The last two barrels

We finally found and purchased the last two barrels we need for our 2008 wine. As the Duke Boys would say: "Yeeee hawwwww!"

The fine folks at HDV set us up with 2 neutrals at a C-note each. Stephane was very cool about the exchange, even though he was in that middle of harvest sleep deprivation state that most of the wine world is in right now. He even took time out to give me a barrel rolling lesson.

Thinking of renaming the Ford Escape the "General Lees." Get it?

Wanna know why you're not getting laid tonight?

Four reasons...

1) Wine 2.0 in NY


We travelled out to NYC and attended Wine 2.0 on Thursday. We figured it would be a good chance to meet some of the folks that are marrying wine with technology, see some neat uses of said technology and drink some good wines. What we came away with was the realization that these are the very early days of this wine-technology marriage.


Highlights -
hanging w/Michael Brill at the Crushpad table - discussing harvest, fish tank heaters, weather and ...
Manning the Crushpad table which allowed for some more interaction with not just the folks manning the other tables but those walking the hall
being handed a couple bottles of wine just 'cause someone yelled in my ear
Papaya King after the event

Things we wanted to see:
More folks in both traditional uses (wine resellers, distributors, etc...) and new uses (bloggers, wine tracking software, wine making software, games, etc...)
demonstrations from the participants to accompany the couple speakers.
More local representation (since it was in NYC it would have been great to see more NY State wine representation)

All in all it was worthwhile for us to dip our feet in and mingle a bit. I look forward to seeing what comes down the pike in the coming months and years.

2) NY Wine in NY

We were able to make a couple fun wine stops in the city. The first was to Chambers Street Wine. Chambers Street is known for being one of the best wine shops in NYC and we could see why. For folks coming from the left coast a trip to an NYC wine shop is all about Europe and we weren't disappointed. Chambers street not only has a great selection of wines from the other side of the Atlantic but they are also really nice and helpful folks. Only disappointment: we didn't buy anything this visit (our fault not theirs).

After Chambers Street we wandered over to Vintage NY and spent at least an hour with them discussing all things NY wine, tasting some good whites, an interesting pinot noir and an incredible vidal ice wine (which did get us in the buying mood). This is a great place to stop by for some good local wine and to talk with some folks that are really passionate about the NY wine scene.



3) Baseball in NY

As two baseball fans we couldn't help but catch the very last night game EVER at Yankee Stadium.

Even for someone like myself that has always loved to hate the Yankees I couldn't help but feel the energy of this incredible park and be in awe over the enthusiasm of the fans that even with their team out of the playoffs showed up in droves and cheered like it was October. I hope, for NY's sake, that the new ballpark cam come close to what this ball park has been for the past 85 years.


4) Friday Night Jersey City


We got wrapped into the birthday celebrations for a 25 year old NJ bartender named Kim (the drunker KIm got the more Kim absolutely loathed us). Wrapped into a birthday party by just sitting at the right end of the bar. I'm not going to go into too many details about this night other then Dan being handed a dime bag by a two time ex-marine pinot gris spritzer sipping used car salesman ("I put asses in seats") and Kim, in her last fighting chance of drunken anger pointing to the two of us and saying:
"Wanna know why you two are not getting laid tonight?
...
"4 reasons..." (insert incoherent drunkenness followed by her wandering off)

fwiw, we could think of more than 4.

Outside of NY the weather has been a little unnerving on the west coast with rain on the horizon and grapes that are slowing down as the weather cools. We'll be crushing soon but through the continuation of an unpredictable year the schedule Dan posted previously has been made obsolete.

How to Convert a Puncheon (the punx way)

Today we converted our puncheons to fermentation vessels. I am sure there is a correct way to do this. Here is the deux punx method. Please do not try to attempt at home.

Step 1. Drink before using power tools.

Step 2. Drill pilot holes.

Step 3. Try to saw the top out.


Step 4. Give up on sawing and hammer the crap out of it!


Step 5. Show the world your ass crack.


Step 6. Finished barrels.


Step 7. Free drunken warrior costume with each puncheon.

Publish Post

where are the punx?

if the weather, the grapes and the sugars all obey us, this is our tentative harvest schedule. it is subject to daily, even hourly, changes.

right around the corner

So the panic and the excitement are both setting in as we've now come to the realization that we have just over two weeks until the first of TWO harvests. The good news: it now appears these two are not going to happen at the same time (as previously feared). 

Pinot is just around the corner and in a couple weeks we'll be up in Humboldt in some sort of beverly hillbillies assortment of truck and trailer - picture the two of us driving down the 101 listening to loud music oblivious to the fact that grapes are flying out of the trailer and striking the vehicles behind us. 

All in the bay area that wish to help sort (we'll feed you wine!) count yourselves recruited!

Young pinot humboldt

For all of you in WA that wish to help sort you have a couple weeks longer to become familiar with the inner workings of the syrah grape.

syrah wahluke slope

We've also come to realize why companies end up blowing so much of their budgets on marketing departments. While i was suffering away in the north bay Dan and Brian were busy blowing the deux punx shoestring budget on mojitos by the pool in LA. For a life long Giants fan and a life long Padres fan these two are seeming far too comfortable with the LA lifestyle:

LA marketing meeting

Counting down

So we're getting closer to harvest now and I think the pressure of the whole thing is starting to get to Dan.



We've got to hurry up and get our grapes before he does something drastic!!

Los Alamos - White Hawk

I have been involved with Syrah projects for the past 2 years that used grapes from White Hawk Ranch in Los Alamos. I final got to stop by the vineyard this past weekend on my drive along Highway 1o1 from LA to Paso.

The location is stunning! Warm but not too hot. Seems ideal for Syrah yet lacking the coastal effects for Pinot. The vineyard is quite large and lacked a farm house or winery. The fences had significant barbed wire so it was difficult to tell how the current crop is doing.

Like meeting someone you talk with only on the phone or email with, it's always nice to put a name with a face. It was nice to meet this vineyard face-to-face. I look forward to bottling the 2007 in about 5 months.

'cause I'm not the tease Dan is...

The Eel river, Humboldt County, California

We traveled up to Fruitland Ridge (along with Jenne, Terry and the newly shorn Calvin) to meet with Alan Estrada of Elk Prairie and see the pinot noir grapes the we will be soon converting to wine. Fruitland Ridge sits high above The Avenue of the Giants in The Redwood Forests of California's Humboldt County. This is a small growing region that is just starting to make a name for itself for producing some incredible Pinot Noir grapes. To get an idea of what kinds of wines can be produced from this region see what has been said about Nikolai Stez's Woodenhead Pinot Noirs sourced from Fruitland Ridge fruit.

Fruitland Ridge

I think the pictures will speak for beauty of the environment and the specialness of the grapes that we are going to be soon working with. What the pictures won't speak to is what a great guy Alan is. We are more than excited to be working with Alan and feel fortunate to be working with his grapes.

Alan, Dan and I amongst the grapes

To say that this is a dramatic and beautiful landscape is a complete understatement. We were on a steep ridge looking across at the hills that lead to the Pacific and down to the grapes that Alan planted some 15 years ago.

The Three of us doing our best to make it back up the steep vineyards of Elk Prairie
Alan showing Dan the vineyards

And 'cause we did drink something this trip. The standouts were an incredible 2002 Woodenhead Pinot Noir sourced from Elk Prairie Grapes, a 2006 Briceland Pinot Noir from Fruitland Ridge grapes and Alan's own 2004 Elk Prairie Pinot Noir. The first two were enjoyed with Alan, the Briceland was enjoyed at Persimmons (1055 Redway Dr. Redway, CA) which is a garden gallery and newly open Humboldt focused wine tasting room in Redway - we recommend stopping by to drink some great Humboldt county wines.

Humboldt Teaser

Just a teaser of our trip to Humboldt County last weekend...

How many Puncheons fit in a 5x8 U-Hual trailer?

We spent Wednesday morning running errands in Napa. Getting up at 6am is easy when you're excited (and nervous) about getting your puncheons, barrel and harvest bins. Picked up Aaron in AmCan at 7:45am and headed to Yountville and the beautiful Blankiet Estate winery. Yes, once more we got lost. How many times is that now? The harvest bins are ultra-cool and hipster yellow. I am slowly mastering the art of backing a trailer up. The folks at Blankiet didn't think our 3 puncheons would fit in the Uhaul. Ohhhhh shit!

Next we headed to St. Helena to get the Puncheons from Cuvaison winery. Troy wasn't too sure they would fit either. Thank god the answer is 3. And double thanks we decided not to buy 4. Those big boys are heavy as hell (my guess is 160# each). More backing up the trailer (only 1 jackknife) and off to Billet in AmCan.


We picked up our new barrel and stuck it in the back of the Escape. The trailer has a 45mph speed limit, how lame is that? FYI, it handled fine at 60.


Dropped everything off at the DeuxPunx Crush Zone (aka my garage). Surprisingly it had been cleaned by my wife the night before. How nice is that? Dropped the trailer off with the rejects at Uhaul at 1:15pm and headed to the office.

What a day!

planning and terroir

it's august already which means we're closing in on our harvest and need to get our ducks in a row. what better place to do this than terroir. This may have become our new "office" with it's great choice of natural wines, an amazing vibe that crosses Parisian neighborhood wine bar with a laid back surf shop and has everything from Gang of Four to Belle and Sebastian playing on the turntables (anyone that mentions Pylon in their frequent plays has got my vote).


While we did start the next stage of planning on the wheres, whats and hows for the 2008 harvest we also got to enjoy a couple great spatleses and a couple great reds (bourgogne from Olivier Guyot and cairanne from Domaine Richaud).


I'm going out on a limb to predict that this is going to be a great harvest and that we're going to be spending a lot more time at Terroir.

Once Dan is done gloating about the Giants' win I'm sure he'll post some pix of the wines we drank and the room we drank them in.

Here are the pics:

aaron likes his new office view.

can you spot the deux punx chalkings in the terroir potty room?


things always end up blurry at terroir!

WA vs. CA Dinner

With a barrel sample in hand, Aaron showed up on Friday night for a casual BBQ. Along with smuggled beirwurst from Germany (thanks Thomas), cheeses, olives, flank steak, chicken, tamales, rice, coleslaw, peach pie and ice cream we had a wine show down. It wasn't a contest and no one got their feelings hurt. Just a great chance to compare vintages, regions and styles. I am sure Aaron will post more about the syrah sample, but just let me say "pinot of syrah."

Here is what we had:

2006 Inkling Syrah Santa Barbara
2007 Barrel Sample Syrah Wahluke Slope
2006 K Syrah Mibrandt Wahluke Slope
2006 Anthill Farms Pinot Noir Anderson Valley
2003 Crauford Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
2005 Covey Run Reserve Semillion Ice Wine Yakima
2005 Crushpad Lemuris Botrytus Late Harvest Pinot Blanc

That ice wine was a fan favorite, but led to debates of it's gender and the sexuality of those who enjoy it. I think we'll have to do much more investigating on the subject. Posting coming soon!

OLYWA

I've just been in Olympia visiting family and friends, eating razor clams at Ben Moores and drinking, admittedly, more beer than wine. When in Oly I always make a point of sampling some of fish tale's finest and this trip was no exception. I used the Fishbowl as both a lunch spot and as a mobile office (with great beer on tap and free wireless!). Of their beers I tried this time I gravitated towards their Organic IPA.

Outside of Fish Tale I was able to check on the '07 wahluke slope syrah and things are shaping up. It's a lighter bodied and colored syrah than your average new world - more cherry than plum. so far - i like it - still trying to figure out whether to leave it in the barrel for 6 more months or bottle in October.

BobblePunx

Just enjoy this...



And don't steal our idea of winemaker bobbleheads!

Anderson Valley Video

I was in AV this past weekend for a wedding and thought I'd check out how our "dream grapes" were doing. I hope the video I shot shows just how smoky the fires have left the valley.

Spent Saturday tasting. The wines and prices (including good wine maker discount) are nice at Handley. I was very impressed with the staff and Gewurtz at Toulouse. Calvin, my son, still talks about the Toulouse dogs Tess and ME. Didn't get a chance to talk with Josh Chandler at Lazy Creek because they are up to there eyeballs in dirt building a new cave.

The smoke was thick, the weather warm and the roads were dusty.

Will our Pinot be smokey?

Fire Fire Fire.

California is on fire and grapes are in danger. Some prime Pinot grapes in Santa Cruz got blazed a few weeks back. First the freeze, then the drought and now the fires? WTF!

There is a link to the fire closest to our grapes. MAP.

Hope you like your Pinots on the smokey side!

does punk rock age as well as wine?

Hell Yes!

Last night i went to hang w/my buddy Andy as he's in town playing bass w/the Melvins and Jello Biafra. This was the first of two nights at the Great American celebrating Jello's 50th bday. The show started with the Melvins play "Mangled Demos" (circa '83) in which they played songs from their "hardcore days" with original drummer Mike Dillard and Dale playing bass and ended with the Melvins and Jello Biafra playing a combination of music they'd collaborated on and small number of Dead Kennedys songs. All the bands were in fine form and the Melvins/Biafra combo kicked ass - both on their newer songs and on the Dead Kennedys songs. It was awesome to see Andy and it was great to see proof that punk rock can age well when left in the right hands.

On a personal note - the first time I can remember seeing the Melvins live was 1986 - it was this show:

April 25, 1986 Olympia, WA - GESSCO Hall w/ Malfunkshun, Metal Death Squad, 64 Spiders

And I remember the whole show vividly as it was one of the best (if not the best) shows I saw at GESSCO hall. As a tribute to those early times here's a great clip of the Melvins from public access tv circa 1984:



and someone already got videos up from the shows (got to love youtube!):

What's in My Cellar?

Not too much actually. I tend to buy and drink in the same day. However, the folks at CellarTracker have made it easy to keep up on want is down in the garage and when I should be drinking it.

The site layout is a bit cluttered, but it could be very cool if they put some time and money into it. The reviews range from simple to overly complex. But it's always nice to see what someone else thinks of a wine you own.

See if you can best my 147 bottles with a value of $3200. It won't be difficult.

Support them.

the garage (aka pinot crushpad 2008)

Punx Meet Randall Grahm

Not much happens in Glen Park. It's quiet, cozy and still in the City. We like it that way.

All that changed last Wednesday. Randall Grahm, yes the Big RG, came to our little village to pour some of his wines at the Canyon Market. I could compare this to Willie Mays visiting Bozman, Montana. Well, maybe not that special, but still very cool.

I dug into my cellar to find the two bottles of Cigare I am holding for a special meal, grabbed my camera and a Sharpie and headed over with Aaron (the other punk). No one was there! Can you believe that? I wasn't expecting lines around the block, but still, this is the Rhone Ranger.

I wasn't sure what to expect from him. Would he dismiss us as stupid punx? Would he have to call security to have us removed from the store? Or would he become an honorary punk? Well, it turns out RG is super cool and we got to bend his ear about winemaking for about 30 minutes. He shared lots of information, stories and techniques. He told us lots about barrels. This guy knows his stuff! He is a big fan of going native with the yeasts and told us how they do a starter yeast.

He had no problem signing my two bottles, shaking hands and posing for this photo.

The awesome folks at Cayon Market expressed interest in selling our wines down the road. To think that Deux Punx and Bonny Doon wine's could share a shelf...

Randall is now an Honorary Punk! Just don't ask him to stage dive.

Summer Wine

In the vineyards things are humming along while here in the city a couple small time wine makers are planning for our '08 wines and drinking plenty of summer wines:



So for you, the select few longandwineyroad readers, what are you drinking for your summer wines?

Down here we're all over the german varietal whites and the pinot rosés.