Alpha Omega'space: Blog

Fires in California

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:13:01 GMT

I have been asked many times over the last few weeks about the affects the fires will have on the quality of grapes in Napa Valley. If a vineyard is in the proximity of burnt forest, grass and brush, I think that they will indeed be affected since the smell of the ashes will be present for an extended time through different stages of the vine and the berries. We have a vineyard where this happened in the southwest of Napa and I can guarantee that we will pick up some flavors, therefore, it will probably not meet our standard of quality. But as for the rest of the valley, since all of these fires were far away I think that the smoke was high enough in altitude and at a very early stage of the berries that I doubt the fact that it will have any affect. But for sure all winemakers around the valley will be carefully tasting every lot to ensure that it is not the case.

Our New Property

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:45:07 GMT

Every weekend my son, Arthur (4 years old), asks me to go on a trip to the winery. 50% of the time, I cave in and drive up to the winery because his excitement, comfort and amusement are so huge, how can I say no? To see him run through the front lawn, play with motor boats on our new pond, eat lunch with me on the new picnic grounds and all of this on a beautiful day overlooking Napa Valley mountains, I have to admit I think I want to be here as much as him. I am so excited to see this place headed in a direction that is not only esthetically pleasing but so welcoming and beautiful.

Michel Rolland Visit

Sat, 24 May 2008 20:26:24 GMT

In a day long tasting session with Michel Rolland, we tasted every single lot of the 2007 vintage. During this time I had a revelation. After tasting all of the Free Runs we tasted the Pressed wines, and for the first time I thought about the importance of putting Pressed wine into a blend. Here is how I would describe it. The Pressed wine is the frame of a painting or the base of a sculpture supporting the masterpiece, holding everything together. A wine can only be as long and thin as a Giacometti sculpture or as fat and round as a Botero art piece. But, the pedestal where the art piece stands has a great importance. To me, that is the purposed of a Pressed wine. Even a very small percentage added to a blend, holds the complexity and personality of a wine together.

So Long....

Fri, 16 May 2008 15:14:23 GMT

I officially announce that Alpha Omega has lost their six ducks. I know it is very sad, but it is all in their best interest, since they have called me and asked me to stay with their foster family where they feel much more comfortable in a huge pond with many of their other friends. So long duckies… Chelsea, I know you are sad, but I can be your little duck… quack quack

WELCOME SPRING

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:38:55 GMT

I want to tell you two very exciting things that happen during spring. The first is bud-break. For me bud break represents birth, life, youth, energy and beauty. At this time each vine starts growing and expressing itself through the shape and the color of its leaves and later on the fruit. Just like a human being, the vines communicate with you showing when they struggle, when they are healthy or when they are sick.

The second thing that happens in spring is my little yeast cells start waking up. When spring arrives and the global environment becomes friendly enough for them to start working again, they finish fermenting all the sugars that they had left when they went into hibernation at winter. This has always has been quite an interesting subject for me because if realize that nature follows its own cycle and if you understand it, and measure it you will be able to maximize a potential that is much greater than mine. This is of course the potential of nature. This is my reasoning for naturally fermenting wines.

Wine is not made alone

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:45:08 GMT

The older I get, the more I realize the team effort required to create, fashion and design a wine that reflects your passion. It starts in the vineyard with all of the workers pruning, suckering, leafing and harvesting. It continues with the cellar workers putting in their hard work and sweat. It then finishes, of course, with blending and bottling. In my opinion, every single operation is key to make quality wine. When you are surrounded by the right people who understand your philosophy and work with respect to art, it makes the difference between producing a good wine and a great wine. To make a difference in the quality of wine you must be precise; therefore, you have a better chance of being successful. Of course there are always factors that you can not control, so that is why it is so important that the entire staff of a winery (from the cellar worker to the president) drive in a healthy and happy environment towards a common goal.

A Visitor is Coming

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:55:58 GMT

I am very excited because in less than 2 weeks the world famous Michel Rolland is coming to the winery to taste all of our 2007 wines. I do not see him as a commercial addition to our team, but instead as a very knowledgeable and experienced outside opinion. I have a lot of respect for this person, not because of his fame and success, but because he will always tell me the truth about what he thinks I have done right or wrong. To me it is priceless to have somebody honestly criticize or value your work objectively. Criticism is something that I expect from the people that are closest to me because it pushes me to grow. This is exactly what I expect of Michel Rolland, and it is something that he has always delivered over the past 8 years of our relationship. I not only consider him to be a great asset to the company, but I also consider him to be a great asset to me as a friend.

Happy Holidays

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:39:11 GMT

While I was sitting in my chair in my office, I was thinking about what I can actually tell you about… my coworker, says, "Why don’t you do a Happy Holiday blog?" I guess I will. I just want to take the time to thank all of you that have supported us by enjoying what Alpha Omega is about - hopefully decent wines, great hospitality, and a mud hole. You cannot imagine how great it is to see that all the energy, heart and passion we put in here is understood by you. Thank you, and Happy Holidays to all of you!

P.S. I guess my blond coworker finally had a great idea.

Napa Valley in December

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 03:00:27 GMT

Quite tired from these long months of harvest, I had to go on Atlas Peak to see some potential vineyards for both Syrah and Petit Syrah for next year. Arriving there, on a crisp and sunny day in December, I saw hundreds of acres of land with very few human touches. There was nothing in sight but vineyards and a couple of houses. I started admiring the beauty of the place, and asked myself what is the role of a man like me and the influence on something so much bigger called nature? Usually man wants to leave behind memories, traces and legacies. Looking at this sheer beauty made me understand that the only thing I am concerned about leaving behind is beautiful wines that express the beauty of this untouched land.

Alpha Omega's 2007 Harvest is Finally OVER!

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 04:04:23 GMT

There has been a lot of talk about this next blog… maybe too much talk. This blog is not a rebel blog. This blog is AO bloody AO… I can’t believe the news today, Harvest has finally gone away. Enough U2, back to reality. It is not time for vacation yet, we still have to make the wine and ensure that it reflects our heart, passion and philosophy.

There were two things that truly struck me this past week. The first, of course, was seeing the last grapes of our 2007 Harvest. The second was the fact that the duckies needed to be fed (because their foster parents were out of town), and for the first time ever their Mother did not run to do it, but instead decided to work and feed them the next day. To me, this was a sign that Chelsea finally let go of her little children, like a Mother watching her children go off to college.

For the last two months I had to comfort Chelsea, make her laugh and cheer her up everyday, because her babies were elsewhere. Three weeks ago when she was told that the ducks could come back, her face lit up like a child in front of a Christmas tree. Since then, with all of the different construction delays, my job has become much harder since she is crying even harder, trying to fill the pond with her tears.

5 Duckies, $15

1 Brand new pond, $20,000

Chelsea as their mother…Priceless

Is Wine an Art Form?

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:58:26 GMT

Everyday people from all around the world travel to visit the Louvre, the Prado, the Guggenheim, the Tate or the De Young Museum to observe, watch and stare at art. The common factor between all of these pieces of art are the emotions they create. For me, if a painting, a sculpture or symphony creates emotions, it becomes a work of art. The definition of art is precisely that. I always say that if a wine, good or bad, creates emotions in the person who tastes it, then the wine is a success. But just like when my 3 ½ year old son paints a 10x12 picture and sticks it on my refrigerator, it creates emotions but it is not art. That is how I differentiate a bad bottle of wine from a great bottle of wine. A bad bottle of wine closes your heart and soul and does not create thoughts other than never wanting to encounter or live that experience or feeling again. On the other side, a great bottle of wine will create emotions that are good, positive, intriguing, and fulfilling. To me, these are all emotions that open the heart and the soul. That is why I believe that wine is an art, but only when it is truly appreciated.

The Challenges of Life at a Starting Company

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:28:25 GMT

When your roof and deck have been torn apart and your pond has been emptied, we have many challenges in addition to not having a perfect environment for our customers. One of the many challenges is the fact that creatures of all kinds find different paths to mess with our minds.

THE FIRST, MY FRIEND THE BLACK CRICKET. One beautiful Saturday I arrived at work, whistling and singing, happy about my life. I sat behind my desk wanting to answer all of my emails early, but the server was down. The fact that my email was not working was the least of the problems, because the entire system was not working for the busiest day of the week. My first reaction was to bug the sleeping beauty, but she never woke up. My second reaction was to call the tech company to check all the circuits, but it had nothing to do with them. We had to call a tech in, and when he finally showed at the end of the day he told us that a cricket had crawled into our box and created a short circuit.

THE SECOND, THE BLACK FLY WHO SUDDENLY BECAME ALPHA OMEGA'S WORST ENEMY. Not only do they come and buzz in your ear while you are trying to concentrate, but they land on your skin and tickle you and land on your head when you are trying to think, sorry Chelsea not you. They land on your fingers when you type, sorry Henrik your finger. The fly hunting contest has been going on since the invasion and it has not helped. Everyone in the company has their own way of dealing with them, Arienne spends her entire day trying to catch them instead of working, Chelsea tries to talk to them to make them understand they might get hurt, and Bruce tries to create engineered to trap them… but they still qe[]alkdsfnaokal;kdsjfoasdknfas,.dfjuaskdlf,nafdorq;lr9i3oi34ulSHdfpt.,sddf ;Ssdskkjsbdfg;lhyjfkfgn.,f uereesadfksadf... land on your key board.

The AO Family

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 01:18:31 GMT

When an army of duckies and fishies are trying to take over a winery guided by their two Generals, Chelsea Bellows and Bruce Donsker, life at the winery started to get a little interesting.

As most of you would know by now, we are in the middle of renovation, the pond being one of the most recent renovations. When we started emptying all of the water with big pumps, two Generals came running to me with eyes full of hatred and revenge...We all know that Chelsea raised the ducks in her bathtub, therefore became Mother Duck, but who knew about Bruce suddenly embracing the Bass and Catfish in our pond. To me it sounded like a great evening of food and fun... to them it was a night full of sadness and injustice.

I decided to call Special Agent Eman to the rescue, to catch the Duckies and Fishes and take them to our gracious neighbor, Sullivan Vineyard. They have welcomed part of our family into their beautiful pond until they can safely return home.

It's all in the name...

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:56:14 GMT

It is interesting to see different personalities by the answers they give you to a very simple question. What should we name our Flagship red wine? You always have the clown that is trying to find the names with humor (which are really never funny). You always have the pervert, who is sexually oriented and picks a name about sex, sensuality, and interaction. You have the philosopher that gives you names so complicated that 90% of people would not understand it. You have the neat freak who finds a name based on her phobias, fears, and neurosis. You have the baseball player that talks about strikes, homeruns and Babe Ruth. You have the Wine Freak that is trying to find any name close to famous wines around the world. And last but not least, you have the blonde that just has a blank look on her face.

But who am I to make fun of all these people, since I have no idea... Feel free to submit ideas and names.

The Journey through Hell

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 00:55:04 GMT

When a little guy (me) faces some of the biggest challenges in his life, in three days, he must have a good sense of humor, a lot of sleep and good wines…

In three days, we started harvest on Wednesday by bringing in our Sauvignon Blanc, Thursday consisted of consentrating all of my senses for 5 hours under the scrutiny of the world’s most renown wine consultant Michel Rolland. This was followed by 20 hours in a hospital while, granted I wasn’t pushing, but my wife was in order to give birth to our second son Alexandre...while I was coordinating more harvesting on my Blackberry.

Sounds like fun doesn't it?

Day 1 of Harvest 2007

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:29:39 GMT

Sorry for that big interruption… obviously my brain shut down during construction. Construction is still going on, but my brain had to wake up because… guess what, Harvest started today. You can not imagine how much easier life will be this year, since we will not have to perform a circus act hanging from the ceilings of our cellar to do punch downs.

Our Sauvignon Blanc are the first grapes to come in for 2007 Harvest, today on the 22^nd. They came in at 24.6 Brix, at 1.6 tons to the acre (the previous owner had and average of about 5.5 tons to the acre). This put Robin, one of the owners, into a cold sweat. You should have seen the look he gave me…

AO Vineyards

Wed, 30 May 2007 21:08:10 GMT

I believe that 90% of the quality of a wine is made in the vineyard. Therefore, viticulture plays a large part of the winemaking process. My philosophy for our vineyards is the more diversity of terroir, the more chances of adding complexity. We have long term contracts by the acre in order to have the farmer do exactly what we want without argument. This allows us to control the blocks we have throughout the valley.

All our vineyards are Napa Valley, but the exact locations are Spring Mountain, Rutherford, Oakville, Yountville, Atlas Peak, Jamieson Canyon, and Carneros. Every vineyard has completely different terroirs and microclimates which allows the vines to express themselves differently. This allows us to utilize the diversity of Napa Valley to produce world class wines.

A great explanation of the way we fully utilize Napa Valley, is the way we have chosen vineyards with both hillside fruit and valley floor fruit. Every vineyard will obviously have different soil which brings different tastes to the wine, but the differences between hillside and valley fruit are apparent. Hillside fruit always has a very specific aromatic profile and acidity profile. The altitude is higher on the hillside, therefore, it has a much cooler climate which gives higher acidity. The slope of hillside vineyards also gives certain qualities to the vines. First, it has much faster drainage, but also the exposition, or exposure to the sun, is much higher because of the angle at which the sun hits the slopes. Some people also say that the quality of the air is much different between the valley floor and up on the hillside. The reason for this is because on hot days in the valley there is a mist in the air due to the evaporation of water through all green vegetation. Therefore, photosynthesis is much better above the mist.

All of these characteristics are brought into the decisions of where we have chosen to have our vineyards, but the only way this is valuable to us is if we keep every block separate. Not only are these blocks brought to the winery separately, fermented separately, treated separately, but they are also kept separately until blending. This blending process for our 2006 wines will actually take place when Michel Rolland comes to the winery on June 1st. At this point Michel and I will taste every single block separately and then we blend them to allow the wine to reach its maximum potential. We will keep you updated with the progress of the 2006 vintage!

Written by our winemaker, Jean Hoefliger

Pre-release Parties!

Tue, 08 May 2007 17:38:33 GMT

Here at Alpha Omega we have had our share of parties. Our ducklings have now moved on to their teenage years and are ready to try “real life” on the AO pond. We had a "Pre-release" party with our employees to send off our babies into the pond for the first time. It was hilarious to watch them with their awkward bodies, attempt to swim. It will take them awhile to get used to “real life,” but in time when you visit the winery you will be able to see some well adjusted ducklings.

This brings us to our other Pre-release party. We had a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon tasting with our Wine Club members. This was our first release party, and from the amount of fun we all had we will be having plenty more! Our next Wine Club Pre-release will be June 16 with our first tasting of the 2004 Proprietary Red Blend.

Feel free to view the pictures of our Pre-releases!

AO Ducklings

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 23:49:26 GMT

The additions to the AO Family

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 22:02:39 GMT

Let me tell you a little story of how I became Alpha Omega’s Mother Goose. One beautiful day, Jean and Robin were sitting outside on the deck admiring our single duck. In that moment they decided P.D. might be getting lonesome, so he needed friends. A second later I heard the familiar sound of, “Chelsea,” screamed from Jean’s mouth. He informed me of their great idea, and told me to take care of it. I was a bit nervous about the intentions because of a European’s love for Duck Confit and Foie Gras. So I said yes, but once I name them, there will be no eating them.

Quite a bit of research was put into this decision. We found a type of duck that does not fly, that looks similar to P.D. We then realized that the only way to get the ducklings was in groups of ten, because they must keep each other warm on their journey through snail mail. I got all the supplies and knew they would stay their first weeks in my bathtub to keep them warm.

All of the preparations were made, and then the one day old ducklings arrived. We picked them up at the post office in a box with holes. They spent a bit of time at the winery before I took them home. It only took a day to realize why ducks normally live outside; ducks are messy and need a lot of room. It is amazing to see such small animals make such a big mess.

I must say this has been a very fun experience. It has been fun to watch the little ducklings grow. They are now just under two weeks old, and they have grown at an amazing rate and have developed into some really cute and funny characters. I am still working on naming them, but I must say, they all look the same to me. But don’t worry, the day I bring them to the winery, (even if their names change daily), all ten ducks will have a name.

By: Chelsea Bellows a.k.a. Mother Goose

AO Renovation

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 19:10:43 GMT

From present to future

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 00:27:15 GMT

Why is Michel Rolland so helpful and why is he consulting for so many high end wineries?

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:50:11 GMT

Unlike a well known movie in which Michel Rolland plays a character that is snobby, obnoxious, and uninterested in winemaking concerns and difficulties, Michel is down to earth and modest. He has been working with me quite a bit and I greatly value his opinion.

Michel Rolland consults today for hundreds of wineries throughout the world which means his experience grows exponentially. He is continuously faced with many more issues than winemakers working with just one winery. Therefore, he is able to offer accurate and in-depth advice on virtually any issue or problem that may arise. In addition, Michel travels to many different climates and parts of the world, meeting many interesting people. He has the opportunity to taste more wines than any winemakers I have known. Michel’s experience is definitely very valuable to a company, especially a new one such as Alpha Omega.

When I decided to approach Robin and Eric regarding contacting Michel Rolland, I was quite concerned Michel would deny our project as we do not have a multi-million dollar winery. We were pleasantly surprised to hear he was very interested. His focus and attention has been on one thing and one thing only: the quality of the wine.

Through his travels and extensive experience tasting a great variety of wines, his pallet has become very refined and yet has not become accustomed to one particular climate or aromatic profile of an appellation. His travels have provided the chance to be challenged by the characteristics of different wines. Moreover, Michelle Rolland has an amazing gift to be able to taste objectively. He is able to judge and discuss the quality of a wine with an open mind and offers this as his opinion.

In addition he has great vision of what a blend will become. One may have many different wines and components to combine into a blend and Michel Rolland will estimate the quality and discuss a blend with the winemaker. The winemaker or owner will then choose a final blend. Michel talent lies in creating blends that maximize the quality of the components, producing a wine that will be excellent not only the day of the blending but will evolve into a spectacular wine over time. I think that is definitely the key to superior winemaking and creating consistently high quality wines.

Michel Rolland at Alpha Omega

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 23:51:13 GMT

Alpha Omega had the pleasure to host Mr. Michel Rolland on January 11th as our consulting winemaker.
Mr. Rolland met with Jean Hoefliger, winemaker, and Henrik Poulsen, assistant winemaker, in order to taste samples of our first vintage. Both Alpha Omega and Mr. Rolland were pleased to discover the wines were very good, as 2006 was not an easy vintage. His first visit was an exciting day as Mr. Rolland is such an eminent figure in the industry.

Mr. Rolland- we enjoyed your visit

The Great Foos-Off

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 21:19:47 GMT

Over the past few months we have been engaging in a not so serious war of words with Hall Winery (www.hallwines.com) with respect to our now infamous foosball table. The verbal battle started over a minor difference in opinion…they thought they could beat us and we thought they were wrong! Since that point in time we have been sending guests back and forth between our wineries with different trash-talking messages just to make sure that they knew we meant business. It was touch and go for awhile as we originally had a date scheduled but certain members of their team became very afraid and wanted to postpone until after New Years so they could get more practice time in.

After New Year’s and upon receiving a few foosballs from the guests that we sent their way they finally agreed to come to Alpha Omega to settle the Great Foosball Debate. We had them over, poured some wine, consumed a little cheese and crackers, and then we got down to the business of our not so serious competition. That night we learned one of two things, either we have WAY to much time on our hands to practice playing after work and they have social lives that don’t involve foosball OR they are just not very good (by the way, we love you guys!). Two of their teams even suffered what we affectionately refer to as a “skunking” which means that they were unable to score a goal before one of our teams scored ten. This is a bad thing because we have certain rules about getting skunked that they must now own up to. While I cannot disclose just exactly what the penalty is for being skunked I can assure you that our one year anniversary party is going to be talked about for quite some time if they have the guts to abide by the rules.
Most importantly though, everyone had a great time that night, and we hope to continue to build a solid relationship with the staff at Hall since their wines are fantastic and their employees are…well…they are alright too. As a final note, I would like to point out that we had to put this story on our blog to build up our confidence before we head to their winery for will most likely be a ping-pong humbling. We have our team watching Forest Gump in the meantime to look for inspiration but I don’t think it’s going to help! With that said, we would like to thank Hall Winery for being such good sports, and we hope they will go easy on us over at their place!
By Eric.

Susan’s Blog Story

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 20:57:58 GMT

For someone with a lot of passion for the winemaking process, moving from theory to witnessing actual practice is really exciting. My name is Susan Bishop and among other careers, I’ve spent 12 years in this industry and studied through the wine education program taking viticulture and making some wine at the college. But most of the winemakers I have come across, at seven different wineries, are pretty tight lipped about their practices and would rather not be grilled on what and how they do their job. Here at Alpha Omega I have verified, solidified and increased my first hand knowledge of winemaking by a huge amount in a short time.

How do you perform wild yeast fermentation? So that “pastel patina” that coats the grapes really adds dimension and complexity to the wine? “Unbelievable,” I say, “red wine fermented in brand new French oak barrels with one head removed.” Even more amazing, “whole berry maceration; no crushing on our crush pad.” And just when I thought it couldn’t get more exciting and that the harvest was OVER, we took in grapes on Dec. 1 and 2 that have “Botrytis Cinerea, the noble rot.”

We are making late harvest dessert wine from Botrytis Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon!” Jean says the conditions were quite excellent for this special wine this year. The acids are nice and high to counter balance the heavy sweetness we will see in this wine. I have been waiting to see this operation for more than a decade! It seems the making of dessert wine by this process is especially tricky and time consuming. Few winemakers want to bother, chance it, or challenge themselves this way. But I get to see the whole process from sorting the grapes to mixing the yeasts and watching it all ferment. Some of the Sauvignon Blanc is in barrels and some in tank. I think all the Semillon grapes are barrel fermented. Semillon grapes have tightly packed bunches and relatively thin skin, making them very susceptible to botrytis infection. Semillon grapes make up 80% of the blend in some of the most expensive wines in the world like, Château d'Yquem in Bordeaux. Jean has been making wine in Bordeaux. Sounds good to me.

My personal enlightenment is fortunately due to the open communication and the sharing of winemaking activities on a regular basis by Jean and Henrik, the interns and the production staff. For me, this makes all the difference in being able to do my job well, with love and passion. I can convey the delightful nuances of AO winemaking to the public on a daily basis this way. Let me give you another example.

One day last week Jean entered the tasting room from the cellar in his usual casual and uncomplicated but still larger than life style (after all he is 6 foot 5). He said, “Susan, what do you smell in this glass?” I appeared obviously puzzled with that “wait a minute, am I going to get in trouble if I say the wrong thing” look. He proceeded to tell me it was a 2006 Merlot. OK, so I swirled the glass a few times and took a deep breath, with nose poked into glass and I repeated the motion and smelled again. “Well,” I said, you might not like this but the aroma I get right off the top seems a little bit like a light vinegar.” Jean explained immediately that it was “yogurt” and “that tells me it’s undergoing malolactic fermentation. Malolactic fermentation smells like yogurt Susan!” Here is the winery I’ve been waiting for . . . one in which the winemaking staff takes the time and has the patience to give me a revealing answer. And it keeps coming.

As I arrived on the Alpha Omega Property this morning I saw on the far edge of the pond a newcomer to the landscape, a Snowy Egret, standing proud and tall on his long rail thin legs. Over his matching long rail thin beak he is eyeing us all. Humm, I wondered how PD, the duck mascot for AO, feels about this avian addition.

As I enter the Tasting Room I am tickled to see the counter is covered with a couple dozen lab-labeled bottles, a few glasses and dump buckets. Jean, Henrik and Marie, (an intern from France) are busy slurping, spitting and inhaling. What are we experiencing, I say to myself. I listened to the short conversations that followed and soon discovered I walked in on a Tasting Trial. I want to know and I will find out. It’s all in a days work now. My exhilaration rises as I see one more wonderful learning experience after another come my way.

This place fascinates me even beyond the incredibly artistic winemaking style. There is an unusual spirit here. You can see it most clearly as the staff upstairs and downstairs takes on an amazing dynamic in all the after work social activities. Most pronounced is the heavy hitting “team” competition in the form of foosball tournaments. Yes, the winery invested most wisely in a foosball table and the rivalry has been on ever since. What a way to unwind on your lunch break. Well I have to let you in on something . . . I’m coming into this major social camaraderie of quite a few “30 somethings” from a couple of generations earlier. But, I am determined to join in the fun and games . . . I bought myself a foosball table for Christmas! The heat is on.

Fermentation...!

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 20:32:49 GMT

The second topic that I would like to discuss is naturally fermented wines versus inoculated wines. I have worked in the past with both ways and have become a defender of natural fermentation. My reasoning behind this is that I intend to follow nature and limit man and the impact on the grapes. The reason why I think it is this way, is I have a very strong desire to follow nature and limiting a winemaker’s detractions on grapes. A winemaker should know the full potential of his/her grapes based on the hard work that has been done in the vineyard all through the growing season. Letting the grapes go through a natural fermentation allows them to stay on the path to reaching their potential without trying to force the wine along the fermentation cycle. With every yeast strain a winemaker has to choose from, a certain number of traits will come along with that particular strain that can knock the wine off of the intended course I had planned for while in the vineyard. The second reason for using wild yeast is that I believe wild yeast allows a wine to start the fermentation at a slower rate extending the length of the first fermentation which I feel gives me a more complex wine in the long run. Making wine is not about speed so I never worry about trying to force the wine through any part of the process.

The other side of this argument is that by not adding yeast a winemaker risks something called “stuck” fermentation which means that the wine stops in the middle of the fermentation leaving residual sugar present in the wine. This means that the wine will tend to taste more like a dessert style wine which is extremely bad for red wines. A winemaker can try to fix a stuck fermentation but it is not an easy process. Along the same line of thinking I also do not inoculate the wine for the secondary fermentation known as malolactic fermentation where malic acid is converted to lactic acid in the wine. Most winemakers will call me crazy for making wines this way but so far I have yet to hurt a wine with this style and my wines have always managed to finish both fermentations. With this in mind I will continue to let the wines go through fermentation naturally since in my opinion is the best way to help them reach their full potential and make a great wine!

Harvest Party by Erik, our Hospitality manager

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 23:56:46 GMT

Last night was lobster feed time here at Alpha Omega Winery in honor of our first full harvest as a team. About forty guests showed up to find our family style table covered with everything from potatoes, to corn on the cob, an assortment of vegetables, and, of course, lobster. Glasses were clinking, emotional toasts were made, the food was messy but amazing and I’m pretty sure that everyone was having a great time.
After dinner we decided to blow off some steam from three months of intense work, for the cellar crew that is, by having a company wide foosball tournament and some solid attempts at singing with our rented karaoke equipment. Henrik, our assistant winemaker, and I made it to the finals once again with our new Team Spaceballs jerseys (team photo in our gallery) only to lose to a lesser team in the form of Jean and Chelsea. I’m not saying that they cheated (because Jean is also my boss) but in going over the game film Henrik and I discovered some disturbing pre-game footage of Jean and Chelsea giving what appeared to be contraband supplements to their players. It did seem weird that their guys were kicking the ball harder and were also twice the size of our players but we didn’t think much of it at the time. Our plan of attack to get back into the winner’s circle is to train harder in the off season and try to catch their players off of the juice next time.

With respect to the singing…..wow what can you say about the singing. One thing that I did learn last night about consuming wine is that it apparently gives you not only the confidence to sing in front of a large group of people but it can also give you superstar stage presence as well. The performance of the evening was turned in by our South African intern, and former lion-tamer, Danie. He dazzled us with what was actually and amazing beat-box performance that drew the love and admiration of the on-looking crowd. The runner-up to Danie would have to be Robin’s, A.K.A. Mr. President, rendition of “Get me to the church on time”. Complete with an authentic cowboy hat Robin blew the crowd away while security did their best to keep our female guests from rushing the stage in an attempt to get Robin’s phone number.

All in all it was a great night, good times were had by all, and while a few of the people that I mentioned above may not agree 100% with my account of the evening this is my story and I’m sticking to it.

Cheers,

Erik

Harvest is over!

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 21:52:53 GMT

Now that harvest is over, I would like to talk a little about a couple of sensitive topics that have been quite popular in the wine industry over the past few years. First off will be the epic battle between bottle closures: corks, synthetics, or capsules; screw caps as you call it in English. The second topic is natural fermentation versus inoculated fermentation .

Let’s start with closure. A lot of people are now running away from natural cork for many different reasons, the first and the most important one will be, of course, the economical reason, that corks are getting more and more expensive. Demand of high quality corks has been exceeding supply which has been causing the price of high-end corks to skyrocket over the beginning of the new millennium. The result is that this has been driving an increasing number of wineries to look for alternative closures with screw caps currently leading the way. Coming from a Swiss background I have seen screw caps used for about 35 years on all the white wine from Switzerland made of Chasselas varietals, which tend to be fresh, kind of young, and non-aromatic varietals. That being said I believe this gives me an unbiased opinion on the topic which allows me to see both sides of the issue.

The reason that some wineries are using screw caps, aside from cost, is that they tend to drink the wine in the same year that it was bottled, therefore you do not need the cork. With bottle aging being the main issue between the two closures, this rationalization is usually what will push a winery to start using screw caps on their white wines.

The topic only starts to heat up when you bring bottle aging into the discussion. I personally believe that corks are used for aging, and since I design both my white and red wines to have aging potential, I use corks at Alpha Omega on all of our wines. The reason why I believe corks help with the aging process is due to the fact that they are porous and they aid in the slow transfer of oxygen which benefits the wine during its time in the bottle. To be fair, I should mention that I have had the chance to taste a lot of wine that has stayed in screw caps for thirty years and they have actually aged and evolved quite well.

That being said my biggest fear is that when you take a red wine that needs oxygen to be exchanged through the cork to soften the tannins and help mellow out the acidity, then close it with a screw cap closure, it will not allow the wine to reach its full potential for many years. Considering that the majority of wine consumers are not cellaring their wines for years on end this would mean that most wine drinkers would not be able to enjoy the wine at its peak. However, for the smaller number of consumers that enjoy cellaring their wines for many years, this is one attractive trait of screw caps. After weighing the pros and cons of both sides I am thinking that for now for the winery will be using corks to give us more reasonable aging recommendations and for branding purposes. We are starting a new brand and need to build it up, with corks giving the bottle a higher perceived value along with giving us the ability to add our brand on the side, this is only more reason to continue to use the more traditional closure.

Cork? Screw cap? Which one do you choose?

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:51:24 GMT

Coming soon, the time is coming to choose between these two closures. We hope you will be part of this debate, customers, winemakers...

Chelsea discovers a corked bottle of Cab

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 17:07:43 GMT

While pouring wine for customers today, Chelsea discovered a corked bottle of Cab. She carefully marked it with a big X so that she could ensure that no other tasting room employee would pour the wine. Good thinking. She then opened a second bottle of Cab and found it to be pleasing.

She put the two bottles, both good and bad, next to each other to share the news with her friend Kristine. When Kristine returned from lunch, Chelsea excitededly showed her the corked bottle and her designated X. Kristine poured a glass of this corked Cabernet, swirled it furiously and inhaled deeply in the glass. The Cab smelled tight, not corked, but maybe tight. Eagerly trying to appease her friend Chelsea, Kristine continued to swirl, breathe and taste, hoping to find what Chelsea had discovered to be true. Kristine conceded that the bottle could be off, not corked but perhaps off.

The two girls put their heads together and decided to try the good and bad Cabs side by side. It was their plan to finalize their decision based on the comparison of the two. Again, good thinking on both accounts. Chelsea poured Kristine a glass of the good Cab. Kristine swirled, inhaled and in a moment announced, "That's the corked bottle!" The two girls giggled uncontrollably and thought about the catasrophe that would have arisen had the improperly Xd (good) bottle been thrown away and the corked, un-marked bottle of wine remained in the tasting room.

Perhaps you had to be there, but it was a truly spectacular moment!

Arienne & Celine's World

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 01:00:01 GMT

Once upon a time, in a world far far away - picture 1

Wonder Woman and the Devil met on all Hallow’s Eve and a battle ensued between these forces of good and evil… -picture 2

In the end, good prevailed over evil… - picture 3

But here at Alpha Omega Winery, good and evil can live in harmony. - picture 4

Every day at Alpha Omega Winery is an adventure. Thanks to Jean we have a lot of fun, even when he sends us to Taylor’s in our Halloween costumes on the very open and busy Highway 29 when no one else is in costume. Although we did not know each other before working here we have become fast friends. The winery as a whole has become a close group.

When I’m not Wonder Woman using my super powers to fight evil, I work closely with Eric Sklar and Jean as the office manager while also perfecting my fine foosball skills whenever I have the chance. The Napa Valley has been home to me for many years (I grew up in Calistoga) and I am fortunate to live in such a beautiful area and work with a great group of people. When I joined AO I was told this is a really fun place to work and that has proven to be true- everyone works hard but there is never a dull moment. How many people do you know who eat a whole wheel of cheese in one sitting, keep pet flies, or know how to admire a hot view?

When I am not evil, am I not( I am French…)? ... I assist Jean while also taking care of the blog (hopefully Arienne is there to correct my poor English), the website, and other administrative duties. I am from Champagne and came here for my husband’s work. I have been in the Napa Valley since January 2005. I have to say that it was a fabulous move- discovering a new culture and living with a language other than mine, even if it wasn’t so easy at the beginning. I am very lucky to have found this great company. I am pretty sure that I would not have found such a good job, team and manager in France… Thank you Jean!

“..Almost almost there..” a word from the Assistant Winemaker

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 17:18:05 GMT

My name is Henrik Poulsen. I’m the Assistant Winemaker at AO Winery.

Today we’ll be bringing in some of the last grapes for this years harvest. The fruit arriving today is sourced from a famous vineyard called To-Kalon located in the heart of Napa Valley.As with all the other blocks we’ve picked this year Jean and I have monitored this vineyard closely for several months and have been following the progress in ripeness intensively.Early on it was clear to both of us that this fruit was something extraordinary.With a weather forecast showing chance of showers end of this week it’s very satisfying that we’re able to have all our fruit picked at optimal ripeness and received at the winery before the rain really starts hitting us.
Harvest is close to being over but our job is far from being done.Once the fruit – after extensive berry sorting – is safely in fermentation tanks, we’re still looking at weeks of work before things start to slow down.
My job as Assistant Winemaker is however greatly supported by a very devoted team in the cellars.Our regular staff of 3 (“Lalo”, Ramon and Stevie) have during this harvest been expanded with 4 interns (Danie, Marie, Denise and Omar).

With wine stained hands and inky-purple colored fingers (and teeth?!) and with days of 14-16 hours of hard work these guys are the “real winemakers” assisting with all the labor intensive work as pump-overs, punch-downs, must-transfer, pressing of grapes etc.

As fermentation finishes we’ll be able to get back on normal hours, rack the wine off the skins/lees and transfer it to barrels. Here it will be “sleeping” for the next approx. 20 months before it’s ready for bottling.
Speaking about sleeping – Damn!..that sounds good!!!…….

zzzZZZZZzzzZZ..zz…ZZzzzzzz