I had some time on my hands today so I decided to stop in and see my friends at Maysara Winery. I thought that Tahmamiene would have some free time since harvest hasn't begun. But I was surprised. They have begun harvesting their Pinot Noir Rose. Tahmaniene told me that these grapes don't have to be a sweet as regular Pinot Noir, so they were able to start picking yesterday. Last year the wine sold out within a few hours of being bottled, and this year Maysara sold futures and 800 cases have been pre-sold!You can make a Rose from red grapes. You pick them and let them sit on the skins for about 24 hours, and then crush them. They absorb just enough color to turn the wine pink, not red.
I also got a chance to meet Maysara's intern for this crush. His name is Kevin and he is the wine buyer for a restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina. That's Kevin in the picture above with the toilet plunger like apparatus. I've never seen grapes get crushed before, so this was fun. Kevin is on a cat walk about 15 feet in the air, making sure that the grapes get into the crusher. Tahmaniene is on the ground running the fork lift.
The lift is outfitted with a special attachment that grabs the box of grapes and holds it in place as it is turned up side down to pour the grapes into the press. After it is all loaded up, a set of grates is reinserted and a pillow inside is inflated to squeeze the grapes to release their juice.
I ask Tahmaniene if I can see her new egg. It's a concrete tank that she is going to ferment some of her Pinot Gris in this year. The concrete adds a minerality to the wine. The wine made in the egg with be blended with the other Pinot Gris that is fermented in stainless steel. I look forward to tasting the results.
Tahmaniene tells me I should go up and check the progress on their new events building. Moe Momtazie, the owner of Maysara (and Tahmaniene's father) has been building the events center for several years. He is using his crew from the truss company to do the construction. It is beautiful, filled with rock and natural wood taken from the vineyard. The walls are covered with wine barrel staves that have been straitened out. The new tasting room is so cool. It feels like a cave. That's it in the photo to the left. The long serving counter is all natural oak and will be stunning when it's done.
Moe has had a heck of a time getting this building approved for events which I find very strange. Robin and I toured several wineries in Southern Oregon this summer and none of them seemed to have had the difficulty that Moe did. Why is this? The facility is going to be such a blessing to this place. My own quartet is going to do a fundraiser there around Valentine's Day. The money will go to the soup kitchen and the Community Compassion Fund. The Momtazi's are so generous, and Moe has built this building instead of laying off employees in this down market for construction. Wine tasting, and especially events at vineyards are the goose that laid the golden egg for this area, and we are so uncooperative, and make it as difficult as humanly possible.
I'm glad someone is harvesting something right now. We were suppose to be headed into a week of sunshine, but we certainly didn't get it today. Here's hoping to a sunny weekend, and here's hoping that those in charge of planning wake up and smell the coffee when it comes to vineyard event centers. This kind of building is exactly what people are searching out for special occasions, and I believe the vibe of this new tasting room is going to be a huge draw for Maysara. I can hardly wait for it to open.