Wine Matters in Walla Walla

Put a Cork in it! Part 1

In case anyone was wondering... we're using cork to seal our wines, as opposed to a synthetic closure or a screw cap.  Not that there's anything wrong with those materials.   But we think the cork is, quite frankly, a superior product.  Later we want to introduce alternative closures but for now, cork is the way to go.

Cork Facts:

The first reference to cork dates to 3000 B.C. in China where it was used as a fishing apparatus.

Cork is harvested  from the bark of the cork oak tree.  No trees are harmed in the making of this product.  It's quite sustainable.

The average lifespan of a cork oak varies between 170 and 200 years - which means it can regenerate cork suitable for manufacturing about 17 times.

80% of the world's production comes from Portugal and Spain.

Cork is a natural, recyclable, renewable and reusable product.

5,000,000,000 (that's billion, people) natural cork stoppers are produced every year! 

Read MORE about cork....

And just for fun - if you are looking for an after-market use of all those corks you pull (especially Champagne corks), perhaps you will be inspired by this very entertaining contest that Design Within Reach sponsored.  Check out the winners of their annual Champagne Chair contest.

Posted by Denise

Zinfandel north of the border

As a erstwhile Californian and wine lover I'll be honest with you.  Zinfandel is my favorite wine.  Not all Zins--I like the ones that have acid and moderate alcohol levels--but give me a homemade pizza and a nice bottle of Seghesio Old Vines and I'm in heaven. So when we moved to Washington I missed a couple of things (earthquakes, traffic...) but mostly those Zins.  It is pretty rare to find a Washington State Zinfandel and most of the ones I have tried have fallen far below the bar set by our water-starved neighbor to the south.  On the other hand, most of the other wines (Merlot that I have had up here by and large make California wine look weak. And I'm saying that as a wine fan not as a Washington Vintner....mostly).

But when we got a call from a very respected grower at harvest time last year telling us he had 1.5 tons of Zin we forgot about our budget and our plans and jumped at the chance.  We are all Z fans and wanted an opportunity to produce a great wine in an unfamilar place. The Wahluke Slope where the grapes are from is a gravel bar miles long formed by our friend, the Bretz floods. It is a couple hours from Walla Walla up on the Columbia River near George, Washington. Theoretically it should be a great place to grow Zin--warm and dry with cool nights.

Anyway, our Zin is coming along nicely and showing some very concentrated berry flavors. It is too early to tell if it will come out on a level with the great Zins of California but hopefully it will be a great Washington Zin.  We probably will release it in the fall of 2007  or the spring of 2008.

Virtual Swag From Trio Vintners

Happy Valentines Day!

If You're Happy and You're Blogged, Clap Your Hands!

We are happy to note that we've been blogged!  It's nice to know that the blog-o-sphere is a real thing.  I know you can do all sorts of neat things, like link to other peoples'  blogs  and whatever - and I'm so very grateful that people will read what we have posted...because for God's sake you all certainly must have something better to do!  But since you have professed some kind of interest in wine - then by all means read on.  Blog on!  Tune in!  Synchronize your ipods!  Or for something really novel - read a newspaper.  No, I was just kidding!  Anyway - we have a friend in Walla Walla who is much more prolific in the blogsphere than ourselves - and writes about wine and all the happenings here.  I'm really delighted that Catie McIntyre Walker who keeps a blog called Through the Walla Walla Grape Vine has written about Trio Vintners.  Catie follows all the developments here and has a very insider perspective as she works in one of the very best wineries in the Valley, the award winning Forgeron Cellars.  At any rate, It's cool to see a little ink about Trio Vintners (rather, bytes and bits) somewhere other than our own domain. 

That said - we also have some postings regarding our winery in a couple of key locations on the good ol' world wine web (remember that thing that Al Gore made possible!)   Again, it was a kind of thrill for us to see our winery listed amongst ranks of all the Washington state wineries.  OK, this may not be as meaningful for our dear blog reader as it is for ourselves - but afterall, we are here to share our love, glory, shame and stardom.  Check out the links below and please peruse these two sites for a really informative tour of our absolutely stellar competitors.  It's great company to be sure.

Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance

Washington Wine Commission

Blog on!

Posted by Denise

Governing Bodies

There was a lot of governmental shuffling when the Homeland Security Act passed a few years ago.  Alcohol producers no longer report to the ATF division (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms). You know, those mellow dudes who lay siege to the Koresh compound in Waco. Instead, we now deal with the much more friendly sounding TTB, or Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau.  Please do not ask why the TTB does not include the A for Alcohol.  It makes no sense.  But neither does most of the other minutia of detail that the Feds require you to track as a wine producer. 

If you have ever wondered why wine labels look like they do and have certain information in certain places - well, those fun, lovin' folks at the TTB have it all mapped out for you.   All the information that's on a wine label is governed by law.  We have had to learn all this on the fly and after some trail and error - and many calls to the main office of the TTB (in Cincinnati of all places) we are somewhat the wiser.

As we speak our wine labels are on the press at the printer.  There's a lot riding on a 4" x 7" piece of paper.  Let's just hope it sticks to the bottle...More later.

Posted by Denise