Hello Fall Release and cold weather!
We are finally all in for harvest. Having said that, we pushed it harder than most at the end bringing in 50% of our harvest in just 3 days and then hand picking 6 tons of fruit the last 4 days! The winery is busting out of the seams again and the busiest weekend of the year is this weekend! Luckily I have mad forklift skills and was able to arrange everything in a very welcoming way.
I’m really liking all the flavors, and the wines that we are getting from this harvest. While it was crazy (as usual), it has also been the smoothest harvest I’ve ever had. I feel like this speaks to my comfort level at The INK and the vast amount of preparation we do for harvest. The last two weeks I averaged 89 hours of work a week which included a couple of 16-hour days! Even being drained at the end of the day, it still doesn’t feel like work, as my favorite place to be on most days is the winery.
Fall release weekend is here and starts today! We are releasing 6 new wines total, one of which is our Eternal Sunshine Viognier. The 2017 was just voted best Viognier in the Pacific Northwest by SIP Northwest magazine. That makes 3 years in a row we have been awarded by SIP Northwest for our Viognier which is becoming a cult classic as we only make a barrel a year and it sells out quickly!
Our Good Vibes wine club shipping members should have already received their wines. We are opening early and staying open late this weekend, Nov. 1-3, 10-6pm. We will be pouring the 6 new releases, 2 current favorites, and 2 library wines. We have light apps from Sipid catering this weekend as well. I will be at the winery all weekend, so stop in to say hello, taste the new wines, grab a bite, and check out the 2019 vintage!
We still have almost 20 active ferments; however, most of these are whites so they take up less space in the winery than reds. Arriving at the winery the last couple days it’s been around 20 degrees F, which of course is not that welcoming. Thankfully the sun has been coming out and warming up to high 40s, low 50s until the sun goes down again.
This year has really allowed me to step outside my comfort zone and try new things as well. We brought in the first Malbec I’ve ever made, did 2 different co-fermented orange wines, and other cool red wine co-ferments. At the same time, I stayed with certain things too: don’t fix it if it isn’t broken!
I love Carmenere and if you don’t know a lot about it don’t worry. I went to Chile to study the grape and produced a documentary. It’s an easy 20 minutes, so grab your favorite Carmenere and sit back and enjoy! Link here.
We are open for tastings at the winery Wednesday through Sunday 11-5pm. Mon/Tues by appointment only.
UPCOMING EVENTS 2019:
11/1- 11/3/19: Fall release weekend
12/6 – 12/8/19: Holiday Barrel Tasting
2/10/20: Walla Walla Wine in Seattle
2/24/20: Walla Walla Wine in Portland
3/19-3/22/20: Taste Washington in Seattle
5/1/20- 5/3/20: Spring Release Weekend
7/16- 7/18/20: Celebrate Walla Walla Valley Wine – The World of Syrah
*Bold locations in Walla Walla
As always, thanks for reading.
-Drink Wine Be Happy
Brad Binko
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