The crush is complete and the leaves o If you missed out on cider-pressing during Fall Crush, there’s still a chance to bring your family out to this enjoy this unique old-fashioned fun. When you buy a Christmas tree, you get a 20 lb box of apples free to press into cider right there! Make it a holiday tradition! Speaking of holiday traditions, our winery is a great place to host holiday parties! Call Scott at 509-682-2423 to get your event on our calendar! n the vines are dry, brown, and dead.  Ready for rest and winter.  Meanwhile, in the cellar, things are just warming up for the season.  The primary fermentations are complete on the red wines and malolactic fermentation is underway.  Many red wines, including our Pinot Noir and Syrah, undergo these two fermentations on their way to being finished wine.  The first, or primary fermentation, converts the sugars into alcohol, and the second, or malolactic fermentation, converts malic acid into lactic acid.  This second step tends to soften the wine and round its features out.  It doesn’t produce any more alcohol, but does let off a good bit of carbon dioxide.  Riesling production doesn’t include this secondary fermentation.  Lighter bodied, fruit-driven wines like Riesling just go through a single fermentation. 

Our Riesling production was down quite a bit this year.  Earlier I wrote about fruit thinning and its importance in the maturing process.  Well, we thinned a bit too much.  This error, combined with a small sale of Riesling grapes to Vin du Lac, added up to only a half-full tank in the cellar.  So next year, when we run out of our ’09 Riesling, I guess folks will have to head across the lake to taste the other bit of the harvest.  Get ready, Larry!