Organolepticians # 91 June 28, 2016 Yesterday, and today, we bottled the 2015 Rocks And Gravel, our signal blend of Mourvedre, Grenache, and Syrah. It was the 16th rendition of that blend (1) bearing that name. In the earliest years of Edmunds St. John we called this blend by the name Les Cotes Sauvages. There […]
Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie
Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie April 21, 2015 Organolepticians # 90 We went for a hike in the hills south of Mt. Diablo last Saturday, in a group of eleven that meets yearly to walk for a few hours in one another’s company, get some fresh air and work up a sweat, then change into […]
Don’t Know Much About History
Organolepticians #89 I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’ve forgotten a lot of things in the 30 seasons that have passed since the launching of Edmunds St. John. Forgetfulness has it uses, don’t you think? And there’s still so much I remember, too; I’ll share a little of it with you, if you […]
The Circle Game
Organolepticians # 88 Just a few short weeks ago our oldest grandchild graduated from Berkeley High School, and will shortly be college-bound (headed to Wesleyan). Just a few weeks from now, our youngest grandchild will begin first grade, in Decatur, Georgia. In perhaps only a few days Edmunds St. John will be heading into its […]
LIKE A COMPLETE UNKNOWN – April 16, 2013
Organolepticians Number 87 How does it feel? You’ve spent close to half your life in the wine business, and established yourself as a vintner in California, working with some grape varieties almost no one else in the neighborhood has heard of, and it works, in its way; you’ve begun to carve out what will become […]
LOOKING OUT MY BACK DOOR – October 18, 2012
Organolepticians Number 86 (October 18, 2012) Is a body in motion Just a lonesome ocean, Goin’ and goin’, East to West, All night and all day, With nothin’ to say To a body at rest? * One thing leads to another. I’m reading “The Art Of Fielding;” it’s late in the Summer. The Giants acquire […]
AS TIME GOES BY- March 8, 2011
Organolepticians Number 85 After a certain number of vintages, keeping track of them all becomes more and more difficult. But don’t ask me what that number is, I’ve long since lost track. I liked 2010 a lot, mostly, though it wasn’t without problems (which I’ll get to momentarily). In 2010 conditions were, generally, cool enough, […]
ANNIVERSARY WALTZ (Silver Edition)- October 23, 2010
Organolepticians Number 84 The sun seems, so quickly, low in the sky, as I raise the collar on my jacket, the breezes no longer soothingly cool, so late in October. The season is running out of steam, its great work nearly complete. Two last bins of Mourvedre grapes receive my hands, twice each day, now, […]
The Crucible – August 9, 2010
Organolepticians Number 83 “I’m not sure just how I’m supposed to play this scene, but I ain’t afraid to learn…” (Wildfire, copyright 2004) You might think that by the time our 25th harvest rolled around we’d have everything figured out pretty well, maybe even have it all down to a science. And it’s true, I’d […]
A Few Thoughts Regarding Syrah, 25 Years Into The Parade… – May 27, 2010
Organolepticians Number 82 (May 27, 2010) The first wine I ever made from Syrah grapes was barely ten and one-half percent alcohol. I hadn’t intended it to be so low; twelve and a half to thirteen percent would have been more like it. But being pretty new at the winemaking business in 1985, I left […]