Warnecke Ranch Pinot Noir Added to the Ancient Oak Cellars Family
- By admin
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- 24 Sep, 2010
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Margo Warnecke Merck, daughter of the famous architect John Carl Warnecke, lead us through the Warnecke property on a warm afternoon this last week. This property includes a mile of beach front, but more importantly for us — vineyards. We were there to see a block of pinot noir we will be using for a […]
It’s hard to concentrate on tasting grapes with with a hilly vista spreading out in front of you and Margo’s dog Zephyr vying for attention at your heels, but we did manage to come up with some thoughts on the grapes, especially our winemaker Joe Freeman. From past experience with the grapes, Joe knows that they are kind of “sleepers” — in that they show even more finely in the wine made than one would expect from the fruit. We’re getting close to harvest time, so the stems are continuing the process of lignification — turning brown and beginning to shut down.
The seeds are starting to get more “pop” and crunchiness, with those tannins developing nicely, and the berries are developing nice strawberry and red-cherry flavors. We’re expecting some nice warm weather in the next several days, so all looks good for continued development of grape flavors and seed tannins. Expect some great stuff from this wine!
Ancient Oak Cellars, and Jon McDaniel with Second City Soil, gathered 60+ of the top sommeliers from around the country to taste four wines that Ancient Oak had sent to each -- and to enter into a discussion of the wines, farming and winemaking philosophies, and a wide-range of other related topics. We had a blast!
Re-live your experience, or take it in for the first time. Then be in touch to continue the discussions. Cheers!
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watch a video of winemaker Greg La Follete talking about the importance of family-farmed wines and native yeast fermentation.
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Melissa will be pouring Ancient Oak Cellars' wines at the Pomona College Alumni Vintner Tasting
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Our family's special Easter decoration, found inside the ruins of our barn following the 2017 wildfires, serves as a symbol of hope.
We continue to follow the long road to recovery following the Tubbs Fire, which destroyed the Siebert Ranch PInot Noir vineyard. In this installment, we explore the process of grafting the new vines that will make up the new vineyard.
