Harvest is almost here. Some Oregon vineyards have already started, and we'll begin in the coming days.

Fortunately, I think I’ve sorted out my barrel issue. Based on harvest yields, I’m anticipating needing 3-4 barrels (at 60 gallons each). I talked with several people about their thoughts on barrel strategy, and specifically whether I should get one of these new barrels with toasted heads. The general line of thinking revolved around the idea that it would be an interesting experiment if I was producing more wine. However, it’s just too risky with only 4 barrels of wine.

Therefore, I’m going with the 2 previously mentioned ½ barrels from Francois Freres. Since the wood to wine ratio is greater with the smaller barrels, these 2 small barrels will constitute my entire new oak allotment. I’ll augment these with 1or 2 “once-used” full barrels from Gypsy Dancer (hopefully). Any additional wine will go into neutral barrels.

I stopped by the Francois Freres office Monday afternoon. Rick wasn’t around, but I did see my fermentation tanks being unloaded at OVS (which is next door).

Yeast… Davison is out of the BM45 yeast, so I’ll troll the internet looking for a source. I’m leaning towards letting one batch start naturally with native resident yeast, and then inoculating it with commercial yeast.

Last night I stopped by the Coleman's to put the finishing touches on my winery application. I'll be a tenant of their winery; what the TTB describes as an "alternating premise." Therefore, I needed information from them to complete my winery application.

However, prior to working on the paperwork, we took a tour of the wine they have in barrels. We did have a specific goal in mind; I wanted to get a sense of the variation possible by using different yeasts for fermentation and different barrels.

Earlier in the day, I picked up BGY yeast, which is a strain that was isolated in the Burgundy region of France. Based on the tastings, I like this option. It results in elegant, well balanced wine.

However, I'm attracted to the idea of splitting the grapes into 2 batches and using a second yeast. I could choose one with a different, yet complementary flavor profile. I would then blend these wines together before bottling.

I'm leaning towards BM45. This yeast comes from Italy, but it works well on Pinot Noir. It adds depth and what Randy described as "bass notes" to the wine. I think I'll pick up some BM45 as well.

We were also tasting to make a decision on barrels. The main decision I need to make is how much new oak I want to use for my wine. Other Oregon winemakers are all over the board - ranging from no new oak all the way to 100% new oak. I'll be somewhere in between, probably in the 25%-50% range.

It's very late in the year to be looking for new oak barrels, but I did that today. It sounds like a couple of Oregon wineries over-purchased, so there are a few available. However, the barrels are a little unique, having been made for a particular winemaking style. I'm not sure those are for me.

I did locate and commit to a couple of half barrels from Francois Freres. These are medium toast from the Allier forest. Now I need to decide if I want a second new barrel in addition to these, or if I should just use "once-used" barrels for the rest of the wine.

Seufert Winery is launching.

My friends, Randy and Kim Coleman of Coleman Vineyard, have invited me to share their winery space to make my first vintage of Oregon Pinot Noir.

Crush is just around the corner (early October), so I'm frantically getting everything ready. I'm setting up an LLC legal entity, working with the OLCC and BATF/TTB to establish a bonded winery, and purchasing some of the equipment required to make wine.

Most importantly, I'm taking a self-taught crash course in wine making. These books are helpful: Winemaking - from Grape Growing to Marketplace, Modern Winemaking, and the Oxford Companion to Wine.

Come back and see how Seufert Winery takes shape.