Summer is upon us, and as it approaches, my excitement for the beach and barbeques is accompanied by a concern for my wine collection - most of which I keep in a wine rack in my closet. If you have a similar collection at home, keep in mind that proper cellaring conditions not only help preserve the wine for the greatest drinking potential down the road, but making sure to keep the wine out of the heat prevents it from turning into vinegar. Whether you have one bottle that you are saving to drink on that special occasion that never seems quite important enough, or you have your own closet cellar, you must make sure that the wine is kept out of direct sunlight and away from fluctuating temperatures and heat.
Radical temperature changes will cause the cork to expand and contract, which will allow oxygen to sneak into your wine. Ideal cellaring temperatures are between 55 and 60 degrees. Be prepared for those really hot days because even one could be disasterous. If you don’t have a cool, dark place to keep your wine at home, consider looking into a wine storage facility in town that will store your wine for a small monthly fee. I have a friend who splits his storage facility with his Dad and they each pay only $5 a month for peace of mind. This is worth it if you are investing time and money into collecting wine.
One other thing to keep in mind is having wine in the car on a long hot drive. If you go wine tasting and purchase wine, do not leave the wine sitting in the car where it heats up extremely fast. This will ruin the wine that you just bought. If you are planning on buying wine, bring along some ice packs and a cooler.
A note to wine club members - the heat of the summer months is the reason we do not send out a shipment in July. The wine would be compromised, sitting in the back of a Fedex truck while other packages are delivered like a soldier sent into battle without a gun.
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery
(click image to enlarge)
The SRH Wine Club will provide the same benefits as our regular Lafond Wine Club, but without limiting membership.
20% discount — low 6.50 shipping — complementary tasting when visiting the winery — a way to keep your wine cellar stocked at great savings.
Membership can be terminated or changed anytime with a call or email.The program is meant to be flexible — you choose the months — the wine — the quantity. With a minimum of 3 bottles prices start under 60.00 which includes shipping but not sales tax. Sales tax is added where applicable.
Wine shipments are limited to the states listed in the drop down State box.
To learn more:
Fall takes on a whole new meaning when you are in the winery. Although the Santa Barbara weather cannot be trusted to tell you what time of year it is (raining one day and hot the next), there is no doubt what time of year it is at Santa Barbara Winery. It is the time of year when my morning coffee is accompanied by a plate of Sauvignon Blanc grapes fresh off the semi-trucks that are here almost daily during harvest. If I ever feel an overwhelming sense of morning groginess all that I need to do is see that truck full of grapes and know that that is the product of passionately hardworking farmers who were up hours before I was, picking grapes so that they could come into the winery cool and ready to be pressed first thing. Pierre posted a great video on the blog yesterday showing this process of night picking.
This morning we received Wente Clone Chardonnay from the Lafond Vineyard. Our assistant winemaker, Ryan, seemed in a particularly great mood when I got to work this morning because this is his favorite clone. That excitement is contagious, and it makes for a wonderfully positive experience in the tasting room. It is just great to see people so excited about what they do everyday.
I am just in the midst of my first wine club shipping experience at Santa Barbara Winery. I was a little bit intimidated by the size of our growing club, but we managed to pack up and ship out all of the wine this week. The September wine club shipment contains three bottles. The first wine is our 2006 Chardonnay, Santa Barbara County. This wine makes up about 22,000 cases of our 55,000 case production. Sourcing from six different vineyards allows us to make a Chardonnay that is extremely well balanced and easy drinking. The second wine is our 2005 ZCS. This is a unique blend of Zinfandel, Carignane, and Sangiovese aged in neutral oak to show the full fruit quality of the grapes. The third wine is our 2005 Grenache Syrah (one of my personal favorites). This is a blend of cool climate Syrah from the Hilltop Ranch Vineyard in Santa Rita and Grenache from the Byron Vineyard in Santa Maria.
I encourage you all to come into the tasting room during harvest and see for yourselves the genuine passion and excitement that is in the winery, and taste the product of a lot of hard work from vineyard, to grape, to bottle.
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager Santa Barbara Winery
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