Curious about the new case club? Check out our Rock Point Wines website for details and how to join.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
A New Del Rio Adventure . . .
Dear Del Rio Wine Club Members;
exciting new year at Del Rio. Since establishing the winery in 2004, our grape production and sales have been diversified with the growth of our own Del Rio brand. This year marks our seventh year of producing premium Del Rio wines and the expansion of the brand has taken Del Rio across the nation in distribution. Del Rio wine can now be found in restaurants and wine shops in fifteen different states from Washington to New York.In addition to our estate label, we have established a second label: Rock Point Wines. The name comes from Del Rio’s historical location, once known as Rock Point, a thriving community in the late 1800’s with a hotel, post office, and general store. People would come from all over the valley to attend balls and functions at the Rock Point Hotel. All that remains is the newly renovated Rock Point Bridge and the hotel, now home to the Del Rio Tasting Room.
The Rock Point Wines’ label was created in order to diversify our production levels in the vineyard and winery. These wines are of excellent quality, designed as drink now wines at a more affordable price. Their purpose is to complement our signature label highlighting the level of quality we produce in our Del Rio brand and generating a stable, less complex, yet very consumable wine. First bottled in 2008, Rock Point was intended to be sold through distribution outside of Oregon, and just as Del Rio has experienced growth, so has Rock Point Wines. We now produce four wines under the label: River Rock Red, River Rock White, Pinot Grigio, and Pinot Noir. Rock Point Wines can now be found in three Oregon Costco locations, and it is also available through our new online store.The upcoming March Del Rio Wine Club order is marking a new adventure for both Del Rio and Rock Point; we are launching the Rock Point Case Club! The Case Club will be a new avenue for consumers to acquire Rock Point Wines. As Del Rio Wine Club members, we would like to give you a first look at the new Rock Point Case Club and provide you with a great offer. The Rock Point Case Club will include twelve bottles of wine shipped biannually in April and October. Each shipment will include three of each of the Rock Point Wines. As dual members of both clubs you will receive each order for only $75. Shipping costs are $25 for West of the Rockies and $35 for East of the Rockies. For AK and HI shipping please contact us. All orders will be shipped. We are striving to keep our tasting room solely for Del Rio wines.
We look forward to another great year and the initiation of the Rock Point Case Club. We hope that you will enjoy your extra special gift of River Rock Red.
~ Cheers!
Jolee & Rob Wallace
Monday, February 14, 2011
A new video endeavor
Tasting with Jean-Michel: Estate Reserve Pinot Gris
Stay tuned for more videos with each new wine release.
Stay tuned for more videos with each new wine release.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
The results are in and we are excited to announce the following Del Rio wines and their accolades:
2009 Pinot Noir - Bronze
Our 2009 Pinot Noir has a bright ruby color and displays aromas of cherry, rosemary, and vanilla. The nose leads to delicate violet flavors, accompanied by a structured mouth feel that will ensure long aging. - - $28
2009 Viognier - Best of Class!!!!
The nose displays aromas of peach, grapefruit and fresh mint flavors. On the palate the smooth texture is held up by the acidity with a slight lemon characteristic. The barrel ageing gives a light nuance of oak flavors and complexity to the wine. - - $20
The nose displays aromas of peach, grapefruit and fresh mint flavors. On the palate the smooth texture is held up by the acidity with a slight lemon characteristic. The barrel ageing gives a light nuance of oak flavors and complexity to the wine. - - $20
2009 Pinot Gris - Silver
The light gold color of the Pinot Gris brings in the true varietal flavors of apple, pear with a touch of almond and vanilla. The creamy and buttery mouth follows and lengthens because of the acidity which will allow this wine to age well. - - $16
2008 Syrah - Silver
The intense and deep violet color of the 2008 Syrah is followed by a fusion of bay leaf, thyme and berry flavors. The mouth shows spicy black pepper aromas, vanilla and oak taste from the barrel ageing. - - $35
2008 Petite Syrah - Silver
Del Rio Vineyards' Petite Syrah displays a deep red color followed by rich flavors of black currant, spices and finishes with intense tannins. The partial oak aging in French and American oak barrels adds further nuances to the wine. -- $48
2009 Pinot Noir - Bronze
Our 2009 Pinot Noir has a bright ruby color and displays aromas of cherry, rosemary, and vanilla. The nose leads to delicate violet flavors, accompanied by a structured mouth feel that will ensure long aging. - - $28
2008 Claret - Bronze
The 2008 Claret shows the qualities that have made this blend a favorite. The nose shows intense fruity notes of black currant and cherry. It is then followed by woody flavors of cedar and coffee. The 18 month barrel aging, contributes to a well balanced mouth feel with silky young tannins. - - $35
The 2008 Claret shows the qualities that have made this blend a favorite. The nose shows intense fruity notes of black currant and cherry. It is then followed by woody flavors of cedar and coffee. The 18 month barrel aging, contributes to a well balanced mouth feel with silky young tannins. - - $35
The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the an American wine competition and this year it drew in a record number of entries, 5,050 wine from 23 states. Southern Oregon wines did quite well at this years event. Here is a link to the full list of results: http://www.winejudging.com/medal_winners.htm
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Adventures in Winemaking Installment #6
We are still making wine, but the excitement of the wine club party and holidays placed winemaking on the back burner. It is about time we share our progress.
We left off in mid November when we were “punching down” the cap on our four buckets of Cabernet Sauvignon. Since then quite a bit has happened to our wine and I would like to mention a few particular milestones. The first big and possibly my favorite step was pressing our wine. In order to extract color we left our wine on the grapes skins for just over two weeks. The skins and seeds also contribute to the amount of tannin our finished wine will have. As we personally don’t have a press we purchased a cheese cloth, strained our wine through the cloth, and pressed with our hands the remaining berries. Although, our fingers were frozen we had a great time squeezing as much juice as possible. As luck would have it, we ended up pressing the very same day that Jean-Michel pressed his Cabernet Sauvignon, it made us feel like we were doing something right.
Check out this quick video of the day we pressed.
The second milestone, that is important to mention, is the completion of the fermentation process. In order to stop fermentation you must kill the yeast. There are a variety of ways to stop the fermenting wine such as Campden tablets, but we decided to get ours cold by placing it in large refrigerator. After a night in the cold we then experienced our third milestone, racking. Racking consists of removing the wine from the lees at the bottom of the bucket or the residue from the grapes. This will take place a number of times before our wine is finished. We also were transferring the wine from the four buckets to two five gallon carboys.
Now with our carboys full and our wine having gone through fermentation we had a few things left to do. The first is adding oak. Both Jen and I like slightly bigger and spicier wines so we decided to add a bit of French oak. As we don’t have a barrel the size we need, nor does Jean-Michel have barrels to spare our option was to use oak supplements. We quickly learned that there are a variety of oak enhancements to choose from. Jean-Michel was kind enough to offer us his sample kit. We had the choice of type of enhancement from staves, beans, chips, and rice, in addition to the choice of oak from Hungarian, American, and French and even the choice of toast light, medium and heavy toast. We chose to go with medium toasted French oak staves. Oak enhancements can be powerful so we have slowly added ours and continuously tasted the wine to make sure the oak flavor does not take over.
The next step in the process of making red wine would be to allow the wine to go through a secondary fermentation called Malolactic fermentation. This process is a bacterial fermentation that transforms the tart tasting Malic acid to the softer Lactic acid. The purpose is to stabilize the wine. We, however, have not started the Malolactic fermentation. The fermentation will only take place if the wine is kept at a warmer temperature. At the moment we are keeping our wine cold and have chosen to wait until later this winter or early spring to kick off the secondary fermentation. Our wine will remain in the cool warehouse and will be checked on periodically with tastings.
Stay tuned for more of our winemaking adventures in 2011!
We left off in mid November when we were “punching down” the cap on our four buckets of Cabernet Sauvignon. Since then quite a bit has happened to our wine and I would like to mention a few particular milestones. The first big and possibly my favorite step was pressing our wine. In order to extract color we left our wine on the grapes skins for just over two weeks. The skins and seeds also contribute to the amount of tannin our finished wine will have. As we personally don’t have a press we purchased a cheese cloth, strained our wine through the cloth, and pressed with our hands the remaining berries. Although, our fingers were frozen we had a great time squeezing as much juice as possible. As luck would have it, we ended up pressing the very same day that Jean-Michel pressed his Cabernet Sauvignon, it made us feel like we were doing something right.
Check out this quick video of the day we pressed.
The second milestone, that is important to mention, is the completion of the fermentation process. In order to stop fermentation you must kill the yeast. There are a variety of ways to stop the fermenting wine such as Campden tablets, but we decided to get ours cold by placing it in large refrigerator. After a night in the cold we then experienced our third milestone, racking. Racking consists of removing the wine from the lees at the bottom of the bucket or the residue from the grapes. This will take place a number of times before our wine is finished. We also were transferring the wine from the four buckets to two five gallon carboys.
Now with our carboys full and our wine having gone through fermentation we had a few things left to do. The first is adding oak. Both Jen and I like slightly bigger and spicier wines so we decided to add a bit of French oak. As we don’t have a barrel the size we need, nor does Jean-Michel have barrels to spare our option was to use oak supplements. We quickly learned that there are a variety of oak enhancements to choose from. Jean-Michel was kind enough to offer us his sample kit. We had the choice of type of enhancement from staves, beans, chips, and rice, in addition to the choice of oak from Hungarian, American, and French and even the choice of toast light, medium and heavy toast. We chose to go with medium toasted French oak staves. Oak enhancements can be powerful so we have slowly added ours and continuously tasted the wine to make sure the oak flavor does not take over.
The next step in the process of making red wine would be to allow the wine to go through a secondary fermentation called Malolactic fermentation. This process is a bacterial fermentation that transforms the tart tasting Malic acid to the softer Lactic acid. The purpose is to stabilize the wine. We, however, have not started the Malolactic fermentation. The fermentation will only take place if the wine is kept at a warmer temperature. At the moment we are keeping our wine cold and have chosen to wait until later this winter or early spring to kick off the secondary fermentation. Our wine will remain in the cool warehouse and will be checked on periodically with tastings.
Stay tuned for more of our winemaking adventures in 2011!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Del Rio's Kitchen: Volume 2
Susie Moore had the winning recipe from our staff bake off for our December wine club party. Enjoy her wonderful recipe!
Instructions:
Rinse cherries and dry very well – the chocolate won’t stick if the cherries are wet (roll them around on a towel) Melt chips in a double boiler over hot NOT boiling water. (It is important not to let any moisture invade the chocolate while melting or it will burn into a big glob.) Dip each cherry including part of the stem into melted chocolate and place on waxed or parchment paper. Using some of the melted choco., place 1 morsel on cherry for nose and nestle almonds behind nose for ears. Decorate with eyes and nose with a color of your choice. Chill until set and you are ready to eat.
Not a Creature Was Stirring . . . .
Ingredients: - Maraschino cherries with stems
- Chocolate chips (white, dark, or milk) depending on the color of mice you want or flavor you want.
- Sliced almonds (for ears)
- Frosting for eyes & nose (you can use store bought tubes)
Instructions:
Rinse cherries and dry very well – the chocolate won’t stick if the cherries are wet (roll them around on a towel) Melt chips in a double boiler over hot NOT boiling water. (It is important not to let any moisture invade the chocolate while melting or it will burn into a big glob.) Dip each cherry including part of the stem into melted chocolate and place on waxed or parchment paper. Using some of the melted choco., place 1 morsel on cherry for nose and nestle almonds behind nose for ears. Decorate with eyes and nose with a color of your choice. Chill until set and you are ready to eat.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
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