolate Merlot Sauce.  Who doesn't love chocolate and wine?  This runs $37 per set.  And for the white wine lover, a 2006 Chardonnay with a Custom Chardonnay Peanut Brittle at $29 per set.

If you are looking for gift baskets or need a housewarming or hostess gift, one of my favorite ideas is a nice Acacia wood salad bowl filled with wine and gourmet foods.  Unlike a gift basket, which will get thrown in the basement to collect dust after the goodies are taken out, the salad bowl will grace the table afterward for years.  Our best seller is an Acacia wood salad bowl filled with taralli olive oil crackers, pistachio and green olive tapenade, basil infused olive oil (great on salads), and a bottle of 2006 Meritage White Wine (or 2004 Merlot if you prefer red wine).  This beautiful gift is $107.

Remember we can always customize a gift, with or without wine, to fit in your price range, just give us a call or stop by the winery and we will do our best to accommodate your needs. 

Happy Holidays,  Amy Locati

2007 Vintage Update

We've made it through the 2007 vintage with much optimism. The fruit quality was great with  bright acidity.  We finished a bit earlier than average so a little more breathing room before the holidays(much needed).

Our Chardonnays are currently going through malo-lactic (ML) fermentation and we're busily racking the reds that are continually finishing ML. It's a busy time here at the winery but everthing is falling into place quite nicely.  We're looking forward to holiday barrel tasting in a couple of weeks. We'll be barrel tasting some fun wines,  our 2006 Malbec, 2006 Minnick Hills Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and our 2006 Champoux Vineyard Merlot, hope to see you there!

Cheers,  Holly Turner, Winemaker

Welcome to the Three Rivers Winery Blog!

As one of the founding partners in Three Rivers in 1999, I can honestly say I have seen some extraordinary growth and change in the past seven years in the Washington wine industry, Walla Walla wine industry, and at our winery.  We set out in 1999 to create a unique destination winery in what we saw as one of the world’s hottest wine regions, the Walla Walla Valley.  Our goal was to create a winery that not only produced outstanding wines, but also provided a complete wine country experience.  I am constantly reminded that success as a winery and as a business is dependent on not only providing an exceptional product and outstanding customer service, but also upon staying on the cutting edge in all that we do.  That includes how we distribute our product and tell our story.
    Over the past several years, we have all seen how rapidly the internet has become an integral part of our day-to-day life.  Whether it is how we purchase products or learn more about the products we intend to buy.  Blogs, unheard of when we founded Three Rivers in 1999, are now a significant means of passing along information and sharing insights and opinions on a multitude of topics.
    With the launch of the updated Three Rivers Winery web site, we are creating a wine blog.  We will use this site as a medium to update you on the latest happenings at Three Rivers, the wine industry in general, and many other topics.  Contributors will include myself, Duane Wollmuth (Managing Partner), Bud Stocking (Managing Partner), Amy Locati (Wine Club Manager), and Holly Turner (Winemaker).  While Holly will be the primary contributor, updating you on the wines, the winemaking process, and the current vintage, Amy, Bud, and myself will keep you posted on events, special offerings, changes in the wine industry, and various other topics.  I hope you enjoy what we have to say.

-Duane Wollmuth, Co-founder and Managing Partner