On Saturday, the 14th, we pressed out the last two bins of Syrah. We also received one last lot of Cabernet Sauvignon–just a half ton, which fermented smoothly over the course of the week. The following weekend, we pressed out the majority of the Cabernet–the lots that cold macerated for a few days before taking off. They have very nice color and good Cab flavor, though I think the stars this vintage are some of the Syrah lots. At this point, all we have left to go into barrel is that last little Cab lot. It is currently undergoing post-fermentation maceration, and we’ll press it out this weekend.

We are very pleased with how the harvest went this year. We increased production considerably, to about 900 cases (versus 620 last year). Despite that big jump, everything went smoothly. The cement pad we put in last winter vastly improved our workspace, so we had room to maneuver as we worked with fermentations, barrels, crushing, and pressing all in the same day. The freezer was another important factor—none of the fermentations overheated this year. We were able to use the frozen blocks not only to cool fermentations in progress, but also to delay fermentation in some lots so as to stagger the peaks. This all helped lower the stress level and conserve quality.

We had a full house for the Easter weekend, so I was relieved of winemaking duties in order to feed the crew (by far, my preferred role). And they did eat well, if I say so myself: pork and cabbage stew with a raspberry-plum crumble for dessert on Friday, spaghetti carbonara with chocolate-raspberry ice cream for dessert on Saturday, and then roast chicken (pullets–the little ones) with a Moroccan spice rub and garbanzo fries for Easter dinner. The fries are from Daniel Boulud’s Café Boulud Cookbook. They were really, really good–and not much work at all. Some friends requested the recipe, so here you go. If you are in Santiago, you can get garbanzo flour at the Tostaduría Talca on Tobalaba (at Pocuro).

Daniel Boulud’s Garbanzo Fries

1 quart milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, roasted
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
2  1/4 cups garbanzo flour, sifted
Oil for deep-frying
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting

Line a 9- by 12-inch baking sheet with plastic wrap and keep additional plastic on hand to cover the top. (Note: M. Boulud suggested either parchment or plastic. I used parchment, and the top layer stuck to the porridge, so I would definitely go with plastic here.)

Put the milk, olive oil, butter, and fennel seeds in a medium saucepan, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the garbanzo flour in a steady stream. (I whisked the mixture until it was fairly smooth and then switched to a wooden spoon. I also overlooked the part about sifting the garbanzo flour, so my porridge was a little lumpy, but it didn’t show in the final product.) Stir continuously for ten minutes. The mixture will get really thick, so M. Boulud suggests recruiting an assistant if you aren’t into the zen of stirring a stubborn porridge. Pour the finished porridge onto the prepared (lined) baking sheet and smooth it out. Cover with another layer of plastic, then refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or overnight. The mixture needs to be quite cold when you fry it.

When ready to make the fries, heat the oil for deep frying. Remove the top layer of plastic from the garbanzo mixture and slice the paste into logs about three inches long by 1/2 inch wide. Don’t make them too skinny or they will break in while frying. Dredge the logs in the semolina or cornmeal (I used cornmeal), then fry in batches until golden brown (2 to 3 minutes). (I fried mine in fairly shallow oil, so I had to flip the fries mid-way through the cooking.) Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to drain briefly before serving.

These are best served immediately, but you can reheat them on a rack in the oven.

Next up is the Syrah from Gonzalo Manzur’s vineyard on the other side of San Felipe. We are scheduled to receive four tons on Friday afternoon, which we will let chill overnight and then crush early Saturday morning. We are very pleased with the vineyard this year. The fruit is very clean, with good, flavorful fruit.

At a winery, of course, fall is just another word for harvest. Ed started early this year at Tarapacá, with the first sparkling wine grapes coming in around February 20th. They are now knee-deep in Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Here at Flaherty, we’re still waiting, as the red varieties won’t be ripe for several more weeks. Our tempranillo seems to be a little ahead of schedule based on the past three years. This is most certainly related to the new training system, though it’s hard to say whether it’s the head pruning per se that is causing the earlier ripening or the fact that we encouraged vigorous growth to help the vines recover from the stark pruning of last winter. Whatever the reason, the vineyard seems to be at least a week early, and we are expecting to harvest toward the end of the month.

The syrah and cabernet are developing at a normal pace and should be ripe around mid-April. We are contemplating doubling our production of these varieties this year. The fruit would come from the same section of Gonzalo Manzur’s vineyard as our previous vintages, so quality is ensured. The main issue is how to organize the crush.

The harvest started off with Syrah from the Escorial vineyard owned by Gonzalo Manzur. This was the first vintage from this vineyard of clone 300 Syrah. The quality was very good, and we have high expectations for this site as the vineyard matures. Unfortunately, we lost control of the temperature on a couple fermenters, which then stuck. We therefore had to referment these two lots with some Syrah and Tempranillo that came in later. It was a relief to find some very nice results.

The best Syrah came in from the older Encón vineyard, which has rich layers of flavors and wonderful texture on the mouth. The Tempranillo has better color and more concentration than in 2009. The best lots were co-fermented with some stuck Syrah lots, which helped fix color and create added complexity. So what looked like a big problem has actually planted the idea of doing more co-fermentations with Syrah next year. Finally, the Cabernet Sauvignon from Encón this year has ripe flavors, but less intensity than the 2009 vintage. Most of the lots were cold soaked for two days before fermentation and had 14 to 20 days of skin contact before pressing. Overall we are very happy with the quality of the 2010 vintage. As our production slowly expands, however, we will need to improve planning and make some targeted investments to ensure a smoother, less stressful harvest in terms of time and control.

]]> http://www.flahertywines.com/chile/cabernet-weekend/feed/ 1 http://www.flahertywines.com/chile/quiet-week/ http://www.flahertywines.com/chile/quiet-week/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:58:36 +0000 jen http://www.flahertywines.com/chile/?p=913 Saturday was a long day, pressing out three Syrah lots and then picking and crushing the rest of the Tempranillo. We decided to postpone harvesting the last ton of Syrah until next week, so right now we only have one fermentation going (the Tempranillo). The remaining Syrah lots are all dry, and they just need to macerate this week. We’ll bring in the Cabernet Sauvignon next Saturday, along with the last of the Syrah. It’s nice to have a respite this week, before launching into another big wave.

ETA: Ed thought the photo of Zeus (the golden retriever) was not self-explanatory. Why is there a dog photo on the wine blog? She was a very enthusiastic participant in the pressing on Saturday, so much so that we think she might be better named Dionysus. She wound up quite splattered with Syrah—note the purple streaks in her otherwise golden fur.

Later that afternoon, we received two and a half tons of Syrah from Manzur’s Encon vineyard. Very nice fruit, as usual. We then picked about half of our tempranillo on Sunday, so we have a total of four bins fermenting right now. The Syrah lots are moving along nicely–the fermentations are cooler this time around, with a very steady progress. The Tempranillo is just peaking today, and again the temperatures have been manageable.

This harvest has been complicated by the fact that I fractured my shoulder a week before we received any fruit. I’m normally in charge of holding down the fort during the week, in terms of punchdowns and cooling measures and generally following Ed’s instructions. I’m absolutely useless this year! The injury isn’t serious, but it is extremely frustrating to be unable to, say, move the cooling unit as needed. We were very lucky to find Don Armando, who is taking care of the daily chores and also helping out on the weekends. Our other key assistant is Nico, whom we have known since he was Ben’s age. It’s very fun having him on staff. All told, the harvest is going smoothly, despite my badly timed sick leave.

Our harvest started in a big way on Monday, April 12th. We received just over four tons of Syrah from Gonzalo Manzur. This fruit is from his new vineyard in the Escorial sector of the Aconcagua Valley, on the other side of San Felipe from the Encón Vineyard, (our traditional source for Syrah and Cabernet). Escorial is a cooler area right in the wind corridor of the valley, and it’s on the Panquehue side of the train tracks, so it gets more fog. We would normally expect those conditions to delay ripening, but this is the vineyard’s first vintage and the vines are carrying a smaller crop. These two factors typically cause the vines to ripen the fruit earlier.

The grapes looked very clean on arrival, with good sugars and ripe flavors. The profile includes some interesting cool climate characteristics like carpaccio. I managed to grab a liter of juice out of one of the bins to make a batch of sorbet, and it is yummy!

Since we were crushing on a Monday, our usual crew of friends was not around to help out, so Gonzalo sent over a crew. They spent four hours crushing the fruit into five bins, and Ed then worked late into the night finishing up. The fermentations got started right away in four of the bins. They’re going a little hotter than we’ve seen in the past. This is the first time we’ve had so many lots peaking at once, and cooling is proving to be a challenge. We have our heat exchanger unit in one bin, and we’re rotating ice blocks (frozen in plastic jugs) through the others.

The vineyard generally looks good. The tempranillo and petite sirah cuttings had a good success rate, and most of the new plants are leafing out nicely. The syrah, on the other hand, largely did not take. The good news is that the nursery has guaranteed the plants, so we’ll get replacement cuttings to replant those sections this winter. The bad news is that we’ve lost a year of growth, and we will incur considerable costs in replanting.