WELCOME TO THE CUCAMONGA VALLEY
VINTNERS COOPERATIVE (CVVC) WEBSITE!
success! Well over 60 of us pitched in to bottle nearly 427 gallons of CoOp-made, award-winning wine from our August 2009 harvest fest. The day started off with last-minute set up of the four bottling stations, each with a three spout bottle filler, corking machine, and heat gun for applying the shrink capsules. Once everyone got a good feel for what they were doing, the stations pumped out the finished bottles of wine in true assembly line fashion, with spills, thrills, and tasting galore! - Angel & Chris Capalbo for providing water, soft drinks, juice for the kids, and ice, not to mention helping with most of the pre setup for the event both Friday night and Saturday early morning;
- Cathi & Claude Bibeau for providing a wonderful lunch feast;
- Patrice & Gene Govoreau for providing the desserts;
- those members who took charge of the four bottling stations, ensuring a smooth and fun experience: Bill Mumbleau, Chris Capalbo, Mark Bianco, and Paul Carney;
- Elaine Carney for being our finance czar and collecting $ from attendees to cover the day's expenses!
- Jill McClain for organinzing the wines and figuring out each member's share;
- and thanks to all those who brought extra chairs, tables, and easy ups!
- and thanks to all of you who pitched in and did whatever it took to make the day wonderful...from setup to cleanup!
The 2010 CVVC Bottling Fest is set for Saturday, May 15th, starting at 9 a.m. Invitations were sent by Evite.com on April 8th. If you didn't receive yours, please email George at cpowalker@aol.com.
This year's Bottling Fest will feature nearly 500 gallons of award-winning wine to be bottled and split-up between our 29 member families! We're adding a fourth full bottling station to help move things along. The fourth station will also provide more opportunity for our growing CoOp membership.
Good wine, music, great food, great comradery...it doesn't get much better than that!
2009 Press Day Wrap-up!
It was a beautiful, sunny day this past Saturday, September 12th. A good number of our membership came together at the Shed to press our newly fermented red wines off their skins/seeds and then crush and press 2000 lbs of Viognier from Northern San Diego County. Many of those in attendance were our newest members, who relied on some of the more tenured members for guidance and advice. Yes, I gave some direction, too; but by mid-morning, our newest members had caught on very well to the needs of the day, and proceeded to develop some of their own technique and process. It was very gratifying to see that ol’ American ingenuity step-up, burst forward, and move the day along.
The morning started at around 8 a.m. wish setup of three large presses...one belonging to tenured members Bruce & Martha Armbruster; another belonging to one of our newest members, Mark & Karin Cooper of Upland (both already involved in their own home winemaking and home vineyard ownership); and the last one, a beauty of an antique press on loan to us from my winemaking colleagues just north of San Diego, Scott and Laura Lacy (http://www.purplegrinwinery.com/)...visit and check out Scott’s hillside wine cave built with his own hands).
With the support of coffee and donuts, and after a bit of instruction, those on hand immediately began the operation of two of the three presses. As mentioned earlier, once everyone got their "sea legs," we were running full bore. All marveled at the beauty of the new wine pouring from the press basket into the receiving buckets for transfer into stainless steel tanks of various sizes and volumes.
The first wine to be pressed was from two nearly-full 55 gallon barrels of Pinot Noir from the Bonsall area of Northern San Diego County, not far from Fallbrook. Following the Pinot was a smaller quantity of heritage Petite Sirah from our very own CVVC Rocky Top Vineyard, located at the home of tenured members Gabe & Patty Ferrer here in Alta Loma. Dark, inky, wonderful! And next was the coup de gras, Cucamonga Heritage Old Vines Grenache...more than eight 55-gallon barrels of it. These grapes were procured via Joey Filippi (Filippi Winery & Vineyards) and hailing from an old vineyard in the Ontario area on the other side of the Ontario airport. Light in color, rich in flavor...this large quantity of wine will be split between a dry rosé and a semi-sweet rosé (for those who like a little sweetness to their wine on a hot day). And still fermenting away, but not on any skins, is a small quantity of Pinot Noir blush.
At the conclusion of a busy morning, our associate winemakers relaxed a bit to take in nourishment...pizza...with water and soft drinks of their choice. It was then back to work to finish off the old vines Grenache and begin pressing two extra-full, thousand pound bins of Viognier from the San Marcos area of Northern San Diego County. As the afternoon wore on, we lost some helpers due to other commitments, and the wear and tear of the day was starting to show. However, the remaining membership would not let the grape beat them down, so we all took a deep breath, grabbed another slice of pizza, guzzled some water, and marched on (that’s a poetic way of saying that everyone was tired beyond belief and could not wait to get the darned day over with!).
By 4:45 or so, all was done but the final clean-up...much of which had happened throughout the day, but much of which still remained as all the parts and pieces of the presses and crusher/destemmer, the buckets, and other tools of the trade had to be dealt with. It’s no secret to experienced members that the worst part of our winemaking efforts (other than fear of nasty microbes and spoilage bacteria) is the clean up. No one likes doing dishes, no one likes cleaning 55-gallon plastic barrels, lids, buckets, and the like. Well, I guess there were a couple who didn’t mind getting wet and messy with the clean-up, and their efforts were very much appreciated. We were lucky that no one slipped on the wet grass, and thanks to our aprons, there were no wet t-shirts to be contested...
By 5:15 or so, there were only five of us left standing, tweaking the last bit of clean-up...and I’m going to mention their names because they even offered to come back another time if more needed to be done. Many thanks to my last-standers, Mark & Karin Cooper and George & Marie Sliney. Let me be clear, though...all who came to press were extremely hard-working and much appreciated, and many were able to stay most of the day, and some even left and came back. It was, however, also very much appreciated to have a few left at the end to help with the typical residual stuff that I usually handle the next day. Thanks, guys/gals!
So, following are a number of pictures of the event with my own captions. It was a fun, collegial group. We could have used 5 or so more, but we got it all done and that’s what’s important. For those who are wondering, we will have another event after the next few weeks where we will need to transfer our new wines off their sediment into freshly cleaned containers. It won’t be a full day job, but it will require a few hands to help. Most of it will be emptying containers, cleaning out the sediment (yuck...cleaning again!), then refilling the containers. Not glorious work, but a perfect opportunity to taste our new wines that have mostly cleared and, while very young, will definitely be taste-able. Once they are transferred, we will add oak spirals to some wines at different levels, while others are will be left non-oaked (keeping them fruity).
If you have pictures from our press event and/or from the Crush Fest of a couple weeks ago, and you can share them, please post them to our Evite account, send them or a link to me, or give me a CD/DVD and I’ll see that they are shared with all.
Finally, I’m really enjoying the excitement and electricity coming from our group. We now boast 25+ families...many of whom are interested not just in the process, but also the chemistry and certainly the mystique. I’m looking forward to spending time with all of you as the months go by before we bottle on new wines in the spring. Until then, some members have talked about hosting tastings in their home, getting together for wine-related activities, and more. It’s wonderful to hear and witness the enthusiasm! I thank you for that and for you, all of which keeps me thrilled to be engaged with all of you in our pursuit of fun, fellowship, good wines, and good times. God bless you all...
2009 Crush Fest Wrap-Up!
Well, it was another successful Crush Fest for our Cucamonga Valley Vintners Cooperative! Successful, large, well-attended (over 80 attendees), hopefully fun and enjoyable, taxing to some, socially magic for others, and anything else one might have experienced being a part of our largest Crush Fest ever!
George Walker provides some direction to the group...
But, that's not what it's all about...well, it's mostly about making wine...but a very good part of it all are the new friendships that are created, the ongoing friendships that are built upon, and the fellowship that is experienced in taking fruit of the vine and working it into God-given drink with our human hands. All of it, a work of art.
Can you believe it? We crushed/destemmed nearly 7000 pounds of red wine grapes that will eventually yield more than 400 gallons of finished wine. And, it doesn't stop there. On 9/12, we'll crush another 2000 lbs of white grapes (Viognier), while pressing the newly finished red wines off their skins/seeds. In all, by the time we're all done, we'll have vinted over 500 gallons of wine! Whoa! The varietals: Cucamonga Old Vines Grenache, Northern San Diego County Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Blush, Cucamonga Rocky Top Petite Sirah, and Northern San Diego County Viognier.
So, thanks very much to our CoOp Event Coordinators...Mark & Debbie Bianco providing the marvelous lunch; Chris & Angel Capalbo providing the beverages and ice; Larry & Ann Hogan, with Larry providing more ice and Anne serving as collection agent for various funds; Tom Imbruglia and Rod Foster for helping with Grape pick up; Kelleigh Foster for helping with decorations and setup; Rocio Figueroa for selling Aprons; Loretta Martin for ironing on the apron logos; Vivian Imbrulia for serving those delicious Wine-aritas; Bruce Armbruster for taking photos; Martha Armbruster and others for cleaning up my wife's kitchen (yes, it's more hers than mine); and to all of you who brought tables, chairs, easy-ups; those who relentlessly cleaned equipment; Mac & Jill McClain for loaning us their trailer for grape pickup in Northern San Diego County; Gabe Ferrer and Chris Capalbo for spending their Thursday harvesting a boatload of Pinot Noir; and so much more.
Feeding the Crusher/Destemmer...No easy job!
I've tried, but I can't thank all of you by name, but you all know who you are...so please know that each of you and your efforts are so very much appreciated! Finally, many thanks to Patty & Gabe Ferrer who put out a very nice spread of wine, fancy desserts, and more for those who attended the Rocky Top harvest the night before the crush. Wonderful, Patty & Gabe!
Of course, there is one more person that I MUST thank for her hard work and support of the event...my wife, Angela. She spent much of the prior two days cleaning, picking up, re-cleaning and re-picking up (hey, we have young kids), and doing whatever it takes to get her house in order for a large number of guests. She is truly a work-horse, a wonderful wife, and committed/talented mom and friend. Thanks, Ang!
I also want to thank everyone for being cooperative with the cost of partcipation at the event. Please understand that the $15 per adult and $7 per child covered more than just the lunch...it included the cost of all beverages, related paper goods & supplies, rental of the Port-O-Potty, compensation for the pool supervisor, event decorations, and more. So, when you break it all down, it was truly a small price to pay for a wonderful day...at least I hope you feel that way. (hmmmm...pay, day, way...a lot of unintentional rhyming going on there).
The grapes fall down the crusher chute into the fermentation barrel.
Pictures of the event are still rolling in. I will attempt to post them in one place that can be accessed by all. Please stand by. Our next CVVC event, as mentioned above, is Saturday, September 12th, starting at 8 a.m., at which time we'll crush the Viognier grapes and perhaps some Cabernet from Riley's Farm in Oak Glenn; as well as press our newly vinted red wines. Feel free to participate if you can.
Finally, we have a couple remaining CVVC memberships available if anyone is interested. Please contact me for details. More to come soon!
2009 Bottling Fest Wrap-Up!
2008 CVVC Press Day!
On September 6th, three weeks following our Annual Crush Fest, the CO-OP membership came together again...this time to press the fruits of their labor. By this time, nearly 300 gallons of wine had been fermented, comprised of 6 different vintages from six different vineyards. The Shed was once again packed full of fermenting vessels, and we looked forward to removing the new wine from its skins, seeds, and sediment. The new wines were outstanding!
Above: Patrice & Gene Govoreau (right) and Sanchez (left) work together in pulling
out the "cap" from the wine to take on to the basket press. The "cap" of skins typically
floats atop the new wine, while the seeds drop to the bottom.
Above: From left, Uncle Lee Biggs, Larry Hogan, Chris Capalbo (facing away), and Tom Imbruglia ratchet down the press, gently putting the squeeze on the skins, thus relieving them of their flavorful bounty.
And here it comes, soon to be a gusher of rich, deep ruby red wine, soon to be placed into its
stainless steel container for clarification and then an addition of toasted American Oak for aging.
Above: After pressing, nothing remains but the tightly compacted skins & seeds, which can now be literally lifted off and deposited back in the ground for reuse as vineyard fertilizer.
Above: Mario Sanchez and Tom Imbruglia carefully lift off the "spent grapes" for transport
to their final resting place in the Red Shed vineyard just a few feet away.
Above: A number of our crew gather 'round the press as it yields its fruit of the vine.
And THIS is what it's all about!
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2008 CVVC Harvest & Crush Fest!
Friday night found a number of our CVVC members and friends sharing in the inaugural harvest of the Rocky Top Vineyard at Casa Ferrer, not far from the Walker Family Vintners estate. It took just a little over an hour for all hands to empty Rocky Top of its deep purple Petite Sirah fruit. Just before darkness, we were able to remotely snap the following photo:
That's CVVC member Tom Imbruglia, hard at work at harvest.
We were able to liberate over 550 lbs of grapes from Rocky Top. A good haul for a first harvest from just over 130 three-year-old vines. There's no doubt that the soil on top of the hill behind Casa Ferrer was perfect for this vineyard and the grape varietal. Many thanks to Patty & Gabe Ferrer for their work in watering, weeding, and generally maintaining Rocky Top throughout the past couple years! Thanks to Bruce Armbruster, Tom Imbruglia, and Larry Hogan for their help in hauling our grapes to the Shed that evening in preparation for the next
day's Crush!
Saturday morning started out with the annual pick-up of a ton of grapes from the Filippi Winery & Vineyards. Tom Imbruglia and I met there bright and early at 7 a.m. to take possession of two 1000 lb lugs of Syrah grapes from our Cucamonga Valley, courtesy of Winery President & CEO, Joe Filippi. Joe has kindly supplied us with wonderful Cucamonga grapes for the past 5 years now. We thank him for his kindness toward us and his support of our annual Crush!
This is the first crush where we have processed Cucamonga Syrah...the fruit was beautiful and the final product should be quite tasty. The Crush Fest itself started up a little after 9 a.m. with a number of members and guests having shown up on time and rarin' to go on the crusher and press. Everyone who cared to do so got a shot at cranking nearly 4000 lbs of grapes through the manual crusher/destemmer, while others practiced their cranking abilities by processing the crushed Merlot & Viognier through Bruce Armbruster's new oak and steel press that he will lend us each year. The Merlot and Viognier will be blended together to make a tasty "White Merlot" version of the red Merlot grape...much like White Zinfandel is made from the red Zinfandel grape. Something different for a change.
That's Martha Armbruster (left) playing with the crushed grapes, while Gabe Ferrer and Tom Imbruglia (right) master the fine art of pressing the juice from the skins & seeds for making white/blush wine.
While all the cranking, crushing, and pressing were going on, we had one more vineyard to harvest...the Walker Family Vintners estate "Vineyard on Banyan." Thanks to the help of a number of the kids, our young Banyan Vineyard was quickly stripped of its sweet Sangiovese fruit.
Although most new vineyards do not harvest grapes until the third growing season, the second-year Banyan Vineyard had taken root so well and was hanging nice clusters of fruit that I couldn't bring myself to waiting another year. Therefore, the decision was made to let the grapes grow, and the result was a small harvest of beautiful grapes that are expected to yield around 3 or 4 gallons of wine. That's 3 or 4 gallons of "Estate Grown & Bottled" wine...an important distinction. Looking forward to a somewhat larger harvest in 2009!
Kelly McClain (left), daughter of CVVC members Mac & Jill McClain, is seen harvesting grapes from the Walker Family Vintners' estate Vineyard on Banyan, then with the crew (right) hauling their Banyan Booty to the crusher... And, of course, the kids found time to swim during the beautiful and moderately hot day...
A few in the pool (left), and our little sweet pea, Myra Marie Walker (right)...
We had a great turnout that's not accurately reflected by the few pictures above. Upwards of 30 adults and 14 or so children of all ages joined us for the event, and then enjoyed a wonderful catered lunch coordinated by Vivian Imbruglia and the Imbruglia family. The Italian food was all exceptional, with plenty left over for takeout. Many thanks to Vivian, Tom, Grace, and Emily for providing this very enjoyable and essential portion of this year's Crush!
After lunch, we took the remaining 1000 lbs of Syrah grapes and let the kids do their own brand of Crush. We filled two ten-gallon tubs with grapes for the littlest kids to stomp in, while the bigger kids hopped into the big lug with the remaining 900 lbs of Syrah and stomped their hearts out, holding on to each other for support, sometimes falling onto each other, and laughing all the way. Unfortunately, I don't have those pictures to share at this time, but I will send them out in another email.
The kids had a great time, and we will have a great time vinting their resulting must into 50 or so gallons of "2008 Kids Crush Syrah." Guaranteed to be special... We wrapped up with final clean-up, and the day ended for those remaining around 3:00 p.m. or so. It was a light-hearted, non-stressful day, full of fun work, socializing, eating and grazing on great food, tasting some great prior vintages (2004 Gold Medal Chardonnay & 2004 Silver Medal Kids' Crush Syrah...from Temecula that year), and enjoying some great fellowship.
We also started the day by welcoming our newest CVVC members, Patrice & Gene Govoreau of Riverside, who are friends/neighbors of members Mac & Jill McClain. Unfortunately, Gene could not attend due to a work-related conflict. But Patrice did plenty of work to make up for her hubby's absence! Patrice & Gene are particularly looking foward to planting their own 125+ vineyard at their home. Keep those new vineyards coming! Again, welcome Patrice & Gene!
That's Patrice (left) buddying-up with CVVC member Amber Cargile of Anthem, AZ
We also welcomed a winemaking husband & wife team from LaVerne, Mark & Debbie Bianco. Mark contacted me after he read about us in the newspaper, asking if he could come by the crush to observe. We were happy to have Mark & Debbie, both fine folks, and both very hard workers! Interestingly enough, winemaking is in Mark's blood, as his grandparents, Fontaine and Louise Coragliotti, owned and operated Fountain Winery in Ontario from 1934 until 1975, and knew all the local vintners. Their winery was on Holt between Grove and Vineyard, and their vineyards were scattered throughout Ontario, Cucamonga, and Fontana.
Mark's "uncle" Primo Scorsatto was also Champagne Master at Cucamonga Vinyards. Mark and his cousins have fond memories of playing in the winery and vineyards as kids, but he didn't get the winemaking bug until just in the last couple years when he started making wine from kits. We'll keep Mark & Debbie on our distribution list and hope, perhaps, that they might join our merry little CoOp on a more regular basis! (Update, we welcomed Mark & Debbie as official members of our CoOp on September 3, 2008)
Mark Bianco, using a reftractometer for checking the Brix (sugar concentration) of the Viognier (or was it Merlot?).
The bulk grape must was allowed to sit in the Shed for 24 hours to allow some time for testing of the acid, pH, and sugar levels, as well as give them some time for the skins and juice to macerate a bit before fermentation. We then innoculated the musts with special yeasts on Sunday evening. They will ferment for a few more days, then we will allow them to continue to rest with their skins and seeds until it's time to press them on Saturday, September 6th! That's the day we'll press then transfer the new wine into their stainless steel containers for clearing, for going through Malolactic (secondary) fermentation, for oaking, and for aging until we bottle in the Spring!
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank someone very special...without whose support none of this could be done very well. Yes, you guessed it, my loving (and lovely...OK, and smart, too) wife, Angela. With each Fest, Angela cleans the house until it's spic & span, straightens up the back 40, chases Myra and the kids around, deals with people coming and going, pointing out the kitchen, the bathroom, the pool, etc. Thanks, Angela...I know it's not as much fun for you as it is for me, but it wouldn't be as much fun for me if you weren't part of it.
I love you...
Angela (left), with sweet friend Rose Meserole, enjoys a candid moment.