Fenestra Winery Blog

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.

 

Awards - 2011

This has been a great year for awards for our winery. At the Best of the Bay Wine Competition, we got both Best White Wine (for the 2010 Verdelho) and Best Red Wine (for the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Ghielmetti Vineyard). Fran and I also received a “Platinum” Award for Lifetime Achievement. This was the first time this award was given!

Our 2010 Torrontes got a 4-Star Gold Medal and Best White Wine in the medium-priced category at the Orange County Fair. Also the 2007 vintage of Cabernet Franc and the 2008 Malbec won Gold Medals at this competition. At “Livermore Uncorked”, sponsored by the Tri-Valley Conservancy, the Malbec won Best Other Bordeaux variety (other than Cabernet Sauvignon), and our 2008 Zinfandel got Best Livermore Zinfandel. At the California State Fair, the Malbec and 2009 Semonnay earned Best of Class, Greater Bay Area.

 

New Releases - Fall 2011

The 2010 Chardonnay was made from grapes from two different vineyards, Dr. Bud Greist’s Vineyard at Tesla and Vasco Roads, and the Frazer-Howard Vineyard. This will be the last varietal Chardonnay that Fenestra will produce for a while. We will continue to make Chardonnay for our Semonnay.

We are releasing three excellent red wines – 2007 Merlot, 2008 Petite Sirah, and 2008 Zinfandel. The 2008 Petite Sirah, from Ghielmetti Vineyard, is a worthy successor to our acclaimed 2007 vintage from the same vineyard. Both the 2007 Merlot, from Thatcher Bay Vineyard, and the 2008 Zinfandel, from Sblendorio Vineyard, were previous club wines.

We are also releasing a 2006 Conjugation, which is a blend of Bordeaux-type varieties. This wine is elegant and smooth with wonderful flavors. It features our newly designed label. Conjugation means to bring together. In chemistry, two or more double bonds separated by only one single bond are said to be conjugated. Hence the design element on the label shows a conjugated diene.

 

Featured Wine - Lanny Replogle

Although it is difficult to pick just one wine, my current favorite is the Livermore Valley Malbec from Ghielmetti Vineyard. It is a rich, full-bodied wine with great flavors, and it has the structure to stand up to full-flavored dishes such as roast duck, lamb or venison. We have been producing this and other varietals from Ghielmetti Vineyard for five years and think this vineyard produces excellent fruit.