Carbon, Texas
Congratulations to Lost Oak Winery for 8 medals at the Texas International Wine Competition! Check out all the winning wines at https://www.tiwc.com
We are pleased to report that the 2016 Sauvignon Blanc (grapes from Burning Daylight Vineyards) received a Silver Medal – if you harvested with us last July then you picked another winner!
Also, don’t forget that the Lost Oak Winery Annual Holiday Wine Sale is underway – take an additional 10% off cases of wine from Nov 24-Dec 2.
You may have heard us say that we were NOT planning to expand in the near future. Well……that is still true BUT we will plant some test vines in 2018 to get a feel for what variety will be included in our next full block expansion down the road. This way we will have a few seasons to see how well we can manage the new varietal(s) before making a final decision. Can’t wait to see how the new ‘babies’ will perform!
Although there are still plenty of off-season tasks to perform after harvest season, we took a break and headed to Dayton to visit our daughter and son-in-law. The weather was beautiful – imagine sunshine and cool breezes. Karin and Cliff are remodeling an 1885 duplex in the St. Anne’s Hill Historic District of Dayton which will serve as the home of Gem City Catfé – a café that serves coffee and bakery treats as well as the opportunity to play with cats and kittens. Pictured here are two of the future resident kittens (Meowrville and Willpur) who graciously kept me company as I was researching clonal selections of vines for spring 2018.
It’s hard to believe harvest season has wrapped up. It seems like only yesterday the buds were popping as if to say ‘ready or not, here we come’!
The total from Saturday’s harvest came to 2,688 lbs of Cabernet Sauvignon – a little less than we estimated probably due to some shriveling as well as the birds.
Thanks so much to everyone who came to pick on Saturday as well as all the previous harvests. You not only do a great job, you make it fun!
Our final harvest of the season will be the Cabernet Sauvignon on Saturday Sept 23. There are about 3,000-4,000 lbs total, we’ll start at daylight (about 7:15 am) and will have drinks and snacks (must take care of those fabulous volunteers).
We still have around 3,000 lbs of Cabernet Sauvignon that has been chugging along slowly and steadily. It may be anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks before it’s ready, we’ll be testing regularly and doing everything we can to keep the birds away (those sneaky buggers).
We’re happy to report that on Saturday morning we harvested 2,095 lbs of Malbec. It was a beautiful sunny morning that started out at 61° – what a treat! Lost Oak confirmed that the fruit tested at 24° Brix – we’re pleased with that but are looking forward to next season when the vines will be more mature and the growers more experienced.
Many thanks to those who were able to be here, we couldn’t make it without you!
The 2017 Tall in Texas award was presented to Lost Oak Winery on Saturday night in Grapevine. The award honors wineries with a leadership role in the dedication to, support of, and promotion of the Texas wine industry. Congratulations to all the great folks at Lost Oak Winery! We love working with you and appreciate all that you do to support us as growers.
What’s even more fun than putting bird netting on the vines? Taking it off! Who’s with me?
We have conferred with the winemakers at Lost Oak Winery and decided to let the Malbec hang awhile longer in the hopes that the cooler weather will encourage further ripening. If they make progress we might harvest next weekend or if the weather stays dry we may leave them longer. We’ll keep you posted as things progress.
Another benefit to waiting – more free time for the holiday weekend :0