It's a beautiful day in the neighboorhood...

It feels like Fall at H&L! Wind is blowing, it's slightly cold but the sun is out...we love this time of year!

Harvest is still going, so far we've brought in Pinot, Chardonnay, more Pinot, more Chardonnay, Gewurz and Merlot! Expecting some of our Bordeaux varietals and possible some Zin towards the end of the week :)

This weekend iss the Sonoma County Harvest Fair - pretty exciting time to be in town! We are proud to announce that we've won the following awards:
Best in Class - 2007 Cabernet Franc
Silver - 2008 Sauvignon Blanc
Silver - 2007 3rd Alarm Reserve Pinot Noir
Silver - 2006 Zinfandel
Silver - 2006 Merlot

We're really proud of Jason and his guys who are pretty much rockstars!

Cheers,
Team Hook

Gewurz

I think I overdosed on Gewurz grapes yesterday.

It amazes me how much Gewurz grapes taste like the final product!

I had a sugar rush that lasted long after I got home from work :)

Cheers,
Kate

Chardonnay!

Early this morning the boys finished up crushing the Pinot Noir...and we've moved on to the whites (for the moment) (;

More pictures to come soon!

More Crush Pictures

Yum! Pinot Noir waiting it's turn!

Into the De-stemmer they go!

Being De-stemmed

Lastly - into the open top fermenter!

We're finishing up our Pinot crushing, and are getting ready to move onto Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc...with the rest of our reds to follow! The smell in our "backyard" aka our crushpad is fantastic! Sweet juice, the beginning of fermentation...we couldn't be happier!

Hope everyone is having a great End of Summer....Fall is fast approaching!

Cheers,

Team Hook

Keeps Going...and Going...and Going...and Going...

Everytime I head to the cellar to check out the guys in action...I see visions of pink rabbits beating on drums...

got the Energizer tag line stuck in your head now? Sorry about that :)

But these guys do just keep going...and going...and going. More Pinot came in and is processing, beautiful color, a deep garnet - the flavor, sweet...with a little hint of something I can't quite get my palate around...

Fantastic Fruit.

We're gearing up for the big rush, of the guys working late into the night trying to keep ahead of the guys picking. At which point I know the cellar crew probably won't be beating on the same beat, but I think that's how it's supposed to be - each guy doing a little bit their own way under Jason's watchful eye - that's how we differentiate ourselves..

Until then, well, probably from now on, I knot I'll be envisioning our crew as Pink Energizer Bunnies :)

Cheers!
Kate

Some Crush Pictures

A quick snapshot of what the guys have been up to over the last 3 days - crushing Pinot Noir! Check out our Facebook page for more pictures!

Cheers,

Team Hook

Harvest!!

We're on day 3 of Harvest...Pinot, Pinot, and Pinot!!

Things have been running fairly smoothly, and we're off to a great start to what will be the biggest Harvest we've had! I tasted the juice of the Pinot from Los Amigos - and even as basic grape juice it's got awesome flavor :)

We've got a small crew running our crush - and if you watch them, it's almost a cross between organized chaos, and a perfectly rehearsed dance. Truck pulls in, Jesus pulls the bins off and weighs them, Greg dumps the fruit into the de-stemmer, Jon moves back and forth from the line to his lab, Josh and Alex shovel stems and tighten hoses, and Jason oversees it all. Over and over again....

If you have any free time over the next couple of months, try to stop by and see what we're up to! There aren't many places where you can actually see first hand how the process works!

Cheers,
Kate

Harvest!

Grapes are coming in tomorrow or Friday - looks like some Pinot from our Los Amigos Ranch!

Jaime and Josh are home, and Mike is in town for a couple of days :)

Lots going on here - but will have lots of pictures and information soon!

Cheers,

Kate