News

Newsletter October 2015

10/21/2015

Welcome!

We appreciate your patronage and hope to keep you up to date on the latest news from the vineyard and the tasting room, (with an occasional bite from Alan's musical efforts).

From Sandra's Desk:

Sadness and The Final Stretch!

September turned out to be a particularly sad month in Carmel Valley as the Tassajara and Laureles Grade fires roared through our neighbor's homes and land. Fortunately for us, Silvestri Vineyards was spared. Thank you to our wonderful employee and friend, Marshall Moranda, who kept watch over our vines and our property while attending to his own family and property. And thank you to the incredible Firemen and Sheriff's department, Highway Patrol, Air support and all of the citizens and volunteers who cared for Carmel Valley under such terrible circumstances. We have made donations to the Community Foundation and to the Cachagua Volunteer Fire Department to assist in the recovery efforts of our neighbors and friends. We urge each of you to consider making a donation to these efforts also at:

http://www.cfmco.org

http://cachaguafire.com

October means the end of harvest. The only grapes to remain on the vine were the darker reds, our Syrah and Barbera, which came in last week. Now is the time of winemaking and Frank is full on in! See his comments below.

October is also the month of the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. We would like to thank everyone who bought a sneaker at the tasting room or donated their time or money to this very personal cause. It is very much appreciated by all of the Silvestri Family

Alan and I are traveling for most of October as we attended the Back to the Future concerts at Radio City Music Hall in NYC and will be attending the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent, Belgium before a final stop in Belfast, Ireland for a visit to the 2015 Cinemagic Festival. We will return in early November in time for the Late Harvest and then preparation for our family holidays.

We wish you all a wonderful fall season. Please remember Carmel Valley in your thoughts and prayers as they work to rebuild their community.

Salute!

From the Winemaker:

Happy Fall and post harvest to all the Silvestri fans out there. As I write this there is a bit of rain and the wonderful smell of wet earth. As much as I love our beautiful weather in Carmel Valley it is always great when the seasons change. It's a time to not only reflect on this past year but to be thankful for successes that we have had. The year, as all years do, had some major challenges and set backs. The word out there in wine geekdom is the harvest was 40%-60% down from the last couple of years. Not necessarily a shock since '12,'13, and '14 were pretty epic harvests. The vines grew tired and decided to chill this year, wouldn't we all like to be so lucky. Although the yields are very light, the vintage is really, really good. I just tasted the '15s and man we could bottle them today and I wouldn't be disappointed. Cheers to you all and pray for rain.

Frank

Alan Silvestri is the Central Guest at the 15th Annual World Soundtrack Awards in
Ghent, Belgium

Held on October 24th, the World Soundtrack Awards will celebrate its 15th anniversary with one of the most brilliant film composers of his generation, known for his scores of 'Back to the Future', 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' and 'Forrest Gump'. Brussels Philharmonic and The Flemish Radio Choir will perform the compelling scores by Alan Silvestri.

www.worldsoundtrackawards.com

From The Tasting Room:

Because Mother Nature continues to give us these warm summer-like conditions, we feel it's appropriate to highlight one of our best warm weather sipping wines - the Pinot Gris. Our 2014 Ala, Pinot Gris spent some time off the menu, but it is now being enjoyed daily in the tasting room. With only .5 acres planted, the Pinot Gris is one of our smallest production wines. That small production paired with its popularity among our wine club members makes our Pinot Gris a top seller in the tasting room. We'd love to have you stop by and have a splash with us.

Cheers!

Dorothea, Keith, Robin and Olivia

Featured Wine: Pinot Gris

The Pinot Gris grape is a white wine grape that originates from the Burgundy region of France. This grape is said to be a pink-skinned mutation of the Pinot Noir grape, and that they can be indistinguishable from one another on the vine before verasion (verasion is the period of the grapevine's growth cycle when berries change color and become softer.) After this stage the Pinot Gris grapes take on an array of colors; from orange-pink to pale, dusty purple. Gris is French for "gray," and refers to the dusty, light gray sheen the grapes take on.

Q: What is the difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio?

A: Although the two names refer to a single grape varietal, the wine styles they represent are clearly distinct from one another. The Grigio style is achieved by harvesting the grapes relatively early, in an attempt to retain as much fresh acidity as possible. Most often, fermentation and aging takes place in stainless steel tanks to retain freshness and a zingy acidity. Pinot Gris wines, however, are richer, weightier and more complex, both in terms of mouthfeel and aromatics. This richer style is generally due to the presence of neutral oak barrels and lees contact.

Our Silvestri Vineyards Ala, Pinot Gris, is pressed and put in stainless steel tanks, racked to 55 gallon stainless steel and neutral oak barrels, and then inoculated with yeast to initiate primary fermentation (sugar to alcohol). The wine does not go through malo-lactic fermentation in order to maintain its natural crisp acidity. It is then aged on the lees for 5-8 months before bottling.
The 2014 Pinot Gris shows notes of peach and honey in the nose, is soft and smooth in the mouth, with a cleansing acidity in the finish. Crisp, refreshing and lots of lingering flavor.

Current Pouring Menu:

Tasting $13.00

2014 Pinot Gris, Ala, Estate
2014 Chardonnay, Estate *** New Release ***
2013 Pinot Noir, Estate
2013 Syrah, Estate
2013 Barbera, Estate

Also available for sale:

2013 Chardonnay, Due Bambine, Estate
2014 Pinot Blanc, Il Campione, Estate
2014 Rosé, Estate
Eugenia red blend, Estate
2013 Chardonnay, Bella Sandra, Estate
2013 Pinot Noir, Rising Tide, Estate
2013 Syrah, Red Ranger, Estate

2013 Pinot Noir, Rising Tide, Estate (Magnum 1.5L only)
2013 Chardonnay, Bella Sandra, Estate (Magnum 1.5L only)