A New Year, A New Tool

The remains of my 2011 Corot Noir

They say what separates man from the animals are the tools we use.  That inflated notion was running through my mind this weekend as I used a pair of chopsticks to fish out oak cubes from a glass carboy, and a roll of paper towels to skim the bacteria off of my slowly deteriorating (and all but ruined) 2011 Corot Noir.  I have a lot of books about winemaking, and I can tell you that not one of them mentions anything about the use of chopsticks.  For a minute there I figured with a little duct tape and chewed up bubble gum I might actually be able to MacGyver this wine back to health. 

In the end though I couldn’t think of an effective use for the bubble gum, so instead I added four times the recommended dosage of sulfites in one last desperate attempt to save the batch.  The effects that additive would have on the taste of the wine is beside the point.

It’s been a little over a month now since the release of my 2010 Pinot Noir, and the timing was perfect.  What better gift to provide a neighbor or holiday party host than a homemade bottle of red from the Russian River Valley?  The feedback to date has been positive, mostly because folks keep the negative feedback to themselves, but the stand-out reaction was from our friends Jeff and Stephanie, who apparently turned the opening of a new release into an excuse to enjoy a romantic evening by the fire, and sent me this photo to prove it.  This, of course, confirms the other thing they always say:  Flattery will get you everywhere.