Settembre Cellars Newsletter Vol. 1 No. 3

Crushed
The 2009 crush has completed and it looks like a really nice vintage. We crushed nearly 8 Tons of grapes to produce: Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Sangiovese. An immense THANK YOU to everyone who joined us for the crush - we couldn't produce these wines without all of your help!

For our wine style we do a process called extended maceration. This technique, sometimes used in the Barolo Region of Piemonte Italia, where the red wines are left in contact with their skins, and/or seeds, for an extended period of time after the alcoholic fermentation completes. We ferment all of our red wines in Stainless Steel tanks which gives us the ability to protect the wines from oxygen during the extended maceration. In addition to being a technique to help elicit typicity of the vineyard it also allows further extraction of the beneficial tannins, from the skins and/or the seeds. As a result, we are just now beginning to press our red wines.

Community
We've added a new feature to our website: the Community Page . In addition to providing access to Tweets by and mentioning Settembre Cellars, there are user polls, a discussion board, access to the latest image galleries, and the ability to comment on the WineMaker's Blog . We encourage you to help us make the site more interactive - we'd love to hear what you have to say!

Crush Crew
Since many of you are new to our website and Newsletter a brief description of the Crush Crew is in order. Our Crush Crew is a group of people interested in winemaking and willing to volunteer in the winemaking process. We use this list to send invites for fall crush (grape sorting), press, and bottling events. Folks who participate in one of these volunteer work days become members of our Friends and Family club. If you are interested in learning more about the winemaking process please register for a website account and then choose the Dashboard from your user account to add the Crush Crew to your groups. If you're having any problems with the log-in , please let us know so we can continue to improve the site.

Facebook
If you're active on Facebook become a fan of Settembre Cellars Fan Page . Our Facebook fan page provides updates on events and allows you to add them to your event calendar, comment on posted material and add your own pictures from events and Settembre Cellars wine sightings. We also have a presence on Twitter which we update frequently and informally. It's a great way to find out about last minute events and deals. Follow us at: @SettembreVino (Blake) and @BoulderWinery (Tracy) we look forward to following your tweets too!

Competitions
We have to admit we're somewhat skeptical of wine competitions. As consumers we pay attention to the results of few. As a boutique winery it's expensive to enter: there are entry fees, requirements to ship many bottles of free wine to unknown storage and tasting conditions, and many competitions which we personally don't feel are exceptionally credible. That being said, we produced enough of the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon that we decided to enter it in one competition, the San Francisco International Wine Competition, where it received a bronze medal in the Cabernet Sauvignon category.

Tasting
In Boulder or visiting? If you or your friends have yet to try our wines or are looking for a convenient pick-up option we are excited to announce that we are doing tastings in Downtown Boulder this holiday season at Oliv You & Me. Come try our current releases, enjoy a glass with a Ciabatta sandwich, and bring home Settembre Cellars wine for your holiday celebrations and gift giving.
We offer a 10% discount for case purchases: let us know ahead of time and we'd be happy to bring your case to the tasting room. Our reds are built to last and are continuing to improve during cellar aging.

WineShop
If you are unable to make it to the tasting room you can always purchase wine through our on-line WineShop (we can ship via FedEx to Colorado, California, and North Dakota). Even better, and with a lower environmental impact consider Bicycle delivery. We will soon expand our bicycle delivery zone to include most of Boulder in addition to an updated delivery pricing which includes free shipping for qualifying orders.

Grapes
Settembre Cellars uses 100% Colorado Grapes and all of our wines are hand-crafted in Boulder. A majority of our grapes are grown near Palisade, and, on the Western Slope 2009 was a great growing season. In addition, We continue to experiment with grapes that can be reliably grown on the Front Range. Here in Boulder our cool wet summer has made growing grapes in 2009 more challenging. Through extensive pruning and low yields we were able to ripen the "80304" Leon-Millot & Marechal Foch grapes.

In addition, we're helping Colorado State University Extension by producing a tiny amount of wine from Frontenac and Chambourcin grapes that were grown in Longmont.

Pairing Suggestions
Old-World styled wines are often food wines and as such we craft our wines to complement food. Our 2008 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, which has been extremely popular, is fermented in a French-Oak barrel but transferred to stainless steel for aging shortly after fermentation completes. The result is a crisp white wine with an excellent mouth-feel imparted by the barrel fermentation but with a level of Oak that is not dominating. The Chardonnay is best served chilled (place in a refrigerator, or ice-bucket, for 30 minutes or so before opening). A pairing we really enjoyed recently includes Farro Risotto with Broccoli Rabe (Outstanding in the Field - a farm to table cookbook,by Jim Denevan, 2008).

2008 Settembre Cellars Chardonnay & Farro Risotto with Broccoli Rabe
	5 Cups Vegetable Stock 3 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil 2 Cloves Garlic 1 Small Dried Red Chile (or 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper) 1 Large Bunch Broccoli Rabe (~1 lb) tough stems discarded Salt 1 1/2 Cup Farro Freshly Ground Pepper Parmigiano-Reggiano
Bring the stock to a simmer and then reduce to a very low heat to keep warm. Coarsely chop the broccoli rabe. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot (but not smoking). Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds (do not brown). Add the broccoli rabe, season with salt, and stir to coat with oil. Cook until the rabe begins to wilt, about 2 minutes. Add about 1/4 cup of the stock and continue to cook until the broccoli rabe is tender and the liquid has evaporated, about 7 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Stir in the farro. Add 1/2 cup Chardonnay to the farro, and pour a glass for yourself. Toast the farro for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not stick. Add a little hot stock to cover and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. When all of the stock has been absorbed, add more stock. Continue adding stock, and stirring, until the farro is tender and nutty, 20 to 25 minutes in all. You may not need all of the stock. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let stand for 2 minutes. Spoon the farro into warm bowls and drizzle with olive oil. Top with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

You can find the Farro, Olive-Oil, and the 2008 Chardonnay, at Oliv You & Me in downtown Boulder during the weekends this holiday season.

We hope you enjoy the newsletter and welcome any comments or suggestions you may have. For those of you we haven't had the opportunity to meet personally, please stop by and say hi at the next tasting event!

Ciao!

Blake & Tracy