Harvest has begun in Texas! I am still waiting for my first batch of grapes to be ready but as the time approaches, I am reminded of the beautiful and interesting moments of past harvests. Last harvest (2022) had a multitude of interesting moments. Heat and other factors led to lower yields in the Hill […]
Harvest reflections Read More »
The Cause Urban Winery OFFICIALLY has FOUR wines for sale at www.causeurbanwinery.com! Everything came together after LOTS of back and forth with my label designer and a rush to get labels printed before 2022 harvest. Magically (or rather, thanks to grit), I picked up three labels for my white, rosé, and second red wine on
Line-up of wines for sale! Read More »
For this post, I decided to write just a quick blurb about the last couple years and then do a #photodump. I am sorry that I have been silent for so long! I have been distracted with all the winemaking fun. Here is a quick bulleted overview of the last couple years: I finished making
A Lot Has Happened Since 2020… Read More »
In late June, I got a call from Mr. B. He asked if I wanted 2 TONS of grapes this year. I instantly replied, “YES!” Prior to that call, I worried that I would not get any grapes this year. So of course, I was psyched by any number he threw out. The next day,
Road to My 1st Commercial Vintage Read More »
Last weekend it finally happened. After all the hard work, the waiting, more work, and more waiting… my first wine is finally in bottles! After adding the oak spirals for one month, the wine had improved. It had much less astringency and greenness. The oak had done it’s job. It was finally time to bottle!
The First Finish Line Read More »
If you follow my Instagram, you may have seen relatively recent posts about the imminence of bottling. Well, bottling has been postponed for oak treatment. Why? Well, currently the wine is a little bitter and astringent. In other words, it has tannins that are just a little too harsh and need to soften. One could
Postponed Bottling, Let’s Talk About February’s Pruning Read More »
In mid February, my husband and I were blessed to find ourselves in Chilean wine country. On day one, we had an incredible time in the Colchagua Valley, visiting Lapostolle’s Clos Apalta and Neyen (gorgeous locations, mouth-watering wine of Carménère and Cabernet Sauvignon). We also had lunch amidst the vines at Vina Montes’ restaurant, Fuegos
Inspiration – The MOVI Winemakers of Chile Read More »
Back in August, I added malolactic bacteria (the “malo”) to my pressed wine so that second fermentation (aka. malolactic fermentation, aka. MLF) would begin. More specifically, I added MBR 41 because it can tolerate high alcohol, high PH, and high SO2 levels, all of which are typical for red wines from Texas. It was not
I put the tube down, pump it and sulurp it (maybe this doesn’t work quite as well as Missy Elliott’s lyrics). What I mean to say is that two weeks ago, it was time for racking, the process used to remove fermented and pressed red wine from dead yeast cells (aka., the lees) that have
Is it Worth It, Let Me Work It Read More »
On August 19th, it was time to press the juice off the skins. With a high of 99 degrees and low of 81 degrees in Houston, it had to be done indoors. I watched this video of people pressing in Italy — and boy was I jealous! But, I had a press. I had my
