Chain Of Origin

Just like you read the ingredients on the back of your cereal box, you should also be reading the fine print on your wine labels. There are many ways for a winery to imply and make you believe that the wine was made there, when it actually was not. This is not only unfair to those who truly do make their own wine, but also means you are potentially supporting a company who stretches the truth.

There Are Many Ways For A Winery To Imply And Make You Believe That The Wine Was Made There, When It Actually Was Not

This is not only unfair to those who truly do make their own wine, but also means you are potentially supporting a company who stretches the truth.

A Quick Breakdown Of Common Label Terminology And Their Legal Requirements:

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Estate

100% of the wine in that bottle must be grown, harvested, produced and bottled by the producer listed. It means the wine was crushed, fermented, finished, aged and bottled all at the same place — and that place has to be located in the same cultural area that’s stated on the label. When you see “Estate grown, produced and bottled” on a wine label, buy that sucker and pat the winemaker on the back!

Produced And Bottle By

75% or more of the wine in that bottle must be made by the producer listed.

Made And Bottled

At least 10% of the wine must be made by the winery or company listed.

Vinted And Bottled

The winery on the label may have had little to do with the making of this wine.

Cellared And Bottled By

The company listed on the label did not make the wine. They aged and cellared the wine before bottling it. This is often when wineries have the license to make wine but do not yet own their own production facility.

Even when using these definitions, wineries can still deceive the consumer into thinking the wine was estate grown when it was actually made hundreds of miles away.

None of these label terms directly correlate with the quantity of the wine, they are merely a statement of fact. However, when wineries consistently have little to do with their wine process, or more so stretch the truth to their consumer to seem like they are growing the grapes, this is frustrating for the authentic wineries and their loyal customers.

Cradle To Grave A Highlight Of Four Vindemia Wines

2017 was our largest production year, but 2015 was close with almost 2,000 cases of wine produced and bottled by us. We made the most red wines we’ve ever made, along with the most variety of red wine. We greatly enjoyed tasting every single wine we made that year, and appreciated the ease of the overall process. Numbers were good and consistent with reasonably good pH’s.

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2015 More Cowbell
Release date April 9, 2018
The drought year caused us to use significantly less water than the year prior, which did cause some unintentional vine stress. Still though, we harvested a bumper crop and were able to make 300 cases of our 2015 More Cowbell, which is traditionally 93-94% Zinfandel and just 6-7% Cabernet Franc. We picked four and a half tons of fruit that year and couldn’t have been more excited with the turnout; it didn’t have the spearmint flavor that was abundant the year before, but was more of a classic California zinfandel flavor. Overall, it rendered at fairly high brix and alcohol of 15.1%. We pumped and bled the wine to get less tannins, and as a result the 2015 Cowbell was not nearly as bone dry as the 2014. It has .6 residual sugar, and was aged in a French oak barrel flown in from France for one year. Overall, the wine is lighter, fruitier, and has a mellow-ness to it with some alcohol brightness.
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2015 Cabernet Sauvignon
Release date April 9, 2017
A good year. Not epic, but extremely good. The harvest was normal, despite Temecula having temperatures above average due to the drought. Our Cabernet was a typical harvest: solid color, small berries, tightly clustered. We picked them by hand, cold soaked and fermented the grapes over a 21 day period. We produced wines that were fruity and had good tannin structure, and in addition boasted a higher alcohol content than in past years. We used three different yeast cultures to bring out different characteristics in the wine, accompanying the exclusive French oak that the wines lived in.
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2015 Commonwealth
Release date May 5, 2017
This wine features our 2015 Merlot as the base, the Cabernet Sauvignon is estate it includes Cabernet Franc and Petite Sirah. The year produce some of our best wines in the last 5 years. It was a drought year but using well managed irrigation we produce nice fruit. The harvest was early. The idea was to recreate a bigger wine like the 2009 as the 2014 was more like a traditional French classic. The destemming was easy as the fruit was ripe. The wines were divided into multiply vats for fermentation with different selected yeast. The wine was aged in larger format barrels for 17 months to build complexity.
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2016 Republic
Release date September 8, 2018
This is our first GSM with the M being Merlot at 4%. The Syrah and Grenache are estate. The year was also a drought year (broken record). The idea on this wine was to experiment and mimic as close as possible the harvest dates as determined by degree days of radiation the same number as the famous Hermitage. So the wine was a little under ripe by Temecula standards. We used some whole clusters. The one was aged 11 months in large format barrels.

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