OUR CELLARGet a glimpse of the science and art of winemaking, all of which happens right here on our property!
We have over 20 wines on our menu, which includes something for everyone ranging from dry to sweet, still, sparking, and hard ciders too. Our vineyard contributes to about 80% of the wines, and the other varietals are sourced locally but brought in as whole fruit. All of the processing, fermenting, winemaking, bottling and other cellar duties happens here on site, in our cellar directly below the winery. Our Head Winemaker, Chaz, is the mastermind behind it all, with the help of our production apprentice, Joey, and our summer vineyard crew. After the grapes are harvested, they are processed on our crushpad, just outside the cellar door. Processing grapes begins with sending them through the crusher destemmer, which separates the grapes from the stems. White wine grapes then go through the press, which is a machine that presses the juice off of the skins and sends it into a tank to begin fermentation. Red wine grapes wait to go through the press until they’ve spent time soaking on their skins in a tote (anywhere from 3 to 100 days). During this time, fermentation begins and the contact with the skins, seeds, and some stems provides natural tannin, gives the wine some body and structure, and allows the wine to retain its color. Once this stage is done, the wine is then pressed off the skins and is put into a barrel, or sometimes a tank, to continue secondary fermentation and maturation (aging). Most of our reds undergo secondary fermentation and maturation in oak barrels, while most of our whites are fermented in stainless steel vats. The reason for this being, most people who enjoy dry, bold reds like the flavor complexity and tasting profiles that oak barrels give such as vanilla, clove, baking spices, caramel, smoke, coffee, cedar, etc. The oak also helps to soften harsh tannins (tannins are found in the skins of grapes and make wine seem more dry). We also use oak staves, which are wood sticks placed in the barrel with the wine, which influences the wine similarly to a barrel, but in different ways depending on the type of wood, how toasted it is, and the size of it/how many used. We ferment our white wines and rosés in stainless steel to help preserve the grape’s natural character, keeping the flavors fresh, crisp and clean. In these wines you might taste citrus, green apple & pear, stone fruit like peach and nectarine, minerality, or floral notes. They have a light to medium body without the extra weight or flavoring that oak brings. However, we do make a couple exceptions as we are always trying new things and seeing what will stick. One is an unoaked Marquette that highlights more of the dark berry notes of the Marquette grape. The other we call Driftwood–it is 100% La Crescent that we lightly oak to mellow out the acidity and give it a deliciously unique flavor and a more rounded finish. After fall harvest and processing all the fruit, we enter into winter, the time for babysitting the wine, checking its levels and adding any needed bacteria and sugar. Once Chaz deems the wine ready, it will be filtered, bottled and labeled, ready to be released to the public.
In 2024, we took another exciting step in our craft by bringing canning in-house. Wanting a more convenient, take-home way to share hard cider, we invested in our very own canning line—right here in the wine cellar. Now, we’re able to can our three signature hard ciders, Love Sangria, Shimmer White and Shimmer Rosé wines. Want to experience the cellar for yourself? Join one of our Estate Walking Tours throughout the summer! Click here for more information. |
