Over the past three years I have come to determine that if I’m ever to have a successful estate vineyard and winery, I will need to achieve the appropriate mastery of chemistry, meteorology, farming and marketing, for starters. I can now add graphic design to that list.
In anticipation of undertaking my first home bottling sometime this Summer, it’s time for me to select that just right label that reflects the perfect blend of sophisticated boutique winemaking with moonshine, seat-of-your-pants processing that I’m going for in the “Dry Run” brand. After countless hours exploring numerous alternatives ranging from ordering customizable options online to buying and learning new software to design and print the label at home, I still have no clue when I’m going to do.
On the other hand, for the first time in what feels like a long time, nothing went wrong at the vineyard/winery this week. My Chilean Chardonnay finished its primary fermentation, completing the transformation from juice to “wine,” and I’ve inoculated it to begin the malolactic fermentation. After more than a week of nervous waiting, the vine in my yard has finally recovered from my insecticide mistake and produced its first batch of new leaf growth. And most exciting, my row of vines at the Hilton estate is bursting with activity, with each vine sporting from 25 to 40 fledgling grape bunches. At that volume, provided I don’t again lose the crop to black rot or accidentally kill the vines myself, I should produce enough juice this Fall to make one to two cases of my first ever estate grown Corot Noir wine. And with about a year and a half to go before that wine is ready to bottle, that should be just about enough time to design the perfect label.
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