Come here to keep informed about upcoming tastings and events. We will also keep you up to date on how the growing seasons are coming along, as well as the status of the aging process of our wines. You can even sign up for our RSS feed so that all of our updates will be delivered directly to your desktop.
| 09/09/2009 : |
August found us very busy at the winery, bottling and making space for the up coming vintage. We are very pleased with the quality of the 2007 red wines as they went into the bottle. They will be resting for a few months before we begin checking them for release. The vineyard is beautiful and in good balance. We have started to take regular samplings of the grapes as they mature. We are currently around 20 brix with a target of 24 brix for harvest. The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir here in Hyampom should be ready in 2 to 3 weeks depending on the weather. This weekend was very cool, perfect to give the phenols and flavaniods more time to mature before the sugars and acid levels are right for harvest.
|
| 07/10/2009 : |
The vines in the vineyard are growing extremely fast. It is quite a chore hedging and keeping the canopy open to the light. By the time we finish putting up the canes to support the vines; it is time to start over at the beginning of the vineyard. We continue tilling our bumper crop of star thistle brought on by the late rain. Each year has own challenge. This year’s challenge is keeping up the grooming of such a wonderful and fast growing crop.
|
| 06/12/2009 : |
It has been a very interesting spring for the vineyard in Hyampom Valley. Early May was unseasonably warm and dry. We had to irrigate the vineyard, which is unusual for May. June has started out wet and cool and we have had close to 2.5 inches of precipitation. The vineyard is now very vigorous from all of the extra water. The vineyard is in full bloom now, which is a week earlier than normal. The 2009 vintage looks to be very promising.
We are busy in the winery doing final preparations to the wines we will be bottling in a couple of weeks. On deck are 2006 Syrah, 2007 Pinot Noir, 2007 Zinfandel, 2007 Chardonnay, and the 2006 Syrah port. We have been receiving good reviews of our current release vintages and are proud to be following them up with wines of the same quality.
|
| 06/10/2009 : |
With only ten years of wine production, our winery is already taking top honors in some of the nation's best wine competitions. Both of the wine submissions the winery submitted to the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition brought home gold medals. We entered the 2005 Pinot Noir and 2005 Syrah. In addition to the gold medals, the Pinot Noir was also awarded Best of Class, a very impressive distinction among such a world class group of contestants.
The Los Angeles International Wine and Sprits Competition, rated as one of the nation's top five wine competitions in the United States by USA Today, is taking place at the Los Angeles Fairplex in Pomona, California. Over 4,000 wines were to be judged arriving from countries around the world. Last year's competition was represented by 16 different countries. This year's wines were judged from May 27 through May 29. All of the winners will be announced at the "Wine and Cars Under the Stars" gala to be held at the Los Angeles Fairplex June 20. This event will feature lively entertainment while giving the public the first opportunity to taste the winning wines from the competition.
|
| 05/01/2009 : |
It has been a crazy spring in Hyampom. In the past two weeks we have had snow and then temperatures in the 90's and back to frosting. The winery staff has been working with the crews in the vineyards making sure that everything is just right. The vineyards are looking good although the plants have been growing slowly. They must be as confused by the weather as the rest of us. Frost protection is in focus. We have good supplies of water but 55 acres of sprinklers require a lot of maintenance.
In the winery we have been doing our monthly choirs. The wines in barrels have free sulfur levels checked and adjusted every 6 weeks. They are also topped every 3-4 weeks depending on weather and evaporation rates. All the wines received their regular checkups and care last week. We are pleased with the progress of the aging process. The dynamic nature of wine is wonderful to witness and every wine has its own course of development.
|
| 04/02/2009 : |
It has been a cool spring and the grapes are starting to bud. The winery staff have been busy helping to get all the farming chores done at the vineyards. The weeding, fertilizing, and pruning are complete. It looks to be a promising year. Bix Lane has been dissecting bud primordial, and indications of its appearance, along with the lighter than normal rainfall, indicate that the crop yield will be slightly less than last year. However, what we lack in yield will be made up for in quality.
Bix took the 2007 Chardonnay off its lees in the aging process this month. This Chardonnay has been sur lees aged over the past 15 months. It takes extra time and care to age the wine in this manner. Each barrel has to be battonaged, (lees are stirred to reincorporate into the wine) by-weekly. Aging with the lees removes smaller tannins that can contribute to slight bitterness. The lees add subtle nutty flavors and rounds the wine together with the oak and buttery notes. It also keeps the wine fresh, vibrant, and protects it from oxidation.
|
| 03/18/2009 : |
Owners Ray and Robin, Winemaker Bix Lane, and members of the sales staff attended a fine winemaker dinner at the Market Street Grill in Redding Monday evening. Our 2006 Syrah Port, the first in our new Port Wine program, made its public début there. The port was very well received with many accolades. This wine is refined, smooth, and eloquent. A perfect finish for a special evening. We expect to release this wine in early summer, so keep watching. It is a very limited production of less than 200 cases.
In the winery, we are working on the final blending of the 2007 wines and preparing for the quickly approaching spring bottling. The 2007 Zinfandel is outstanding, a fruit forward monster, which we are all exited about. We are also discussing adding a proprietary blend to our mix of products. We love our varietal wines that express their individual incredible identities, but we see great potential in making a richer symphonic wine.
|
| 03/05/2009 : |
We have been getting much needed rains over the past two weeks. The pruning has been slowed down, but this is a welcome delay. The ground cover in the vineyard is blushing with its spring green, shedding the grays and browns of winter with the healthy drink of rain water. The pruning wounds are starting to bleed and the buds are swelling, the bud breaks are 3 to 4 weeks away. The vineyard is coming alive.
The winery staff has been busy with spring cleaning. We are also working the final blending for the 2007 Zinfandel. The winery is filled with the smell of bright fruit from the wine. Imagine spending summer evenings barbequing with friends while enjoying this wonderful wine.
|
| 02/20/2009 : |
It has been a cold and dry winter in Hyampom at Raymond Merlo Estate Vineyards. The past few weeks have brought coatings of white to the mountains around the valley. Despite the snow events of the past two weeks, it is still relatively dry. We are watching the skies with reverence for every drop she can bring. The valley is green and the earliest spring flowers are starting to bloom. Fishermen are a regular sight, taking advantage of the wonderful steelhead in the crystal water of the South fork of the Trinity River meandering past the winery and vineyard.
The vineyard crew returned this past week to get the vines into shape for the quickly approaching spring. It is a time renewal; a fresh start, filled with the promise of the vintage to come. We are currently in the process of pre-pruning. This lets us hedge against spring frost by leaving extra buds and gives a jump start to the season by pruning earlier. We do our best to get every last drop out of our growing season.
The winery is starting to come to life, cleaning up all the wines that now have finished the subtle secondary fermentation. The 2008 wines are being racked out of the barrel, having sulfur levels adjusted, allowed to settle for a few days, and then returned to freshly cleaned barrels. The wines are starting to shed there veil of fresh juice and taking on the characters of a maturing wine. The 2007 wines are starting to shine and will soon be getting a final polishing before they make their way to bottling.
|
| 02/16/2009 : |
After hundreds of development hours, we finally launched the new website. You will enjoy the new features and information presented here. On the Partners page, you now have a list of retail stores and onsite sales locations where you can purchase our wines in person.
On the Happenings page you can keep up to date with scheduled wine tastings as well as see what's going on in the vineyard and winery. You can even subscribe to our rss feed so that you can easily keep up to date by having our events included in your home page.
Our new online store has much more flexibility. You can even buy gift certificates and email them for gifts. Stay tuned, there's much more to come.
|
| 02/05/2009 : |
A new website has been secretly under development and is about ready to launch. There will be several new features, such as this page, the Tasting Room, and more. The overall flow will be more intuitive and provide images of interest near the related topics. The most important improvement is the wine store, which will now be tightly integrated within the website. It will be much faster, making your shopping experience much more pleasurable. The new store will also be able to honor discount coupon codes, so be sure to sign up on our email list to watch four our special promotions.
|
| 01/31/2009 : |
The 2008 Chardonnay residual sugars have stabalized in the stainless tanks at .01. Oak barrels are in the process of being prepared to begin the sur-lees aging.
The vineyards remain dormant, with the average day-time temperatures ranging between 35 and 40 degrees. We have been using the idle time in the orchard to begin installing irrigation for another 4 acres planned for Merlot.
|
| 01/14/2009 : |
Well, the Holiday Season is behind us, and it's time to get back to work. Although this time in the vineyards is slow, the winery still has plenty of work to accomplish.
During this week, we were able to stir the sur-lees in the 2007 Chardonnay. Sample tastings indicate that this is going to be an excellent vintage for the wine. We will be entering it in several competitions.
All the barrels were topped off and tastings indicate the 2006 Syrah is ready to bottle. It has a great nose and really sexy legs.
|
| 12/19/2008 : |
In preparations for the Holidays, we have been topping off the barrels and closing down the thing-a-ma-jig. Many of our seasonal staff have left to be with their families over Christmas and New Years, but will be returning as the frost leaves the valley and the vines begin to awaken. Our Winemaker and Associate Winemaker, along with a handful of assistants will take care of the nuturing of the wines for the next few months.
|
RSS Feeds are free subscription services that allow you to get feeds from web pages that you choose, and deliver the content to your home page. It's very similar to the content you see on your web page now, like different new headlines.
We have created an RSS Feed that has the Vineyard and Winery Updates on it, so you can easily see the headlines of what's going on in the winery. If you see a headline that interests you, simply click on it to come directly to this page.
Don't worry about installing something on your computer you don't want. This is simply a browser link, and can be removed a easily as it's installed. Want to see how it works? Just click on one of your favorite services below.
What's Happening
Subscribe To Our RSS Feed
FeedBurner
