Busy Times In The Cellar For Atlas Peak

There is a buzz in the cellar now as Atlas Peak has harvested 90 % of the grapes for the vintage. We currently have twenty tanks filled with grapes at one stage or another right now. Grapes are either cold soaking, just starting to ferment, fermenting happily, or finished with fermentation and spending some time on the skins in what is called extended maceration. Extended maceration is a winemaking term that means that the young wine is allowed to remain in contact with the skins. This time on the skins softens the wine, ensures that the fermentation is complete and allows a process called malolactic fermentation to get a begin.

We are also starting to drain and press tanks of Cabernet as we see fit. Tanks that are selected for draining are drained the night before to allow us to collect as much free run wine as possible. Then we dig the skins out of the tank and press out any remaing wine. For the first time Atlas Peak will begin using a basket press to gently press the red skins. Wine that has been drained and pressed off the skins has also started to go to barrels as well. The free run wine and the press wine are held in separate barrel lots. Atlas Peak wines will see a combination of new and one year old french oak. The wine will spend between 12 and 18 months as it matures into finished wine. We still have a long way to go before we make it to bottle.

This is my favorite time of the year. When you walk through the cellar it is filled with the sweet smell of fermneting juice and it is bustling with activity.


Darren Procsal

Winemaker

Atlas Peak

http://www.atlaspeak.com/

Atlas Peak Harvest Hits High Gear

The 2008 harvest for the Atlas Peak winery is in full gear. Last week at this time we were looking at blustery days and possible freezing cold nights. Well, we survived the wind, and the expected frost never materialized. Now the fall weather has turned again to warmer than expected days and cool pleasant nights.

Cabernet Sauvignon is scheduled for every day of the week except Wednesday, when we will harvest the Cabernet Franc and Malbec, and Saturday, when we will bring in the Merlot and Petite Verdot. Most of the wine produced from these four delicious varieties will be used in our Atlas Peak Claret. See our web site for further details on the Claret. The balance will find its way into our Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, blend, and maybe, just maybe, we will make a small amount of one of those wines on its own.

As I walked the vineyards this week it occurred to me that we are nearing the end of another vintage. A lot of work remains, but by October 25th I expect all of our grapes will be harvested. This is not to say that the work is over, far from it. The winery will be buzzing with activity. Pump overs and drain and returns will be top priority, and soon we will be pressing and filling our French oak barrels. These details will follow.



By the end of the year, all of the 2008 wine will be in barrels and we will again need to turn our attention to the 2007's. But for the time being it is harvest full speed ahead.

Until next time ...

Darren Procsal
Winemaker
Atlas Peak

Atlas Peak Harvest Kicks Into Gear

Atlas Peak Harvest Kicks into Gear

I have spent the last couple of days walking vineyards and trying to figure out what to harvest and were we go next.

There is very little in the wine business that is ordinary. So the only tool that you have to help make your picking decisions is to walk the vineyards. Of course we also track such things as the Brix (percent sugar), and the acidity of the grapes (pH, and titratable acidity), because these are great indicators of ripeness. We walk a fine line between ripeness and maturity, and in the end tasting the grapes helps me make the final picking decision.

This week I have had a camera crew following me around, attempting to capture the daily life of a winemaker. It is amazing how these guys can walk backwards, given all the steep slopes and rocks along the way.

I thought that we might get to Malbec and Cabernet Franc this week. I had both of these vineyards scheduled for picking but then pulled them both off the schedule yesterday after walking the vineyard for what I thought would be one last time, I believe that the vines still have more to give and we can get more flavors out of the grapes. The vines look healthy and I think we should roll the dice. The mornings have been very cool and the days in the mid 80’s; just perfect weather for Bordeaux varietals to ripen to optimum maturity.

We are slowly kicking into high gear with more Cabernet Sauvignon coming in today. We will be bringing in 11 to 12 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stagecoach Vineyard, high up on Atlas Peak. These wonderful grapes come from Block B1, also known as the Oakville Heights block.

We will also be harvesting another 3 to 4 tons from the Atlas Peak block 65. This will be the third time we have harvested grapes from this block. This is a variable block, that has both thin and deep soils. The vines planted on the deeper soils are greener and exhibit herbal flavors I want to stay away from, while the vines on the thinner soils are filled with blueberry and blackberry flavors, complimented with good texture from developed tannins.

We will top that tank off with 6 to 7 tons of Cabernet from Block 63, where we picked 10 tons on Tuesday. We will do this because if we go any further in block 63 we will start heading down the slope of the block and the grapes are greener and less ripe. A few more days on the vines will do these grapes some good. Up in the mountains ... it's all about patience!

Until tomorrow ...

Darren Procsal
Winemaker
Atlas Peak

Atlas Peak; The Start of Fermentation

Atlas Peak: The Start of Fermentation

As the winemaker for Atlas Peak, I wanted to write this blog to share with people how wine is made, and why we do what we do as winemakers. I like to look at the winemaking process in some ways as preserving summer. Think about all those warm, wonderful days of summer, the warm nights, and the time spent outdoors on the patio with friends and family. As we enjoyed summer, the grapes where out there soaking up the sun and ripening so that by the fall, they were filled with sugar and the sweet flavor of blueberry, blackberry, ripe plums and cherries.

These are the tastes and flavors we want to capture in the wine to be enjoyed one night with great company and great food.

So how does this all happen? First we make a decision that the grapes taste great, and are ready for harvest. This is one of the most important decisions that are made in the winemaking process. Pick the grapes at optimum maturity; and the rest of the winemaking process will be much easier.

Next the grapes are handpicked, de-stemmed, and hand sorted in order to get the grapes in the tank with as little stem and leaf pieces as possible.

Then we cold soak the grapes for the next couple of days. This is an opportunity to get a good idea of how much sugar was in the grapes when the grapes were harvested. It also allows me to look at how the field sample compared to the actual tank sample. And finally, it gives me an opportunity to taste what the juice from that vineyard block is going to taste like once it is all together in the tank. Up until that point, your entire decision making is based on a limited amount of berries that you have tasted while walking in the vineyard. This is an educated guess, but it is always good to confirm your decision.

For the next couple of days (the cold soak process) we will do a short pump over of the juice in the tank. During that time the juice will change from a light pink to dark red in color. All of the color changes take place as the red color pigment in the skins is extracted into juice. Once the fermentation begins more color will be extracted, it is amazing how much color we are able to extract in the first couple of days.

The next step is fermentation. This is where wine yeast is added to the tank and the fermentation begins. In the simplest explanation, fermentation is the conversion of the grape sugar to alcohol. As the yeast ferment, they produce more yeast cells to keep working on the sugar, alcohol, and carbon dioxide gas that rises up to the top of the tank and literally spills over the top. In this process, heat is also produced. I like to look at it as a yeast party. Those happy yeast, dancing around and generating heat. It is much like when you have a party at your house. Start out with a couple of friends and everything is fine, but as more and more guests arrive and the music plays , guests start dancing, the room begins to get warmer where you will either need to open the windows and doors or turn on the air conditioning. For this very reason every tank in the winery has the thermostat so we can control the temperature of the fermentation (party).

Darren Procsal
Winemaker
Atlas Peak
http://www.atlaspeakwines.com/

Atlas Peak - The Cold Soak and the Pump Over

Now that we have the berries in the tank, we would like to pump over about 1/3 of the volume of the tank on day one and 1/3 of the volume of the tank on day two. To do this we will set up a tub below the bottom valve of the tank. Next, open the valve, collect the juice and berries in the bottom of the tub, then pump the mixture over the top and into the tank.
At the top of the tank we will use what is called a pump over device or irrigator to spread the juice and berries evenly over the top. This process will allow us to keep the juice cool and get some nice color extraction as you can see from the picture. At this point there is still no fermentation activity.

We will talk more about fermentation and the conversion of all that sugar that’s produced by the grapes into alcohol in the days to come. For now we will just need to chill out and wait!

Darren Procsal
Winemaker
Atlas Peak