Boutique Vineyard and Winery
Join us each week for more “geeky stuff”. We grow 5 varieties of wine grapes! Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha Tinta and Alvariño are our main grape varieties, as well as a dozen Orange Muscat vines and four table grape vines along our driveway for shade (and raisins)! The varieties ripen at different rates and are generally […]
Did you know that there are many things that affect the way wine tastes? Of course, the variety and ripeness of the grapes, the location, soil, climate and style of grape growing, the way the wine was made, the age and storage (elevage) of the wine, the temperature of the wine, what you’re eating (or […]
Once again, it’s “Ask a Question Wednesday”! Join us each Wednesday as we share answers to our, “Ask a Winemaker Wednesday” here at Ruby Magdalena Vineyards. We had a great question asked about what we’re currently doing in the vineyard! “What is be-budding?” We are currently in de-budding mode. This means that we are removing all […]
In our vineyard, we have green in the alleys between the rows of grapes. There’s a reason for this, actually there are several reasons. The cover crop helps to regulate temperature. On hot, hot days the heat from the sun isn’t reflected back up to the plants, which helps the grape plants immensely. It also […]
We get this question quite a bit: We do not have either a wind machine or smudge pots…but our neighbors do! In the early spring while the blossoms on the neighboring orchards are so fragile, and when temps drop below 32°, the wind machines are used to circulate the air to keep the damaging cold […]
We’re going to wrap up this month of barrel talk with a little bit about these compounds and what contributions a barrel can give to a red wine. . First of all…what is a phenolic compound? A phenolic compound by definition is an aromatic organic compound that has a phenol ring in its structure. There […]
We do this periodically to prevent the wine from spoiling. A barrel is not an airtight container such as a stainless-steel drum. A barrel will allow evaporation of wine through the wood itself and the tiny spaces between boards of the staves and the heads. This evaporative process drives the phenomenon called microoxygenation (or microx) […]
Here’s a bit of information that we found from one source Let’s start with the smallest called a Firkin. This little guy holds a mere 41L (11 gallons) and is traditionally used for dispensing cask ale. A few sizes up is where the wine barrel called a Barrique or a Burgundy comes in, American oak […]
Storing wine in oak barrels offers several contributions such as: micro oxygenation, malolactic fermentation and addition of flavors. A few things that affect flavors that are contributed to wine are: The type of oak used (mainly French or American oak); the time that the wine is stored in the barrel; and the toast inside of […]
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