J. Kirkwood Winery

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Category - General
Posted - 11/08/2009 08:10am
Fall, 2009
 

Hi Everyone!

 

Fall is slipping away, the crush is over, and the wine has been barreled down for the season.  Now for a little blog update.

 

The growing season was one of the best we’ve ever had.  Although the yield was low, the weather cooperated and the grape quality was extraordinary.   The flavors were fully developed and the chemistries were spot on.  The merlot in the barrels tastes great!

 

This year marks our first effort at making some cabernet.  We made about 15 barrels from fruit we received from a Calistoga vineyard.  The vineyard is at 1300 feet elevation and is at the base of Diamond Mountain.  Since we also have some cab franc we made from vines that were budded over in our own vineyard, it’s going to be fun this year playing with various blends.

 

The wine this season was made using our new destemmer-crusher and our new wine press.  The new equipment made the process more enjoyable and we were able to crush lots of grapes smoothly and more efficiently.  Additionally, I set up an in-house lab and have enjoyed learning how to do the various necessary tests.   Having the ability to do our own lab testing will allow me to keep an even closer eye on things and, hopefully, make an even better wine.

 

The biggest news of the year had nothing to do with wine.  As of June, we are full members of the grandparents club.  Our daughter, Kyla, gave birth to baby Hannah.  Kyla and her husband, Erik, are great parents and we are in grandparent heaven  Life is good!


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Category - General
Posted - 05/24/2008 09:26am
Rockwood Capital Visits the Wine Country
Neil and Gina Smith, co-founders of Rockwood Capital, provided crew last weekend for another successful bottling event.  The entire company retreated to the end of Borrette Lane where their day started with a BYOB and finished with a lovely catered luncheon at the Smith home.  By all accounts, a good time was had by all!

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Category - General
Posted - 04/13/2008 08:09am
Another Fun BYOB
We had another wonderful BYOB yesterday!  The weather was sunny and beautiful, the people were great, and the food and wine received good marks from all the judges.  This one was put together by John & Sue Buller.  They invited family and friends who came from as far away as Green Bay, Wisconsin.  At last sighting, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
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John & Sue running the Filler


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Kirk, Sandy, & Russ


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Speed foiling by Shawn

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Mary Jane filming the action

Category - General
Posted - 03/17/2008 07:00am
The Di Rosa Preserve
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When you are planning your BYOB, be sure to budget some time to experience some of the other fun places and activities in the Napa Valley.  We will be using our Blog to share our photos and impressions of several of them. 
We visited the Di Rosa Preserve this morning.  What a great place!  Rene Di Rosa has been collecting Northern California art for over 50 years and has recently opened his estate to the public.  It's only a 10 minute drive from our home and definitely worth a stop!  For more pictures of the Di Rosa Preserve click here.

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Category - General
Posted - 02/22/2008 01:37pm
Welcome
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Welcome to our new winery blog!  We have recently converted to a system that allows us to change   things on our web site much more easily.  You'll find current news and happenings on this  blog page.  This should be fun!!




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