The Tasting Panel- Personal Best

Read the recent article featuring our winemaker Tyler Heck in the The Tasting Panel Magazine’s November issue. The article titled “Personal Best” details Tyler’s own winemaking style and what life influences have brought him to where he is today. Envisioning wines made in the classical Burgundian mold Tyler combines old world winemaking techniques with a personal touch.

“One thing I didn’t really put together until after my father passed away is the importance of how that fits into somebody’s life,” reflects Heck. “I think in anybody’s life you’re just trying to find a craft, find a way to practice that craft and hopefully get better at it is you go along and earn a living. Then, most importantly, leave something behind when you’re gone. What better way to do that than with wine? It brings people together and even now, when I open up a bottle of wine that my father made, people tell good stories about him.”

View the entire article here The Tasting Panel- Personal Best

How our wines differ from the rest

In this quarters newsletter we are featuring an informative article written as a collaboration between Tyler Heck, our winemaker and Nicci Bacigalupi, our Marketing Director. Why are our wines unique? The article gives details about our winemaking program; our methods and the philosophies behind making wines with elegant age-ability.

Why our wines are different from the rest
When guests come for a tasting they are often pleasantly surprised at the flights of wine we offer. “Wow we get to try a 2004 Pinot Noir, that’s great! We’ve only been able to taste 2007 wines.”
I receive many questions from consumers, distributors and restaurants owners who taste our wines, and by far the most common question is: why are you just releasing an older vintage?
The answer this question comes in a few parts. When John Bacigalupi and Tyler Heck first discussed the venture of making wine in 2001 they knew they had to offer something different. With already well known winemaking neighbors such as William Selyem and Rochioli we wanted to offer a wine program that was unique to our consumers.
To do this John and Tyler decided to do both extended barrel and bottle aging. Our first release of Pinot Noir was the 2002 vintage which we released in March of 2004.
Tyler’s wine making program from vineyard to bottle is a slow and meticulous process. Part of his program includes an extended cold soak of the must in the tank. This process is done for approximately 10- 14 days before fermentation when the grapes have just been pumped into the tank. Cold soaking is used to extract tannins at a slower rate and the tank temperature is reduced by using dry ice. From this process we are able to make wines that age in the old world style and much longer than most wines that are out on the market.
By doing this we are able to offer vertical collections including wines from the 2002 vintage. There are hundred of wineries out there and this is just one way we differ from the rest.