Decision Point

It was a big weekend at the home winery.  The very successful birthday bash I threw for Kim afforded me the opportunity to more than double the (non-family) winery tour and tasting guests I’ve now hosted at my modest establishment, including a visit from regular reader Rob (there’s your shout-out).

Birthday Girl

More importantly, after four months of sitting idly, it was time for the Malbec to be racked one last time prior to this spring’s bottling.  As noted previously, the Malbec has been showing a character in its finish that could be described as mushroomy, musty or smelly socks, depending on whether you’re buying or selling.  The problem has mellowed over the last few months, and I’m still optimistic that my first full release from the home winery will ultimately indeed be drinkable, but I called on Drew and Charlie, my assistant winemakers, for a second opinion on the blending.  In normal course, I would combine all four of my different sized carboys together when racking to make sure that each of the batches tastes the same.  However, I had previously detected a slightly different finish in the one-gallon carboy, and was considering keeping it separate, a decision which would have reduced by 20% my already meager production.  In the end, we agreed that the differences in the carboys were too slight to justify pulling that carboy out, and Charlie swears that he thinks the wine is perfectly drinkable today (although not as good as the Chardonnay and Pinot I currently have aging), but I would argue that it remains to be seen whether the decisions I made today (and over the last nine months for that matter) will ultimately lead to a wine I’m proud to put the distinguished Dry Run label on.