What is that apparatus in your vineyard?

All was quiet on the eastern front when I arrived at the winery early this morning.  It was around 6am (my circadian rhythm was disrupted by last night's full full moon), and the tranquil foggy vineyard was calling me.  There's something so comforting about the white blanket that covers up everything around us, even our magnificent view.  I started snapping pictures.  I didn't venture too far from our tasting room because I wasn't wearing proper shoes; heels actually (Yes, I'm in denial that I work at a vineyard...)  After snapping a photo of our amazing "view," I noticed a curious briefcase at the head of one of the rows of Cabernet Sauvignon.  


"Ah," I remembered, "It probably has to do with the water-monitor thingumabobs that Alan ordered."


Back in February under the direction of my mother Delia and my brother Alan Viader, we commissioned Fruition Sciences (www.fruitionsciences.com) - a cutting edge viticultural support company that uses innovative technology to study the vital signs of our vines.  We are learning what makes VIADER vineyards such a unique growing environment for premium quality wine grapes, and the results are fascinating. 



In the picture you can see the monitoring apparatus is powered by the sun, and reviews two vines at once.  Those vines are shown here completely wrapped in a foil-like material.  Sensors are placed throughout inside, and a computer captures data of how much water is getting to the vine and where it is achieving the best saturation.  We conduct this survey while our irrigation system is running to get the most accurate data.  For us science geeks, it's exciting!


It has been a great learning experience for Alan, and we realized just how efficient vines truly are as an agricultural product (compared to other products like artichokes, etc.), given their extensive root structure and water retention abilities.  I'm sure my brother can explain it in a lot more detail, but he's not here today!  It was his day to survey our friends' different vineyard properties where we have future grape-sourcing contracts.  


And more importantly, it's his younger son's first birthday!  Off to celebrate!   Cheers!


Note: Fruition Sciences has its headquarters in Montpellier, France, and an office in Oakland, California.  


Happy Thursday,


Janet Viader of VIADER Napa Valley

Cool Reflections

Foggy mornings on Howell Mountain. There's something incredibly enchanting about this fog that appears on select winter days and summer's warmest mornings. I've grown up on this mountain but it is no less beautiful to witness this shroud of white covering the commotion on the valley floor.

Everything is all covered up in a white blanket, and the peaceful silence at our family estate is even more surreal. In this photo, the morning mist even covers our western view of Diamond Mountain in the Mayacamas Mountains Range, which climbs up to over 2500 feet directly across from us.

As a child, I used to walk down the hillside trying to get in the middle of the fog, but really it's not much different from being above it... you just get colder! But you warm up quickly with the steep climb back to the top of the vineyard.

My mother Delia, was a visionary and chose to plant our vine rows straight downhill in a European design versus the horizontal terracing method. The rows enjoy western exposure that is sun baked in the afternoon, giving us the mature and concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot for which we are known.

If my family has learned one thing in the past 25 years of farming on Howell Mountain, it's that our vineyard site truly excels in cooler vintages, like 1998 and 2000. Delia says those are the years where the human component of terroir - the decisions of the winemaker - is most important.

We're also very excited about our 2010s and 2011s! The 2010 vintage was featured this weekend at our local trade wine auction, Premiere Napa Valley. I was speaking with my friend and colleague Chris Howell of CAIN on Spring Mountain about the vintage who agreed, "You could not have a better vineyard site for a cooler vintage." Other sites in the Napa Valley fared very well too, which was proven by the excitement at our record-breaking Premiere event. I really enjoyed the 2010 wines I sampled at Premiere, and know that my contemporaries in Napa Valley will continue to produce stellar wines even if Mother Nature throws a little fog and summer rain at us.

Happy Leap Year everyone.

Cheers,

Janet Viader, sales & marketing at VIADER

VIADER has been busy!

Forgive me bloggers, it has been over six months since my last confession...

I'll give you an update through photos.

Back in April, our winemaker Alan Viader was teaching his young son about pruning in the small section of Syrah & Shiraz that we have growing on our estate.

We also applied our annual allotment of fresh compost at the beginning of the year, using the mulch from our leftover grape skins & seeds from the 2010 harvest. Delia a.k.a. Mom, does not appreciate having the compost site right next to her home at the top of the vineyard, but Alan swears we don't have any other place to put it! NIMBY!

Springtime flew by, and we enjoyed warm evenings and beautiful sunsets, without the threat of frost up on the mountain. A typical saying is that if you make it to Mother's Day without a big frost, you're in the clear. Although we have great sun exposure and constant breezes, I try not to mention the "F-word" (frost) for fear of calling it over! Just like "R-word" (rain) around harvest time... Call me superstitious.

In the summer, we were all things "Auction Napa Valley," preparing our "Black Label" Barrel Lot and participating in multiple events. Alan took a little creative license to decorate our barrel for Friday's Marketplace event, which was a special blend full of "black" fruits. We had all hands on deck for the Marketplace event, with Alan and Cante, our hospitality director pouring at the barrel. Delia was out front pouring our current release of the VIADER "Black Label" and our signature VIADER Proprietary Cabernet Blend, and I was out promoting the E-Auction with my iPad and fellow "E-Squad" volunteers.

Despite the weather, we had a wonderful Auction Napa Valley and raised $7.3m for our community. Mom had a fun interview with her buddy Jean-Charles Boisset and Gavin Newsom under the tents at Meadowood on CRN Radio's "What's Cookin' with Mike Horn." I'm not sure how much of the conversation was actually centered around the wine auction, but I know it was interesting nonetheless!

Fast forward to Harvest 2011. Here are the highlights:

Happy Holidays everyone!

Sincerely,

Janet Viader, Sales & Marketing at VIADER

Knock, knock. Hoo's there?

Mr. Owl joined us a few years ago, and has a hoot in his little box. We invited him to watch over the vineyards throughout the evening and keep the vermin population down. Occasionally we catch him in flight, and spot his massive wing span against the backdrop of the twilight sky. He feasts on those pesky ground squirrels, gophers and moles - the same pests that ruin your home garden. A vineyard is just a massive garden after all.

My brother Alan has been carefully tending to the vines, which are just starting to wake up from their deep winter hibernation. We've got fuzzy little bumps on the vine canes, which were pruned down to a few inches at the end of January. Budbreak is coming very very soon. Right now they're just soaking up the delicious composting material we applied, and enjoying the warm Spring weather that has graced us this past week, with summer-like temperatures.

All the excitement is really happening inside the cellar, with Alan and Delia finalizing the blends for our 2009 DARE by Viader Cabernet Franc, which can't be bottled soon enough to meet the demand! We also racked the 2009 VIADER Proprietary Red Blend (Cab/Cab Franc) to clean out any sediment from the barrels. Our mother-son winemaking team is closely watching the development of our 2009 vintage, and are super pleased with the results. Bottling may occur sometime in the summer, if not post-harvest. TBD!

Warm regards,

Janet Viader, sales & marketing at VIADER

Just Another Day in Paradise

This is my favorite time of year in the Napa Valley. Beautiful sunsets over the acres of vineyards changing colors from green to gold, with hints of red and brown. Once all the leaves hit the ground, you know the vines are peacefully sleeping, dreaming of the great vintages to come.

Underground in the cellar, all the VIADER wines have been pressed and moved to barrel to quietly undergo the usual secondary fermentation (malolactic). The only evidence remaining from the chaos of the harvest time is a great heap of grape must which will be taken to use in compost. Delia and Alan have tasted through the different lots and are looking forward to the further development of this enticingly aromatic and balanced vintage.

Amidst all this quiet, I can't stop thinking, finally we can have a social life! With the endless hours of harvest time coming to a close, I now see much more of my family (which is a good thing)! And at this time of year, we spend most of our time enjoying the "fruits of our labor" over dinner.

Happy holidays to all,

Janet Viader

sales & marketing at VIADER

While you were sleeping...

An ambitious Alan Viader showed up with our harvest team this morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 3AM. I came over to catch them while they were picking the "A-Block" Cabernet Sauvignon which is adjacent to Mom's house, so it turns out all three of us were up early!

The entire west side of the property has now been picked, and the remaining 7 acres on the east side will probably be picked on Tuesday. (All are red varieties.) So besides doing about three daily pump-overs, Alan now has time to catch up on his sleep... and Delia too!

Our crush pad has seen a lot of activity, processing several tons of fruit already. Usually towards the tail end of the picking, around 7AM, the winemaking team meets Alan at the crush pad to go through the game plan for the day. Some lots require pump-overs, and others punch-downs. All the concrete tanks are in use, with the stainless steel fermenters filling up fast, and the occasional T-bins (one-ton MacroBins) also holding exciting goodies.

Cheers,

Janet Viader
sales & marketing at VIADER

Forever Tango at VIADER...

A little taste of an Argentine classic: "Volver" by Carlos Gardel.

As Auction Napa Valley approaches - NEXT WEEK! - the many Napa wineries and families involved will be opening their doors to host small groups for parties, dinners, and fun. These hospitality parties are scheduled on the days leading up to the main events on Friday and Saturday, and are offered to guests with tickets to the full weekend's festivities. (Get your ticket!)

Our winery decided to go back to my mother Delia's roots in Buenos Aires, to create a look and feel of a colorful cafe in the tango neighborhood called "La Boca." A traditional Argentine dinner will prepared by my sister-in-law, the ever-fabulous Chef Mariela Viader (there's more to it than just grass-fed beef!). For ambiance, a pair of dancers will take cues from Mariela's immensely talented cousin Alfredo Caceres, who will be playing tango classics on the guitar. There may even be informal tango lessons!

Professional dancers

Remember, if you cannot seem to make it in person, you can participate online via the E-Auction. Select lots will be featured during four consecutive weeks. We already have two down, and two to go! VIADER's E-Lot #488 will go live with Week 4 on Sunday, May 30th at 6:00pm.

Hasta luego che!

Atentamente,

Janet Viader, sales & marketing at VIADER

"Racking" up Wines

Racking is a procedure used to remove sediment from wine. It's as simple as removing the "clear" wine (free of sediment) from each barrel, cleaning the barrels, and refilling them once the barrels dry. Here's a shot of my brother Alan with the "bulldog" racking device pulling out the wine. He uses a flashlight on the hose to ensure he's not taking up any solids or sediment with the wine. Our 2009 wines have finished malo-lactic (secondary) fermentation, and so this is the first time they will be racked.

Everyone's philosophy is different when it comes to racking. We usually "rack to tank," meaning we move the wine from several barrels into a tank, clean a whole slew of barrels before refilling from wine stored safely in the tank. The wine is more homogeneous and it is more efficient since we don't have a huge staff on hand (my brother has two helpers and about 200 barrels per vintage). The wine may undergo some more movement with this method, depending on how close the barrels are to the tank, so we reduce the number of times we rack to about 3 times in the two year winemaking process.

Another way to rack is "barrel to barrel" - cleaning one barrel at a time and refilling it with the next barrel's wine. This minimizes the agitation of the wine and exposure to oxygen, keeping more of the trapped C02 which serves as a preservative, but also allows for barrel variation, possible reduction smells, and sometimes you get a slight "spritz" in the finished product which usually blows off with decanting as do any notes of reduction. There's also the copper in the cellar trick, but that's another story...

Great wines are created using either racking method, so it is really up to the winemaker to choose his or her winemaking style and priorities.

Cheers from Alan and Delia, mother-son winemaking team! Here they are putting together a mock 2009 VIADER blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Warm regards,

Janet

Janet Viader

sales & marketing at VIADER