Boy, 2010 is going by in a flash. Seems like I emptied my last fermenter only yesterday. Man that month long trip to Hawaii after harvest was awesome!!! Nope. Alas, since last November I haven’t found any time to chill. I guess that explains the lack of blogging? Maybe — if you’re kind to me :-)

I’ve heard absence makes the hear grow fonder — let’s hope that’s the case when it comes to blogs…..somehow I think not. I am making it a goal to be more in touch and give some insight into what I’ve been up to and where we are going this year.

Let’s start w/the present and work backwards…shall we? This past weekend I participated in the Rhone Rangers tasting in San Francisco. It is always a great event w/lots of enthusiasm. I poured all my 08 Syrahs : the Unknown, Jemrose, and Judge as well as my 09 Rose’. I am extremely happy w/the 08s. They meld the power of my 06s w/the spicy characteristics of the 07s. And, as luck would have it, the sun was shining bright in the City on Sunday so it made for great Rose’ drinking weather.

As a teaser, here are my notes on the 08 Unknown and 09 Rose’. A plus tard!

There is no lack of color here. It’s like liquid onyx in the glass. Exotic and intense perfume of blueberries, violets, blackberries, lilies, boysenberry, and dark chocolate layered over wet stone. Cracked black peppercorn, graphite, plum, tar, bacon fat, mineral, and anise lace the mid-palate. The tannins are more refined than in previous years. They support a juicy core and provide excellent structure. Minimal oak impact – the wine is pure syrah.

The Ma Fille exhibits gorgeous neon pink and ruby accented color. The first impression is an extremely vibrant and effusive nose of watermelon, passion fruit, papaya, citrus, and pomegranate. The acidity is focused and zippy. The Ma Fille packs impressive depth for a rosé – especially one with sub-fourteen percent alcohol. This is a wine of well-defined edges, refreshing flavors, and a juicy finish.

Boy, I’ve heard that one some many times I almost want to puke, but hey it’s so VERY appropriate. I’ve been off the grid for the last month. Sorry. Where to start?

Well, since I last wrote I’ve travelled back home to Minnesota twice, made all my 2008 blends, celebrated my 33rd birthday, surveyed the progress of my vineyards as the complete/start verasion, ordered all my bottling supplies (oh, joy), had all our interns start, sold wine, tasted wine (in the City, OC, Napa, etc), and I think I might be getting a few grey hairs — well, at least I’m a red-head so we’ll call them blonde ;-).

Anyway, I will endeavor to update you all on may last six weeks and provide all the scintillating details of the Shane. Please excuse the delayed absence.

Well, I arrived in Minnesota last night and imbibed in some local brews while watching a 16 inning Twins v Tigers marathon.  Unfortunately, my beloved Twinks lost but it was good to finally relax.  The past ten days have been a whirlwind; so, it was very, very nice to board the plane yesterday leaving San Francisco bound for Minneapolis.

And now I’m reminded of my high school days as I sit in my Mom’s basement typing away while listening to music.  It’s overcast and humid….signs point toward rain.  You gotta love Midwest summers!  :-)  Ok, let’s get to the nitty gritty…what the hell have I been doing the last few days?

When I last left our regular scheduled programming I was embarking on the Pinot Days marathon.  My Saturday tasting at Fort Mason went very well.  i poured and presented the 07 KB Keefer Vineyard pinot. It showed amazingly well.  The tasting format was blind (which always gives me pause b/c I don’t want to be the one winemaker who can’t pick out his own wine — but I did — whew).   Some highlights for me were the Kanzler Vineyards Sonoma Coast and Lynmar Terra de Promisio.  You should know KB sources fruit from both these vineyards — so you could say I’m biased — but these are truly cool wines.

Saturday night I had dinner in the city with a friend who co-owns a cool wine, beer, and spirits social networking site call Nirvino.  We ate at a Sardinian restaurant called La Ciccia.  Amazing.  They had to roll me out of the place I ate some much!!

Sunday was the PD Grand Tasting.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I poured my Spell pinots. This was the first public event for my Spell project.  As such, I was cautiously optimistic.  Would anyone know me or my wines?  Turns out yes!  I poured through eighteen bottles of my two pinots - the Weir Vineyard and the Barton Vineyard in three hours.  And, no I wasn’t pouring full glasses!  Great turn out on Sunday.  I’m already looking forward to PD 2010!!

Sunday night I met with a cool group of people at Foreign Cinema.  Great food and great wines.  Had some very cool German Rieslings, Syrahs and Chards.  Highlights for me were the 03 Clape Cornas and 07 Terchero Gewurtz…a very sexy wine with cool acidity.  

OK, am I done?  Writing this is getting me exhausted.  Monday was the first day of the KB Pinot Retreat.  A very cool 3 day event we hosted for mailing list customers.  We golfed Monday…in my case that means spraying the ball all over the course.  But, hey it was fun!  We had dinner at the winery Monday night.  Tasted some past vintages of KB.  If you have a bottle of the 05 Koplen pinot you’re very lucky.  It’s screaming!  

Onto Tuesday…..we took the group to the Amber Ridge Vineyard. More wine, more food, more beer, more fatigue :-)  Made me think harvest isn’t too far away.  We cruised back to the winery for a Keefer vineyard blending seminar.  The owners of Keefer were kind enough to come and join us.  Great people.   To wrap up the evening we headed to a RRV vineyard for a bbq and more booze.  I finally had to call it quits around 10pm. 

Wednesday and Thursday were recovery days.   Clean-up.  Meetings.  A yearning for the long weekend.  Hope everyone enjoys the 4th holiday!  I’m gonna take a nap :-). 

Cheers, Shane

At the moment, I’m quarantined in my bedroom listening to the cadence of a carpet layers hammer.  We’re getting our carpet replaced and I’m sweating bullets it won’t be done in time for me to get to the city for this afternoon’s Pinot Days event.  Nothing like cutting it close….luckily my nephew (cellar worker over at Landmark) is here to help me move the furniture back quickly.  So, I’m a bit tense but optimistic everything will come together :-)

We spent last night eating pizza, drinking Heineken, and moving furniture late into the night.  This after a jaunt out to western Marin County to see a pinot vineyard and catch-up with my Northern California distributor.  If you get the chance to visit western Marin make sure you get out there.  

Once I’m on the road this afternoon, I have another fun day in store.  I’m representing Kosta Browne at the Pinot Days “Gems of Northern AVAs” tasting.  I’m pouring our 07 Keefer Ranch.  Just an amazingly pretty wine.  Keefer consistently produces some elegant and supple wines.  Not sure who else if pouring but I’m sure killer wines will abound.

I’m crashing tonight in the city since tomorrow is the Pinot Days “Grand Tasting” and I’ll be pouring my Spell wines.  I have the 2007 Weir Vineyard (Yorkville Highlands) and Barton Vineyard (Russian River) as well as a 2008 barrel sample from a tiny parcel west of Occidental — the vineyard’s called Guidici.  If you’re at Pinot Days on Sunday please stop by and say hello.  

great tasting yesterday.  many thanks to the folks at pinot days especially lisa rigisich and rusty gaffney.  thought the spell “weir vineyard” showed very well.  lots of red apple skin, anise, and bing cherries.  really like how it’s beginning to express itself.  

we tasted through 4 flights of 4 wines.  very impressive line-up.  lots of very cool small producers out there. really liked the themes of stem inclusion, moderate use of new oak, and focusing on balance.  hey, sounds like what im doing?

today it is back up to sebastopol for a full day of work at kb and then back to the city for a dinner highlighting my spell wines and a few other small pinot producers.  should be a jampacked day!