A quick harvest update from Stephen:

"We finished bringing in all our Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir on Friday. We have now moved on to the Cab--the amazing weather last week was a big bonus. We have small quantities of a few Rhône varietals to bring in....but the majority of the fruit out in the vineyard right now is Cabernet Sauvignon. Yields this year are looking to be right on target with our forecasts."

A few blog housekeeping items--we had some tech issues with the automatic updates and emails going out to subscribers. It should be fixed now...but you may have missed a few blog entries (just scroll down to see them, including a very self-serving entry that features my cute son). Also, we have had several complaints about not being able to register to make comments (an email confirming registration is never received). That should be fixed as well, so comment away.

Happy Harvest!

We are working fast and furious to bring in the grapes!  So far, we are about 60% complete. However, the crew is working double-time these next few weeks to get things in before the season changes. Cooler weather has slowed down ripening a bit; however we still have a few sunny days here and there.

Quality: Looks really, really good. So far, the Petite Sirah has been the star this year. Higher yields then the past few years....and beautiful, gorgeous clusters.

We aren't too tired yet....due to the slow start. But its going to be a busy couple of weeks around here. 

Leaves on the trees are changing and the vineyards are looking beautiful.

We brought in the Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay grapes today from the original "Clos" vineyard (3/4 of an acre in Bill and Brenda Murphy's Saratoga backyard). A very special helper was on hand.

Stephen then taught the lad how to do punchdowns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1fmU4np_XY

This reminds me of a another blog I saw about kids and wine photos.

http://drvino.com/2007/10/08/kids-at-wineries-the-winner-isjackson/

I'll enter these next year.

I started working full time  at Clos LaChance in 1999. I had a desk in our cold, dark rental cellar at the Novitiate in Los Gatos. It was 55 degrees and the humidity fans kicked on every 30 minutes. Our winemaker at the time tried to build us a little tent with a heater in it (think plastic sheeting and two by fours). I wore a hat, scarf, jacket and gloves (with the fingers cut out so I could type) all year round to keep warm.

In 2002, we moved to the winery in San Martin. The offices here are a small version of paradise compared to our old digs. Heat, light, running water...you know the basics.

I have certainly gotten comfortable in these offices over the last 5 years. The desks have gradually filled up with staff to manage our continuously growing business. In the long, tedious but fun, management meetings, one of the major topics of discussion is the detailed and complex bottling schedule.  With all the Clos LaChance products we have (just over 20) and the Private Label Program products (another 20 or so)...that's a lot of coordination. 

Since the inception of Clos LaChance, the bottling of our products has been handled by a number of contracted mobile bottling lines. A big truck comes in, hooks up to the tanks and starts cranking out the finished products. Making sure all the supplies (labels, corks, bottles, capsules, boxes, box stickers, pallets) are here and ready to go on the date the bottling truck arrives is always a challenge, as well as sticking to the tight schedule. Inevitably a supplier misses a delivery date or it takes longer to change up the tanks.

Whenever we discussed purchasing a bottling line for the winery, we always brushed the idea aside.  Bottling lines were something that "big" wineries had. I wouldn't consider us big (although we are producing 80,000 cases this year)...but Clos LaChance is now the proud owner of a bottling line!  It was finally the right time...we are bottling enough wine to make it cost efficent. Plus we need the flexibility with all our products and potential new business coming down the pipeline.

We purchased a mobile unit from Mission Bottling and officially took possession on October 1. Why a mobile line? Two reasons:

1. We have no room for a permanent line inside the winery. If we could build this place all over again, we would add more a lot more room for storage. But it is what it is, and the room we thought could work for bottling s filled with wine and other materials.

2. We figured when the line is not in use here at the winery, we can hire it out to other small wineries that need bottling services.  Bay Area Bottling Services is born!  A link to the press release about our new business: http://www.live-pr.com/en/clos-lachance-winery-launches-bay-area-r1048165463.htm

Heat, light, water and a bottling line. Clos LaChance has truly arrived.