What to make for 2007?
I got Crushpad’s 2007 list of grape sources a couple of weeks ago. There are several new vineyard sources including some new grape varieties. The Chardonnay that I was eyeing from the 2006 list was marked as sold out already even though I had just received the list. In fact, there were 4 vineyards already sold out! When I asked Dave at Crushpad, he informed me that they let their Commerce clients have first crack at the new list. Existing customers (like me) get it next, then later, it’s available to prospective customers. Appropriate, I guess, but bummer still.
The thing that really disappointed me, though, is that everything got more expensive. I wanted to do 2 types of wine for the 2007 vintage year, but I can’t afford to drop another $11-14K+ on top of the $6K+ I already did by adopting the barrel of 2006 Pinot Noir. After much self-deliberation, I’ve settled on doing only one wine this year.
During the past week or so, I was thinking of going for one of the Zinfendels. Then over this weekend, I was reading good things about Viognier. I even came across an enthusiatic Wine Library TV review of a Viognier that was made with grapes from the specific vineyard Crushpad was offering. Whereas I haven’t found anything in particular about any of the Zinfendel sources. The Viognier is quite a bit cheaper than the Zinfendels too. As of now, unless I hear or read something better, I’ll probably commit to a barrel of Viognier from Catie’s Corner Vineyard.