Everything

Jammin’ on the Lawn

Sons of Leisure will be playing!

Live Music! Saturday, Dec 3rd, 4-7 pm.

Live Music!  Will we be inside or outside?  We’ll be indoors if it is too cold or too windy instead of jammin’ on the lawn, you just never know what kind of weather December will bring in Texas.  So feel free to bring snacks (no outside alcohol though) and join us for some terrific tunes and a great afternoon.  Hopefully it will warm up enough to sit out on the porch, if not, enjoy a glass of our warm mulled spiced wine!

 

Evening of Yoga and Wine!

Our evening of yoga and wine has been featured by the press again!  Check out the article by Rose L. Thayer and give it 5 stars.

Thursday, Dec 8th!

6:30 pm–A wonderful, full hour plus a wee bit more of an outstanding yoga class that will stretch each part of your body & soul. Unwind the mind, practice restorative poses, and receive cosmic goodness.

7:30 pm–A terrific, refreshing glass of locally made Texas wine accompanied by a happy plate of cheese and fruit. Reservations are encouraged so that the appropriate amount of food can be anticipated, but reservations are not required, so if moved by the spirit at the last minute, then come on down and join us! Questions and so on, email [email protected].
Namaste

Evening of Yoga and Wine

Our evening of yoga and wine has been featured by the press again!  Check out the article by Rose L. Thayer and give it 5 stars.

Thursday, Nov 10th

6:30 pm–A wonderful, full hour plus a wee bit more of an outstanding yoga class that will stretch each part of your body & soul. Unwind the mind, practice restorative poses, and receive cosmic goodness.

7:30 pm–A terrific, refreshing glass of locally made Texas wine accompanied by a happy plate of cheese and fruit. Reservations are encouraged so that the appropriate amount of food can be anticipated, but reservations are not required, so if moved by the spirit at the last minute, then come on down and join us! Questions and so on, email [email protected].
Namaste

Live Music!

Michael Hare plays guitar
         Live Music by Serenada

Saturday, Nov 12th, 4-7 pm

Live Music!  Will we be inside or outside?  We’ll be indoors if it is too hot or too windy instead of jammin’ on the lawn, it’s just too dang hot in Texas sometimes and we wouldn’t want your cool glass of Texas wine to heat up too fast.  So feel free to bring snacks (no outside alcohol though) and join Pat, Michael & Julie for some terrific tunes and a great afternoon.  Hopefully it will cool off enough to sit out on the porch.

Live Music!

Michael Hare plays guitar
         Live Music by Serenada

Saturday, Oct 8th, 4-7 pm

Live Music!  Will we be inside or outside?  We’ll be indoors if it is too hot or too windy instead of jammin’ on the lawn, it’s just too dang hot in Texas sometimes and we wouldn’t want your cool glass of Texas wine to heat up too fast.  So feel free to bring snacks (no outside alcohol though) and join Pat, Michael & Julie for some terrific tunes and a great afternoon.  Hopefully it will cool off enough to sit out on the porch.

Live Music!

Michael Hare plays guitar
Live Music by Michael, Julie, & Pat

Saturday, Sep 10th, 4-7 pm

Live Music!  Will we be inside or outside?  We’ll be indoors if it is too hot or too windy instead of jammin’ on the lawn, it’s just too dang hot in Texas sometimes and we wouldn’t want your cool glass of Texas wine to heat up too fast.  So feel free to bring snacks (no outside alcohol though) and join Pat, Michael & Julie for some terrific tunes and a great afternoon.  Hopefully it will cool off enough to sit out on the porch.

Evening of Yoga & Wine

Thursday, Sep 8th

6:30 pm–A wonderful, full hour plus a wee bit more of an outstanding yoga class that will stretch each part of your body & soul. Unwind the mind, practice restorative poses, and receive cosmic goodness.

7:30 pm–A terrific, refreshing glass of locally made Texas wine accompanied by a happy plate of cheese and fruit. Reservations are encouraged so that the appropriate amount of food can be anticipated, but reservations are not required, so if moved by the spirit at the last minute, then come on down and join us! Questions and so on, email [email protected].
Namaste

Bottling at Salado Winery

 

On Saturday, August 27, 2011 the Black Rock Vineyard association bottled their 2010 Sangiovese. 

First, they made sure everything was clean and ready for bottling.  Everything was rinsed and sprayed with SO2.  Then a solution was made up to run through the bottling line.  Here at Salado Winery Company, it is typical that we blend about 1/4 cup of 14% Meta (was created by blending 208.2 g in 1.5 L of distilled water in glass bottle) with a tablespoon of citric acid in about 4-5 gallons of water.  So that solution was pumped through the lines, the filters, up into the holding tank, down into the bottler and through the spigots.  Then the lines were emptied and the wine was pumped through and filled the bottles.

The pump is pictured above.  The in line cartridge filters have a .35 micron filter and a 1 micron filter inside of them.  The wine was pre-filtered on August 18, which is 10 days prior to this event with a 5 micron filter and a 1 micron filter.  We typically use commercial filters (see picture).  We buy the 1 & 5 micron filters from our local hardware store and the .35 micron filters from Vintner’s Vault.  The filters are inexpensive, so we dispose of them when we’re finished with them. 

The picture of the lab table reminds me that BRV tested SO2 levels just prior to bottling.  On August 18 just before filtering, they measured only 5 ppm free SO2, so they added 40 ppm.  On the day of bottling (August 27) they measure 12ppm SO2 so they added 15 ppm to bring it up to 25 ppm.

One thing that the folks from BRV did that surprised me is that they dunked the corks in distilled water before bottling.  They said that this was to make it easier to squish the cork and slide it into the bottle.  Also, one can see in the pictures that they rinsed the bottles.  The solution they used was the same as was used to rinse the equipment (a slosh of 14% Meta, approx. 1 tablespoon citric to 5 gallons water). 

The bottles are sparged as they are filled with wine.  It is not obvious from the picture, but if you click on the picture of the hand at the bottler, you might notice clear plastic lines running to the spigots.  The gas tank is visible in the overview picture.  Also, I took a picture of the line cavitating because when I used the bottler, I couldn’t get it tight enough and I had leaking there!

Stay tuned for the release of this fantastic wine!

Sweet Sangiovese Blush

plate & frame filter

On 8 July 2011, 1 gram/liter addition of citric acid and 11.3 grams/100 gal of PVPP.

 On 21 July, added 45 g/liter sugar and 15ppm SO2 then filtered.  Pre-filtered using pad and frame filter and 2 inline filters.  Inline cartridge filters were 1 micron and .35 microns.

On 23 July, tested SO2 again, was only showing 4 ppm free SO2(using Mitch lab method) so added 15 ppm (pH was measured at 3.2). Used one inline cartridge with .35 micron filter (see here for bottling line pictures). 

Near the end of the tank, we were surprised to notice that wine going into filter was cloudy, but coming out of filter it was not.  We were surprised because it had just been filtered 2 days prior.  When finished bottling the 40 gallons, we opened the filter and examined the cartridge.  No visible particles.

Wine was stored at 78-80 degrees farenheit and started to show signs of refermentation in about 3 weeks.

 

Jammin’ on the Lawn

Saturday, June 11th from 4-7pm. Come enjoy a glass of Texas Wine and music by The Leisure Seekers. It is the same day as the San Gabriel Wine Trail. So you could go on the trail and then hang around and listen to the music while drinking great wine. Feel free to bring a lawn chair and a picnic! (No outside alcohol)