And so the saga continues: Today we finally got to bottle our Cabernet Reserve. What makes it a Reserve you ask? Good question. It taste better than the other 3 gallons of Cabernet we had in glass. Very much better. In fact it surpasses some Napa bottlings I have had in the $12-$15 range. Nice fruit, good mouth feel, great balance. Nothing negative, and that's what we really were seeking, a wine that did not suck.We were able to get 27 bottles under cork. We then put the other 3 gallons into the barrel and put it away for another month or so. It had a nail polishy/acetone note to it I did not like much. We'll see.
Next it's our Petite Sirah. Maybe tomorrow morning when it's cooler.
We completed the Petite Sirah on Sunday morning. pretty much what we did for the CS. There was more floating materials so we did a mesh filter. 25 bottles later, we moved the balance of the petite in the glass to the barrel and we will check it in a month. The petite is a deep purple in color with some violets on the nose. The palate shows a very subdued wine, especially after bottling the CS on Friday, but is a very 'varietally' correct wine. We took advice and shot the Argon into each bottle before corking.By the way, that picture is Thomas Rivers Brown of the Napa Valley. A man who actually KNOWS how to make Cabernet. I know, a cheap shot on my part to tie in a real winemaker to my garage operation possibly seeking credibility.................... ok, you got me, most definitely seeking credibility. You can't fault a guy for trying.
