Sonoma after the grape harvest

Sonoma after the grape harvest

What happens in Sonoma when the harvest is done?

The very last tank of grapes has finished fermenting. The tank is drained of wine and placed in barrels (that liquid is called the “free run”). Then the remaining fermented grapes in the tank are moved into the press and gently squeezed (and the result is called the “press fraction”). And what’s removed from the press after pressing (called the “pomace”) is either sold as animal feed or recycled into green waste or sent to our distiller and turned into Grappa, Brandy, and Cognac; and the seeds are further pressed into grapeseed oil. And that really marks the end of the harvest season.

Pomace - Sonoma after the grape harvest

This is what 2 tons of dense Syrah grape pomace looks like when it comes out of the press. It’s dark purple and bone dry. The very last cuveé of wine has been barreled.

There still remain some chores to manage over the winter: the newly filled wine barrels will be carefully monitored as the secondary Malo-Lactic fermentation is monitored and managed (and where the tart Malic acid, think green apple, is slowly fermented into Lactic acid, with potential health benefits including improved gut health, immune system support, and antioxidant effects). Barrels must be topped off due to evaporation. And as the wine settles we need to taste every wine to assure things are coming along to our liking. And, we start thinking about which of the older wines need to be prepared for bottling this spring. Last, now is the time for the winery to be thoroughly cleaned from top to bottom. And only then will it be time for everyone to have a much needed rest.

A brief note about the 2022 season: It started off with a really hard freeze right as many grape varieties were just budding out. There was some damage to some vineyards resulting in crop loss as much as 50%. Then after a normal but very dry summer, the record heat wave struck, 5 days over 100F and 5 nights in the 80F’s putting extreme stress on ripening fruit. And then adding insult to injury, 2 inches of rain. It was one of the most confounding and complicated growing seasons ever. More on that when the 2022’s are ready for release in 2024.

Halloween

Halloween is usually the first sign that the wonderful long slog that is harvest and winemaking is about to wrap up. When bright orange pumpkins start appearing all over town, we know the harvest season is almost over.

Chickens

As the cold weather settles in at the Hydeout, the chicken egg production starts to fall off as the chickens shift their energy from egg production to winter feather production. And in our case, they also start flying the coop and hiding their eggs in hilarious hard-to-find places.

Final garden harvest

As is the tradition in the Fall, it’s time to harvest the last of the garden produce, clean it up, and pickle it all in bell jars.

Wood slab table – restarting an old project

In 2020, St Helena in Napa Valley was surrounded by the Glass fire. Acres of gorgeous oak forest was lost. With help from friends, I located and set aside one of the fallen oaks and had one of the fire department crews mill it into oak slabs for me. The new table from this project will go into the new winery barn here at the Hydeout.

Oak slabs - Sonoma after the grape harvest

Two oak slabs, about 10 feet long and 18 inches wide, will be joined along the inside edges to form a new table. The outer live-edges still show the burn scars from the fire. It is a stark reminder of how the fires damaged lives and property.

Margaritas

By the time of the Thanksgiving holiday in late November, winemaking has truly concluded, and our Prickly Pear Cactus flowers are ripe. And that means it’s time for the whole family to get involved in producing our Prickly Pear Agave Nectar. And our tart, sweet, smoky, mezcal Margaritas!

Recipe: Click here!

Living art at the Hydeout

Dear friend, character, bon vivant, and Sonoma artist Jock McDonald, with assistance from his wife Sherry McDowell, set up a photo shoot for a new project Jock is developing called “TRASH.” I can’t say any more at this time as the final form of this new work is on its way to Art Basel in Miami, Florida right now! These are preliminary images only and in no way depict the final art form that Jock has developed. To learn more, click here.

FAMILY

This is the time of year we all gather as family and enjoy another wonderful year of life, trials, tribulations, health and happiness. Here is the entire Hydeout team:

Family - Sonoma after the grape harvest

Happy holidays from the entire Wornick family – Ken, Dennis, Sophia, Cynthia, Harry, with Elyse, Jessica, and Tony the dog

Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

Setting up for a blind tasting of Sagrantino

Wine is to be enjoyed. Everyone gets to decide exactly what they like. Wine labels, the setting, the food, the mood; everything influences how we feel about a particular wine.

A genuinely blind tasting is the closest we can get to objectively measure one wine against another. And even then, the order of favorites can change – if the tasting is done before lunch or at dinner time, on weeknights or weekends, even the mood of the group, or just one small whispered remark, can re-order the evaluation and the results. Still, it is educational to taste wines blind, as we did here with these Sagrantino wines:

table setting - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

In this windowless cave under a spectacular private estate in Sonoma, we set up a blind tasting of Sagrantino wines.

Sag blind tasting bags - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

The wines were bagged and numbered for complete anonymity.

table tasting 2 - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

Then, to assure strict adherence, all of the wines are poured in careful numbered order into wine glasses in advance, before the tasting panel entered the room

tasting note panel - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

The panel was seated. And the hard work began. We tasted the wines one by one, making scrupulous notes along the way. It takes concentration and focus to really evaluate each wine carefully. The wines were judged on the basis of color, aroma, viscosity and mouthfeel, tannin structure, and finish.

tasting panel members - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

The participants: When we were done tasting and making notes, the data was collected and tallied and force-ranked. Then, we revealed all the wines and had a free-wheeling discussion over the results. The professionals were quick, efficient, and showed great certainty.

From left to right, clockwise:

  1. Liz Thatch, Master of Wine and Distinguished Professor of Wine – click: Liz Thatch
  2. Graham Smith, CEO and wine collector – click: Graham Smith
  3. Anne Mieling, French-born wine expert – click: Anne Mieling
  4. Ingrid Reyes, CEO, M&A Creative Agency – click: Ingrid Reyes on LinkedIn
  5. Jennifer Arie, Director of Customer Success, Comm7 eCommerce platform – click: https://commerce7.com/about/
  6. Ken Wornick, winemaker, Sonocaia Sagrantino and Dysfunctional Family Winery – click: https://www.sonocaia.com
  7. Don Sebastiani, Sr., our host  – click: http://donsebastianiandsons.com
  8. Steve Bush, former bio-med devices CEO, restauranteur, wine collector – click: Steve Bush
  9. Jon Curry, owner of Landers Curry, former board chair of Sonoma’s Int’l Film Festival – click: https://www.landerscurry.com/home
  10. Kelly Nice, CEO/Founder, Nice and Co. Ad Agency – click: https://www.niceandcompany.com
  11. Keith Casale, local Sonoma CFO – click: Keith Casale
  12. Cynthia Wornick, Dir. of Marketing, Sonocaia and DysfunctionalFamily Winery – click: Cynthia Wornick

Note: our host for this event was Don Sebastiani, Sr. (#7 above). A true gentleman, host extraordinaire, smoker of fine cigars, lover of fine wine and food, fluent speaker of at least five languages, a true Sonoma native, and so modest you’d never know any of this about Don unless someone else told you.

A total of eight wines were evaluated – seven pure Sagrantinos from Umbria, Italy, and our 2020 Sonocaia (just-bottled estate reserve Sagrantino from Dysfunctional Family Winery at the Hydeout Ranch here in Sonoma).

Wines revealed – here are the 8 wines revealed after the blind tasting:

I was floored that our inaugural, very young, and not-yet-released 2020 Sonocaia Estate Reserve Sagrantino earned a strong third place, especially against these world-renowned Umbrian all-stars.

First through third place were tightly bunched, the next wine was a very distant fourth.

  1. Arnoldo Caprai 2003 Collepiano Sagrantino di Montefalco (99 pts)
  2. Arnold Caprai, 2016 Montefalco Sagrantino, 25th anniversary edition (97 pts)
  3. Sonocaia, 2020, Sonoma Valley, Sagrantino, Estate Reserve (94 pts)
Sagrasntino bottles - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

The full lineup of Sagrantino wines – seven from Umbria and one from Sonoma

lunchh menu OSO - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

After the tasting, the panel retired outdoors to the patio for discussion and a perfectly curated lunch hosted by Don Sebastiani Sr. and prepared and served by renowned Chef David Bush from Oso Restaurant in downtown Sonoma. If you have not yet visited OSO, please do; it is a wonderful, locally-operated delicious family-owned restaurant.

Chef David Bush OSO - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

Chef David Bush has a storied track record of amazing stops on the culinary trail, but certainly his restaurant Oso in downtown Sonoma is his crowning jewel, so far! Find it here: OSO Restaurant in Sonoma

vineyard sunset - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

The “Sonocaia” estate Sagrantino vineyard during a particularly lovely sunset in early September. Harvest is not expected until mid-October.

But wait, there’s more, another blind wine tasting event: Hydeout Consulting client “Quail Run 2020 Estate Cabernet”, just bottled, competes with older Cabernet wine country legends and comes out a winner!

We are the consulting winemakers for the Quail Run estate Cabernet. Just a couple of weeks ago, we delivered the 2020 vintage to the client. The wine was bottled after 23 months of oak aging. The client organized an inaugural blind tasting and invited a knowledgeable group of friends and neighbors to participate. I admit I was a bit nervous knowing this newly bottled inaugural vintage (and possibly my career) was about to go head-to-head against some of the finest Cabernet’s in my client’s formidable wine cellar!

Quail Run 2020 was tasted against Stone Edge Farm 2014, Repris 2018, and Stag’s Leap 2019…

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The contestants in this blind wine tasting event.

Keatings - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

At the winery, Quail Run estate Cabernet clients Jan and Patrick (right) tasting their developing 2020 estate Cabernet in August 2022 just prior to bottling.

IMG 1431 - Sagrantino tasting panel with industry pros and collectors in Sonoma

And fresh off the bottling line, the Quail Run estate Cabernet, Sonoma Valley.

A good friend of the client, Austin Texas expert wine educator Jim Bushee, wrote a blog post about the Quail Run blind tasting. To see the results, read here: Click here to read Jim Bushee’s blog post

The client also wrote a blog post about her version of the tasting: Quail Run estate Cabernet blind tasting blog post

Umbria and Sonoma  – Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

Umbria and Sonoma – Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

When late summer arrives, things get very busy in the wine business. There are endless last minute farming chores, the final blending of wines, emptying barrels and bottling (to make room for the coming vintage), and of course the impending harvest and winemaking.

Umbria and Sagrantino

Prior to all of that, and after the main thrust of Covid briefly waned in Europe, we were finally able to schedule our long-planned trip to Italy, specifically Umbria, to survey the latest in the world of Sagrantino – the deep dark inky Italian grape that we have been growing here at the Hydeout ranch. We are obsessed with Sagrantino and are one of very few growers in the United States. 

Sagrantino – see this article: The next ‘power red,’ poised for a breakout in the wine world

As an enthusiastic producer of Sagrantino here in Sonoma, the Umbrians received us like royalty at every stop:

IMG 4116 - Umbria and Sonoma - Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

After a few days in Rome to adjust to the jet lag, we headed into our Umbrian itinerary. First stop was the Chiesa Del Carmine where we met the executives and winemakers and tasted many Sagrantino blends from barrel and bottle. The Chiesa is in a rather remote location set in a small private valley, very much a sanctuary just like the old church from where it takes its name.

IMG 4117 - Umbria and Sonoma - Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

Of course, at every stop, the food and wine was spectacular. Here inside the converted church winery, Cynthia is starting in on another of many food and wine tastings. It did not take long to confirm that Umbrians feel strongly about their Sagrantino history.

IMG 4121 - Umbria and Sonoma - Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

Truffles are nearly a staple in Umbria. This truffle preserve in Montana Alta Umbria was purposely planted with Oak, Hazelnut, Beech, Chestnut, and then fenced from marauding animals (and people) and which yields a surprising quantity and quality of earthy leathery gems, generally harvested from December through April.

Naturally, the food scene in Umbria is not to be believed. The Umbrians are quite serious and proud of their food and wine.

IMG 4136 - Umbria and Sonoma - Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

Yet another very warm welcome as part of the “Sagrantino tribe”, one of the expected highlights of the trip through Umbria at perhaps the first and most well-reputed maker of Sagrantino, Arnaldo Caprai Winery, as they celebrate their 25th anniversary (Cinquant’ Anni).

IMG 4128 - Umbria and Sonoma - Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

Our hosts at Caprai pulled out all the stops opening every imaginable bottle, from pure 100% Sagrantino to various blends and white wines, including the 25th anniversary bottling (left), all different in style and all compelling and delicious.

Sonocaia (So-No-Kī-Yah), 2020 Estate Reserve Sagrantino

Sagrantino 2020 - Umbria and Sonoma - Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

Our newest brand, Sonocaia (pronounced So-No-Kī-Yah)

We’ve been living and breathing and talking about Sagrantino long before we even planted it at the Hydeout ranch here in Sonoma. Above, the inaugural 2020 bottling of our new brand, Sonocaia. Pronounced So-No-Kī-Yah, we won’t be offering this wine for sale for a few years. Some bottle age is required.

DYS lineup - Umbria and Sonoma - Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

Inaugural 2020 Sonocaia and some of the other Dysfunctional Family wines in the lineup

Sonocaia is our new Estate Reserve 100% Sagrantino brand name. Dysfunctional Family Winery remains our other brand. We released two Sagrantino-based wines, the 2018 and 2019, on our website, under the Dysfunctional Family Winery brand. These two wines contain some Sagrantino but when the vineyard was younger. 2020 is the first full-strength Sagrantino vintage. A blind tasting of Sonocaia up against several noteworthy Umbrian Sagrantino’s was recently conducted. Watch for the results in the next blog post.  To shop our wines now or to learn more, click here.

Touring the Mediterranean by motorcycle

We never miss a chance to squeeze motorcycle touring into a vacation. After Umbria and the enchanting world of Sagrantino, we flew to Barcelona, picked up our rented BMW R1200RT sport touring bike, loaded our gear, and headed for a cruise around the Mediterranean. Our route took us from Barcelona Spain, through Andorra, into southern France, and on into Tuscany, and eventually back to Rome.

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Here we are climbing into the mountains not far from Andorra, a landlocked country inside northern Spain

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No day drinking, ever, for this motorcycle pilot, so I have to rely upon other treats – like ice cream. Cynthia has no such restrictions as a passenger and, as is the local tradition, enjoyed wine with almost every lunch. But for sure we both enjoyed endless mountains of baguettes, olive oil, cheese, and Cassoulet. And wine with dinner! Here we are in Cap D’Antibe in southern France where everything closes promptly (and with no debate) for the afternoon.

KW and CBW - Umbria and Sonoma - Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

The Serchio River, in northern Tuscany, province of Lucca, as it passes under the “Devil’s Bridge” (Pont De la Madeleine). On this day, the key feature was the temperature, almost 100F inside our helmets.

UA 777 - Umbria and Sonoma - Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles

Our United Airlines pilot somehow noticed our enthusiasm and invited us onto the 777 flight deck for a look around. You can see who he put into his pilot’s seat. Yeh. It was a fantastic trip in every way. And we arrived home rested and ready for another harvest season. This will be my 23rd vintage.