For more information, including Recipes, Statistics and Winemaking Recommendations, please click on the varietals below in our Grape Offerings Menu, please select below:
With my first communications of the 2010 harvest season, I understood there was a desire to balance our mountainside Cabernet offerings (Nun's Canyon in Sonoma and John Caldwell's hillside Napa vineyard Vineyard) with a valley cab; a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Shy to invest in inventory and balanced with a fine assortment of cabernet from the 2009 State Lane and Nun’s Canyon, from a great year, I resisted the risk.
But we are sold out of our selection of 2009 Cabernets from our Virtual Vineyard. Remaining is the wonderful 2008 White Hall Lane Cabernet from Rutherford. These frozen grapes await the call of someones under ripe 2010 grapes, or the abduction to my winemaking cellar at Brehm Vineyards Winery, in Underwood, WA.
Video: Peter Brehm interviews Brandon Brambila at the Shroff Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyard in Napa Valley's Oak Knoll Districut
I have kept my eyes on the Oak Knoll Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. They have been under the care of a viticulturist I trust, and have the Trefthan Vineyard’s farm crew under contract. The grapes have been grown for quality since their planting in 2001, even in the face of small returns. I am impressed by the willingness of the grower to offer grapes at a price that allows us to become acquainted with low risk. Now the grapes have been thinned twice, sugar is above 21° and they are available to you. A bend of mountain top Cab with valley Cab can be a wonderful experience.
I know that these grapes can provide you with a true Napa Cabernet experience. The vineyard’s neighbor garners 94’s & 95’s in the wine.
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Fresh Oak Knoll Cabernet Sauvignon: A special price.
2,000 lbs plus = $2550 per ton (in your container)
800 lb. plus = $1.39 / lb.
400 lb. plus = $1.49 / lb
less than 400 lb. = 1.59 / lb
Frozen Pails: $159 per pail
Frozen Drums (400 lbs per drum): $799 (purchase 4 drums at $699 each)
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Fresh Ton Prices and Drum Prices for Edon Knoll Zinfandel, Carneros Merlot and Carneros Chardonnay
Fresh Edon Knoll Zinfandel 2000 lbs or more = $1850 per ton (in your container)
Frozen Edon Knoll Zinfandel Drums (400 lbs per drum) = $479 (purchase 4 drums at $429 each)
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Fresh Carneros Merlot 2000 lbs or more = $1950 per ton (in your container)
Frozen Carneros Merlot Drums (400 lbs per drum) = $585 (purchase 4 drums at $535 each)
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Fresh Carneros Chardonnay 150 gallons or more = $2450 per ton (in your container)
Frozen Carneros Chardonnay Drums (44 gallons per drum) = $855 (purchase 4 drums at $805 each)
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Happy Harvests,
Peter Brehm
September 27th, 2010
2010 Harvest's First Gasp
Carneros Pinot Noir
Las Brisas Vineyard gave up its Pinot Noir for the first 2010 grapes from Brehm Vineyards.
Birth was not only late but rather difficult. The cool Carneros Pinot sat all summer in fog and cold. The Mahoney vineyard crew kept mildew and botrytis at bay with a strict spray and canopy manipulation schedule. A couple of weeks ago the grapes and vines looked perfect.....and then came the sun & heat. The result of this thermal insult gradually accumulated over two weeks. The sugars remained modest at 23.4° to 24.5° while the acids remained high (0.9 to 1.1) and the pH's low.
Then in modestly warm weather the vines gave up and the fruit started breaking down...quickly.
While the TA's started falling to 0.7 to 0.8, the sugars stayed in an acceptable 23.4° to 24.5°, and the pH's raised into 3.5 to 3.65 - we picked. True to his word, Francis allowed us row choices of the 100 acre vineyard to provide the most desirable fruit - and we got it.
Unique, I hope, to the 2010 Carneros Pinot Noir, the skins were harvested completely ripe. Color will be easy to achieve! The skin tannins are well resolved and there are nice flavors. The seeds, while not excessively bitter, are a little on the green side. The core of the berries were not as ripe as the outside; the mark of this grape. I am confident that winemakers will be very happy, and Michael and I were happy to get this grape over with...what a year.
Sonoma Valley Malbec
The Malbec grapes are grown on the fringe of the cool Carneros. What caused a bit of work and worry with the Pinot Noir fried the Malbec grapes. The fruit was exposed for ripening in its cool vineyard. The sun and heat just blasted the grapes to shells of their former selves...a complete loss...
We will NOT be harvesting the Sonoma Malbec in 2010.
Carneros Merlot
Nesteled between the burnt Malbec and the harvested Pinot Noir, along Arnold Drive, lies BV's Merlot. Merlot is known as a grape that is difficult to set grapes. In a year like this with wet spring, cold weather, one would not find it hard to discount the potential for merlot. BV's Merlot, and Merlot in general is doing wonderfully well. The vines have set a reasonable crop and the fruit is maturing rapidly. The vines look beautiful. The poison of the Malbec, the difficulty of the Pinot Noir is the tonic for the Merlot. This business can make one rather humble.
Mike Sangiacomo and I laughed together realizing we may harvest Merlot from their vineyards before Chardonnay. This will be a first. Merlot is at 22.9° and looking pretty.
Sangiacomo Chardonnay
These old vines trellised in the older manner are doing well. John Kongsgaard, a noted Napa Chardonnay winemaker, visited our section of Sangiacomo Chardonnay with the winemaker from Texas's Holy Archangels Monostary. Holy Archangels have been a client of ours for a number of years. John is donating his expertise in their winemaking. John noted that these older vines and trellis system have saved us losses he received with the newer vertical curtain system he uses. The Carneros Chardonnay has survived the cold and heat in good condition. Sometimes you realize that the old ways had their advantages too. 20.1° brix.
Sonoma Mountain Zinfandel
These old, head pruned vines received an occasional grape frying, but it is quite minimum. The vines show some stress from the heat, but the fruit and prospects looks very good. These mountain vines were not exposed to the constant fog of the summer. Our present warm weather should spur them on to reasonable harvest. 21.8° brix.
Nun's Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon
This organic Cabernet is looking beautiful. A portion of the vineyard has East -West row orientation. Here ther were a few grapes effected by sun burn. They are ALL on the ground. The vines are in great condition, the bunches and berries are perfect. The crop load is low. Even at this low maturity (19.2° brix) the grapes are losing the herbecousness and skin phenolics are resolving. The prospects look very good for a great vintage here.
I will be checking in on the Edon Knoll Zinfandel and Petite Sirah this coming week. Grapes from the Columbia Gorge / White Salmon Vineyards are doing well.
Happy Harvests,
Peter Brehm
August 27th 2010
For those who want the best for less:
Napa Valley, Coombsville Cabernet Sauvignon
Available in Chicago IL for $89 per 5 gallon pail
Coombsville - Napa Valley CA
This Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard is located 0.4 miles east of the intersection of Silverado Trail and Monticello Road.
Bay fog and morning shadows from nearby Mt. George create cooler growing conditions, allowing longer hang time which promote a more floral aromatic much sought-after by artisan winemakers. The vineyards are an island oasis surrounded by country estates in Napa Valley's Coombsville region.
SITE CHARACTERISTICS
- Nearby mountains and the Alta Heights hills
create a unique climate with cooler nights
- Soils are Coomb's gravelly loams
- A well provides abundant, high quality irrigation
water
- Vineyards slope gently (1-2%) to the south
SUSTAINABILITY
- Stream bank erosion site restored with natural
structures: willow revetments and toe rock
- Varieties selected for Pierce's Disease resistance
- Compost is applied to add organic matter and
slowly released nutrients
- Frost protection sprinkler heads use low-flow nozzles for water conservation
PLANTING
- Cabernet Sauvignon clone 8 planted in 2000, spaced 8X6
- Rootstocks include 110R, 3309, and 5C
- All trellising is VSP
- Row orientation is northeast-southwest, with good protection of the fruit zone
These grapes were from the 2007 Vintage, processed and frozen by Brehm Vineyards.
Brehm Vineyards represents these frozen 5 gal. net pails to be of excellent quality.
Frozen pails will be available F.O.B. Chicago IL after September 1st for pick or truck shipment only.
Grape Code: #599-07NVCS
To place an order, please call us at 510-527-3675
A Brehm Virtual Vineyard Product
First grape up to bat in 2010....
Carneros Pinot Noir, Las Brisas, Sonoma County CA
Francis Mahoney's Las Brisas Vineyard in Sonoma County's Carneros appellation is carrying a very light crop. Veraison is complete and the taste of acid is becoming muted with the production of sugar. Bunches are very small and less than normal for this vineyard. I expect 14 to 20 days to harvest. While the temperatures of the recent week were in the 90's, the entire California coast has been very cool - cooler than anyone can remember. This may bode well for the Pinot and Chardonnay we harvest from the Carneros. Bunches/grapes are clean and ripening well with good acidity. This may be the exceptional vintage we always hope for...it is certainly different.
P.S. The hand holding the Pinot and at the Cab's row end, in attached photos, is Michael Crews. Michael will be assisting me and Paul Rago this harvest. He has worked crushes in the Anderson Valley, New Zealand, Chile and is an ardent home winemaker and brewer.
For those who want the very best Zinfandel
Coturri Estate Vineyard
Sonoma Mountain Zinfandel
Frozen Retail Price : $169 per 5 gallon pail
Fresh price for over 400 lbs : $1.50 / pound
Fresh price for under 400 lbs : $1.59 / pound
(Fresh price available at the time of harvest and must be picked up in Petaluma CA. Destemming cost of $0.075 per pound not included.)
The history: Located above the tiny hamlet of Glen Ellen in the region known as the Valley of the Moon. Red Coturri and his sons Phil and Tony first planted 2-acres of vines in 1967, and another 5-acres in 1975. The Estate Vineyard is a second generation planting - the first was pre-prohibition before the 1920's. The vineyard is comprised of primarily of Martini Monte Rosso Zinfandel clones on phylloxera resistant St. George rootstock. The Coturri Estate Vineyard is dry farmed, and head pruned in the traditional Italian goblet style.
Micro-Climate: The location is unique for a Sonoma Valley Appellation vineyard- it sits at 750 feet above sea level, which is a perfect elevation for Zinfandel grapes. Tucked into the cleavage of Sonoma Mountain, the vines receive a southeast sun exposure. Creeping seasonal coastal fog off the Pacific Ocean injects a beneficial cooling effect during the summer months and the vineyard avoids the extreme heat that vines on the valley floor get. Conversely, from January to April, it is warmer up on Sonoma Mountain and the vines are protected from winter and spring frosts.
The coolness of Sonoma Mountain and the low grape yield results in a very lush and soft style of Zinfandel. We tend to let the fruit hang longer than most vineyards and consistently get a late harvest style of wine: very dark color, blackberries and apple pie in the nose, a sweet black fruit mid palate and supple and balancing acidity. This combination results in a good drinking, flavorful Zinfandel.
Soils: Many moons ago, Sonoma Mountain was an active volcano and a series of eruptions spewed ash and lava to create diverse soil types at the site of the vineyard. The dry farmed vines at the Coturri Estate Vineyard send down deep taproots that encounter different rocky red clay based soils, and layers of volcanic decomposed ash and lava, which adds complexity to the grapes. Balanced nutritious elements and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, and calcium are added to the soil by planting cover crops like peas, oats, winter wheat and mustard and disking in ground up oyster shells and compost. An important cover crop used is bell beans, a deep-rooted legume with nodules that act like a straw to suck nitrogen from the air into the soil, this naturally occurring process is called nitrogen fixation.
Environmentally sound farming practices: Only the best agricultural practices are employed at the Estate Vineyard and it receives special handling to ensure that something is growing in the soils all year round. Weeds are controlled by disking, and the resulting mulch captures important moisture for the dry farmed vines. The open head pruned vines or "monkey claw" controls mildew problems.
To place an order, please call us at 510-527-3675
Nun's Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon
Top of the mountain, organic, farmed to organic perfection by Phil Coturri
Above is a photo taken this week of the Nun's Canyon Cabernet Vineyard. It is on the very top of the Mayacmas ridge separating the Sonoma Valley from Napa Valley. The vines, grapes and site are perfect - it does not get any better. Note the deep red volcanic soil. In place it almost turns purple. There is broken shale beneath. This is our third year with these grapes. It produces stunning wines, rich, full bodies with fine resolved phenolics. I anticipate a late harvest this year. As of yesterday the vines have just begun to change color. Their ridge top perch will serve them well this year in event of rain.
There are still a few pails of the wonderful 2009 available to provide a compliment to the 2010.
For the coming vintage, Brehm Vineyards will attempt to restrict its purchases to those grapes that you order BEFOREHARVEST. You are encouraged to order early. There are grapes listed that MAY be purchased if there is sufficient interest.
Prices for fresh sales are given for orders under 400 lbs, and for orders between 400 lbs and 2000lbs. For all orders of a ton or more, please call to inquire for pricing.
- California Fresh Black Grapes are available 'on the stem' as whole bunches only at the time of harvest at our processing site in Petaluma CA. (Crushing and destemming is available at an added cost)
- California Fresh White Grapes are only available as settled juice.
- All California grapes are available in frozen pails (5 gallons destemmed must for Black Grapes and 5.25 gallons pressed, settled juice for white grapes.)
- Northwest Fresh Grapes (black and white) are available 'on the stem' as whole bunches only at the time of harvest at our processing site in Underwood WA. (Crushing and destemming is available at an added cost)
- All Northwest grapes are available in frozen pails (5 gallons destemmed must for Black Grapes and 5.25 gallons pressed, settled juice for white grapes.)
Prices for frozen grapes are valid until harvest of the particular grape.
Prices listed are all orders between 1 and 36 pails. For orders of 36 pails or more, please call for "Full Pallet Pricing." Drums may also be available, but must be ordered prior to harvest.
All prices are subject to change without notification and subject to Brehm Vineyard's terms of sale. Retail, single pail prices maybe subject to volume discount.
NOTE:
Commercial purchases and fresh grape sales of Northwest grapes will be negotiated directly with Peter Brehm's White Salmon Vineyard of Underwood WA. All California sales and all sales of Northwest frozen grapes that are less than pallet quantity (36 pails per pallet) will be negotiated with Brehm Vineyards.
Harvest News : July 6th, 2010
Esteemed BV Customers and other winemakers:
The state of the U.S. economy has resulted in unpredictable buying patterns in many product areas. The lack of demand in higher priced wines has had a ripple effect on the price and availability of wine grapes. Like higher end wines, many of the grapes Brehm Vineyards contracted for and purchased in 2008 have remained in our inventory. For the last two years we have attempted to proceed with lowering prices on existing inventories and restricting the contracting for grapes in the future year. It has been deemed prudent to maintain our relationship as a representative for you, home winemakers, with some of the finest people and vineyards in the West. Sales of grapes to home winemakers does not bring an increase in the prestige and value to a vineyard that a vineyard designated wine, highly rated in the Wine Spectator or other review, would.
Two issues are different this year:
- White Salmon Vineyard is our own, an established vineyard producing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The vines will produce fruit no matter what you or the economy does. B.V. and W.S.V. do and will have this fruit available for sale on a first come, first served basis.
- Brehm Vineyards cannot bet, predict as we have in the past, you will buy grapes that we have contracted for in 2010. It is incumbent on us during these abnormal times to only purchase and process grapes that you preorder.
To deal with these issues Brehm Vineyards will:
- Offer Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc grapes grown by White Salmon Vineyards in less than pallet quantities (36 pails or 4 drums) as before. Full pallets and fresh grapes from the Northwest may be purchased directly from White Salmon Vineyard.
-Offer existing inventories at great prices as before.
-Offer an assortment of 2010 grapes that you may order - before the harvest. At our option, these 2010 grapes may not be inventoried or available for sale past harvest.
The following list and information are for grapes we have available now, and grapes available to you for the 2010 harvest.
All California grapes are available fresh at time of harvest at Petaluma, CA; all fresh Northwest grapes are available upon harvest at Underwood, WA at time of harvest. All frozen grapes are priced with one month's storage included; all further storage must be paid before pick-up or delivery.
Sale of Exisiting Grapes:
Inventories of frozen grapes and juice exist in Richmond, CA; Portland, OR; Chicago, IL; Pheladelphia, PA and New Haven, CT.
These Virtual Vineyards of frozen grapes were established to minimize transportation costs from the West Coast and make it easier for winemaking year round. It has been an experiment that has proven successful in part. We have found that different parts of North America have unique preferences for different styles of grapes for home winemaking. Some of this has to do with the availability of local grapes as well as local customs. In short, we are having a clearance sale of some of these grapes. Other grapes are on sale to finish a freezer lot that is depleted to a few pails.
All pails of grapes are guaranteed as to original quality. Please follow the easy procedure described in Receiving Your Grapes and How to Thaw Your Grapes on BV's web site under the heading Recommended Reading (in the left hand column).
Decisions Made in the Vineyard are as important as those made by the Winemaker
From June 2010's WINE BUSINESS MONTHLY comes the following quote (see page 10 / written by Cyril Penn, editor)
"JUNE. THE VINES ARE GROWING QUICKLY. Choices made in the vineyard now will affect the outcome of the crop at harvest. Decisions made in the vineyard at this time of year can have a much bigger affect on wine style and quality than winemaking decisions do at crush."
Peter Brehm has been expounding this for years. In an effort to illustrate this point, Peter recently visited Francis Mahoney's Pinot Noir vineyard in Sonoma's Carneros district. To view the video, please click below.
Videos, Videos, Videos
During the 2009 harvest season, Peter Brehm shot short videos of the vineyards and the grapes we offer during his vineyard visits. Please click below to see the videos. All the videos are hosted by You Tube. We hope you like them!
Peter Brehm and Olin Shultz (MoreFlavor!) visit the Nun's Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon vineyardon the Mayacamas Mountain in Sonoma County CA.
Peter visits the Carneros Chardonnay at the Sangiacomo Family Vineyards "Home Ranch" in Sonoma County CA.
Peter visits the Nun's Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon on the Mayacamas Mountain in Sonoma County, CA
Peter examines the volcanic soil at our Nun's Canyon Peak Caberent vineyard on Mayacamas Mountain in Sonoma County CA.
Peter continues his visit of the Nun's Canyon Peak Caberent vineyard on Mayacamas Mountain in Sonoma County CA
Peter continues his visit of the Nun's Canyon Peak Caberent vineyard on Mayacamas Mountain in Sonoma County CA
Peter continues his visit of the Nun's Canyon Peak Caberent vineyard on Mayacamas Mountain in Sonoma County CA
Peter Brehm visits the Edon Knoll Vineyard in Talmage (Mendocino County) CA
Peter Brehm continues his visit of the Edon Knoll Vineyard in Talmage (Mendocino County) CA
Peter Brehm continues his visit of the Edon Knoll Vineyard in Talmage (Mendocino County) CA
Peter Brehm continues his visit of the Edon Knoll Vineyard in Talmage (Mendocino County) CA
Peter interviews Fred and Dora at Edon Knoll Vineyard in Mendocino County CA.
Peter Brehm visits the State Lane Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyard in Napa County (Yountville, CA)
Peter Brehm presents White Salmon Vineyard in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge in Underwood WA.
Peter Brehm contintues his presentation of White Salmon Vineyard in Underwood WA.
Peter Brehm contintues his presentation of White Salmon Vineyard in Underwood WA.
Peter Brehm contintues his presentation of White Salmon Vineyard in Underwood WA.
Peter Brehm contintues his presentation of White Salmon Vineyard in Underwood WA.
