Summer 2022: Bottling memories for another day
Unlocking the stories of Solera de Salida
Last Tuesday, my cellar crew and I bottled the 2017 Tempranillo. Filling, corking, and labeling 1300 bottles, the Tempranillo grapes from Harvest 2017 were finally finished being preserved. The newly bottled wine is delicious, as the crew and I wholeheartedly agreed, toasting to another successful bottling day over smoked pork street tacos. Its raspberry fruit character, vanilla undertones and light body will make it a perfect cool red wine during the heat of Summer 2022.
Enjoying a new bottle of my wine is instantly satisfying, exciting. I’ve been waiting patiently for too long, and now it’s time to enjoy and share it immediately. “What can we pair the Tempranillo with tonight? Is there a concert in the park this weekend? Let’s pack some Tempranillo in a wine thermos with some snacks. Did you hear so-and-so is coming to town next week? We should get together, open a bottle of Tempranillo and catch up.”
In contrast, opening a bottle of my wine that is five, seven, ten years old makes me feel nostalgic. Memories of harvest, fermentation, blending, and bottling arise between tastes. Sipping an older wine becomes a visit with a longtime friend, remembering the time that has gone by as we savor our unique relationship.
Yesterday, I decided to get together with an older vintage. Opening a bottle of Solera de Salida to share with a friend, I was flooded with memories of this wine’s distinctive creation. Solera’s birth started twelve year’s ago in January 2010, even though it was bottled only six years ago in December 2016. Timelines, people and past procedures overwhelmed me as I held the wine in my mouth. It turns out that, by uncorking this bottle, I was in fact unlocking the history of Solera de Salida.
When I first opened the winery in 2009, I only knew one winegrower in Palisade, Colorado. Wanting to meet more people in my industry, in January 2010 I participated in Colorado’s premier grape growing and winemaking conference, VINCO, in Palisade. Over the next three days, while participating in workshops and “Meet & Mingle” tastings, I met several growers, including Kaibab Sauvage of Colorado Vineyard Specialists. Although Kaibab didn’t have any grapes for sale, he put me on a call list if any grapes came up for sale.
The call eventually came in Summer 2013. Following a harse winter, Kaibab assured me that he would have some Albariño grapes for sale, albeit a very small quantity. Now that I was on the list, I didn’t want to get off, so I agreed to purchase any amount he was willing to sell me, even a miniscule amount.
In September 2013, I was thrilled to pick up 1/2 ton of Albariño grapes from Kaibab. After crushing the grapes and bucketing them to the press, however, I realized that my wine press was not full enough to press. Scratching my head in thoughtful concern, I realized that I had just received some Chardonnay grapes as well and creatively decided to add some crushed Chardonnay to fill up the remaining space in the Albariño press. Although born of necessity, the blending of Albariño and Chardonnay in Solera’s creation developed into a true and lasting relationship.
When the wine finished fermenting, it surprisingly had an orange color. Being a “white” wine made with white wine grapes, I felt like the fermentation had thrown me a curveball. Nevertheless, the sensory evaluation reminded me of Spanish sherry which I enjoy immensely. It was light in body, had bright acidity, and showed a tremendous amount of character. I decided on a “wait and see” approach: pumping the new wine to oak barrels, keeping it topped off monthly, and continuing to procure more Albariño grapes from Kaibab.
Luckily, I was able to buy Albariño for the next four years, 2013 to 2016, each year making a new wine, sometimes co-pressing with Chardonnay, and blending it with the previous vintages. The decision to blend in this manner was inspired by the sherry blending technique of southern Spain called a Solera, where small amounts of younger wines are stored in an upper tier of casks and are systematically blended with the more mature wine in the casks below. My new creation suddenly had the perfect name: Solera de Salida!
Finally, Solera was ready for bottling in December 2016 when the fresh 2016 Albariño wine was blended with the past vintages dating back to 2013. It was a bold new Colorado product with high acidity, having the potential to age well. Excited by the new release, I celebrated with food pairings and friendly sharings. Quickly, however, I realized that my enthusiasm for Solera was only shared by a small group of people. Sluggish sales and an audience that was turned off by orange colored wine were not helping our bottom line. So, regretfully, it was decided to shelve all future bottlings. I blended the remaining Solera inventory into a barrel-aged Chardonnay dominant Cuvée Blanc (white wine blend) which has toasted vanilla overtones, a golden hue, and is extraordinarily popular. The age of Solera de Salida was over.
Fortunately, I snatched up the last cases of Solera and stashed it away to age for another day. That day was yesterday! I popped the cork and was pleasantly surprised how well it has been aging. It was floral with apple and anise notes, beautifully colored orange, and crisp acidity danced over my tongue. Still aging gracefully, I am looking forward to sharing another bottle with Kaibab this summer in the Sifone Vineyard where it was grown. My relationship with Solera is still going strong. I am inspired by you, Solera. You are a tasty reminder that the actions of today will reward me and others for years to come.