Scott and Lisa Neal, the owners of Coeur de Terre Winery invited Robin and I up for a special event last weekend. This event is a very fun highlight for those people who are members of their "Founder's Club". The winery has limited the membership of this club to 60 people. Every year they are invited to come up to the winery and taste the wines that are still in the barrel. They then rate the wines and help to create a blend which is then available only to the club members. Blending wine is something I've never experienced before. It is where the artistry of the winemaker comes into play, I think. There are so many variables. We are given eight wines to taste without any information about each one. We are instructed to give each wine 1-6 points in each of the following categories: Visual, Aroma, Texture, Taste, and Finish. Scott has informed us ahead of time that there is one surprise in the group. We are rating the '09 wines. This is hard work. Robin seems to have a handle on it by the time I make my way down into the wine cellar where the tasting is taking place. Little things can make a big difference in how the wine presents itself. Scott has done a great job of setting up the tasting so that we learn as we go. Two of the wines are identical, except that one was aged in a new oak barrel, and one was aged in a one year old barrel. I rate these two wines quite differently, but Robin has them rated similarly (concrete evidence, I suppose, that she has better taste than I do!) There is another example of two wines that are the same, except that one was free run, and one was the result of the wine being pressed. The taste difference in the two is dramatic.
One wine has a great aroma as it is poured, but then does nothing, another is tight when it is poured, but then opens up to a beautiful, complex bouquet. The biggest surprise is the last wine. It's a 2009 taken right out of the bottle. Scott explains that you can blend up to 10 percent of last year's vintage into the wine which helps to even out the vintages and keep a consistent flavor form year to year.
Scott then leads us through blending the wines. He starts with 10 percent of last year's wine and then takes suggestions. Most of us liked the Rennelle's Block, so that forms 50 per cent of the blend. We try the first blend. It is wonderful, but we can't resist tweaking it a bit, so we suggest that last year's vintage be reduced (it is so much bigger than the '09 that even at 10 percent it seems to be dominating the mix.) Scott is a total science geek and he is mixing the wines together in a set of beakers! He is taking suggestions from the whole room of 40 plus people, but is also giving us guidance, emphasizing some comments and letting others go. We taste the 2nd blend, and make a few more adjustments, and viola! The 2009 Sacre Coeur blend is ready to go, and I'm sorry, you cant' get any. (Unless you join the founder's club, of course, there are still a few spots available I hear.) 
If you read this blog on a regular basis you may get quite tired of all of my references to Coeur de Terre. I am going to be experiencing harvest and crush there. Scott has tagged me as his "cellar rat" for the season--that is if there is a harvest this year. We are still a month behind a typical harvest. Scott thinks that we might be picking grapes around Halloween this year. We're hoping for a long, dry fall to help remedy our long, cold, wet spring and late summer.
Many of you may have read about Scott and Lisa's dream house. They have been living in what the euphemistically call their "love shack" since they began the vineyard in the late 90's. For the last three years they have been building their dream house up at the top of the vineyard. About two weeks ago it burned to the ground. They are devastated. I know what it is like to pour your heart and soul into a house, and I can't imagine what it would be like to have it all go up in smoke when you were so close to completing it. They are such wonderful people, and I'm so thankful for their invitation to be a part of the Founder's Day blending event, and for the opportunity to join them this year for harvest. My hopes and prayers go out to Scott and Lisa, and to all of the wine growers this year as they prepare for a challenging vintage.