Fenestra Winery Blog

Enjoy the Holidays at Fenestra!

Holiday Wine Tasting

Nov 19 & 20, 2011  noon-5pm

The foods of the holidays, especially Thanksgiving, are highlighted at this festive tasting.  New wines for the holidays, gift items, Belgian chocolate truffles filled with Fenestra Port.  There is a $10 charge for this event.

 

 

Prelude to Christmas

Nov 25, 26 & 27, 2011   noon-5pm

Come see our historic winery building decorated in the Christmas spirit and taste holiday foods along with our fabulous wines.  This is a great time to bring your holiday guests to our winery.  There is a $10 charge for this event.

 

 

Holidays in the Vineyards

Dec 3 & 4, 2011   noon-5pm

A Livermore Valley Winegrower’s event, with the nostalgia of the old-fashioned holidays.  Enjoy artists and craftspeople, all with delightful and different gift items, while you sample our wonderful wines.  There is a $10 charge for this event.

For more information, email info@fenestrawinery.com or call 925-447-5246.

Article on Young Winemakers of the Livermore Valley

Read this great article from the San Jose Mercury News about young winemakers in the Livermore Valley, featuring Fenestra's very own Brent Amos and Meredith Miles!

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_19199342

 

SIPS OF NEWS FROM THE WINEMAKER

Now for part two of Wine Barrels 101.

One important aspect of a wine barrel is the tightness of the grain. Different grains will produce different results when used in wine. A tighter grain will have a slower extraction of flavor and tannin, whereas a medium grain barrel will allow for quicker extraction. We use barrels with a variety of grain types, often using different grain types within the same wine. By keeping in mind the impacts of each grain type, and the origin of the oak, we can decide on the proper use of oak in each wine. It is important to use oak as you would a spice when cooking; you want to enhance the wine without having the oak dominate. Case in point: the 2007 Thatcher Bay Cab.

In our 2007 Thatcher Bay Vineyard Cab, we used a mix of French, Romanian, and American oak. The French oak was a mix of tight and medium-tight grain, the Romanian was tight grain, and the American oak was medium grain. The French oak contributes structure and mouth-feel in the form of silky tannins, and enhances the complexity of the wine while extending the finish. The Romanian offers firmer tannins, mainly in the mid-palate, which serve to lift the fruit and adds a touch of spice. The American oak is much more imposing, which is why it was used in a smaller amount than the other two. It adds fullness to the palate, and just a touch of toasty vanilla on the nose. Overall, 60% new oak was used in this wine.

Brent Amos, Wine Maker

FEATURED WINE - Andy Bartling

As an added feature to our newsletter, we are including a favorite wine pick from a person on the Fenestra staff. For this issue Andy Bartling, Hospitality Staff and current “Cellar Rat”, shared his choice:

So, it’s that time of the year again. Holidays are right around the corner, and the question around the winery is, “What are you having for Thanksgiving and what will you be drinking?”

I’m leaning towards fried turkey. As far as wine goes, Lynne will more than likely have Fenestra Chardonnay. Me, I’m thinking Fenestra’s Estate Mourvedre. Now, some of you might be saying, “What’s he thinking? Turkey and Mourvedre!!!!!”

Consider this: a brined turkey, patted dry and vigorously rubbed inside and out with salt and black pepper, fried to a deep golden brown crispy skin, (leave room for the turkey, so don’t fill up on the skin). Country style lumpy mashed potatoes (skins left on) with peppered turkey gravy. Brussels sprouts halved and oven roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper to a crunchy, chewy, caramelized goodness. Oh, and curried and cayenne pepper cranberries. *Mourvedre black pepper and spice* I’m there.

Happy holidays everyone.

 

True Red, Lot 26

We ran out of True Red, Lot 25 in the middle of October, so we have now released Lot 26. Like Lot 25, Lot 26 is primarily a blend of Bordeaux, Rhone, and Iberian varieties.

 

New Releases - Winter 2011

2010 Verdelho, Lodi, Silvaspoons Vyds: This is a crisp, flavorful wine with good acidity, and it is a good alternative to Sauvignon Blanc. It won the Best White Wine at the 2011 Best of the Bay Wine Competition. I think it is the best Verdelho that we’ve made.

2007 Syrah, Livermore Valley, Estate: This is our first vintage since we bought the winery property and took control of the vineyard, and it shows the results of improved vineyard management. It is rich and full-bodied, and was a former wine club selection. It earned 92 points from the Wine Enthusiast magazine and four Silver Medals (Best of the Bay, El Dorado County Fair, Orange County Fair, and the State Fair).

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Livermore Valley, Thatcher Bay Vyd: Blended with 7% Merlot from Thatcher Bay Vineyard, and 3% Malbec and 2% Cabernet Franc from Ghielmetti Vineyard, this wine has good varietal character. It was aged five months longer in barrels than normal, and thus shows smoother tannins and greater complexity. We might still have a few cases of the 2006 vintage left at the Holiday Tasting.

 

Fenestra Fanatic Open House - November 12, 6-8 PM

The owners of Fenestra Winery, Fran and Lanny Replogle, will be hosting an open house for the Fanatics this Saturday, Nov. 12, from 6-8 PM. This is a great opportunity for Fanatics to try the new Fanatics releases and to pick up their Fanatics packs.

The Fanatic wines for this quarter are: 

2008 Petit Verdot, Livermore Valley, Ghielmetti Vyd

Our Petit Verdot exhibits luscious aromas of cranberry, mocha, violets, and spice, with rich flavors of cherry, raspberry, vanilla, and tobacco. It is full bodied with a lingering finish. Enjoy with venison, prime rib, and other rich foods. Age for maximum enjoyment. Gold & Silver Medals $30.00/btl

2009 Graciano, Lodi

Graciano is a grape traditionally grown in the Rioja region of Spain. Our 2009 is very aromatic, with aromas of cranberry, cherry, spice, and violets. It is full bodied, with flavors of bing cherry, cola, plum, and pepper. It pairs well with venison, paella, wild game, and pasta. $22.00/btl 

In addition to the availability of the new Fanatics releases, the Open House will feature light hors d'oeuvres. There is no cost for this event, but we do ask that people RSVP to info@fenestrawinery.com so that we can get an idea of how many people will be coming

35th Anniversary - How Far We Have Come!

In preparation for our 35th Anniversary Celebration, Lanny and I looked through piles of old photographs and newsletters. What a lot of memories these hold! I remember the first wine tasting and sale of wine. It was 1977. We sent newsletter-invitations to all our friends and acquaintances. We set up a table in our small space (Ventana Alley) at the old Ruby Hill Winery. We sold out our Riesling (20 cases) that afternoon, and our winery was launched.

We originally named the winery Ventana; this is the Spanish word for window, but also means an opening to a new view, and new future. We changed the name to Fenestra, window in Latin, due to a conflict of names.

After 4 years at the old Ruby Hill Winery, we needed more space, so we looked for our own winery building and found a dilapidated structure near Ruby Hill. The first day we started working on the building was a bitter cold day in December 1979. The roof was falling in, the walls were sagging, and the floors were completely covered with dirt and debris. After 8 months of hard work on the building and getting bonded and licensed, we were open for business.

For the 35th Anniversary Celebration, the weather was lovely for the weekend. The Tom Rose band was enthusiastically received, all the picnic tables were full, and some guests were dancing on the lawn. Curb Dogz provided tri-tip sandwiches with blue cheese crumbles, Mrs. True (Kip West) made a “ghost appearance”, relating tales of her life at the winery in the 1800s. Friends we hadn’t seen in years came to congratulate us. It was a wonderful weekend!

- Fran

 

Sips of News from the Winemaker

I was initially going to write about how the mild weather will influence the harvest this year, then I realized that I wrote the exact same thing last year. So..... Let’s talk about barrels instead. This overview is the first in a series discussing barrels.

Barrels are an integral part of winemaking. Traditionally, wine is aged and sometimes fermented in barrels. Oak is traditionally used, though other wood types can be found, such as redwood and acacia. Oak is beneficial due to the fact that it can be water-tight and is semi-permeable to oxygen, which allows for a gentle aging of the wine. In addition, the flavor impact of oak works well in wine.

We use oak barrels from France, Romania, Hungary, and America. French, Romanian, and Hungarian barrels are the species Quercus petraea, while American oak is Quercus alba. The European oak tends to have a finer grain structure which results in slower extraction of flavor and tannin, whereas American oak tends to have a quicker and more pronounced extraction of flavors and tannin. One interesting fact: many French oak forests used for barrels are government controlled and were originally planted in the time of Napoleon II for ship-building purposes.

 

35th Anniversary of Fenestra Winery

In August we celebrated the 35th anniversary of Fenestra Winery. I was a professor at San Jose State University teaching Organic Chemistry and started to make wine as a hobby. I found that I enjoyed making wine more than teaching, and had a burning desire to start a commercial winery. So we made a deal with (the original) Stony Ridge Winery, which was at the old Ruby Hill Winery in Pleasanton, whereby we had the use of the facilities and some of the grapes and I was the consulting winemaker for them. I was still teaching full-time and we were living in San Jose.