The first bottling of "Bravura"

Today we celebrate the bottling of our first proprietory wine called "Bravura". This wine is a blend of Merlot and Malbec, grown on our Estate vineyard. Our winemaker, Bill Anderson, created this special bottling to celebrate 25 years of winemaking at Chateau Julien Wine Estate.

Celebrating our Annual Winemaker Dinner

As November comes to a close - just a few more pictures of our annual Winemaker dinner held on November 11th. Good news!!! Tomorrow, November 30th we are bottling Bravura. This is our "proprietory wine" made to celebrate 25 years of great winemaking at Chateau Julien Wine Estate.

Pictures of our Grandchildren

Aren't pictures of your grandchildren great. Here is Jessica (age 7) and Alexa (age 4), they live in Pittsburgh Pennsylvannia. We miss them because we do not get to see them often enough.

Winemaker Dinner - November 11th, 2006

Our guests enjoy a great time at the annual Winemaker Dinner held in November of each year. The event, held at the Chai, was a memorable and sellout.

Consumer Warning on Wine Appellations

As reported by "Rich Cartierre's - Wine Market Report" be aware of the wine appellation on your wine purchase. "A sizable portion of foreign wine is being blended with California" wine "and then sold under an "American" appellation label". To better understand this, look at the wine label and if you see the words "America" as opposed to Monterey or Napa or California, this wine may contain some foreign wine. ATF laws permit up to 25% of foreign wine to be blended legally. "Records at the federal Tax and Trade Bureau show that there are 1,602 wine labels approved over the last 18 months with an American appellation". Truth in labeling??

Winemaker Dinner 2006

We recently celebrated our annual Winemaker dinner on November 11th. The event is a black tie affair with a multicourse dinner prepared by Chef Teplitzsky. This is the first of many postings on this great "sold out" event.

Happy Thanksgiving - We are going to Fresno!

Our son, Bobby, is hosting dinner for Thanksgiving and we are going to take a couple of days to visit with him. Tomorrow we visit the school of Enology at Fresno. To our loyal blog fans, we will post again by the weekend.

You got me - I said Monza was done - but not yet!

Picture (2) is Tony Aniello - on the lookout for all the blondes in Monza (he looks pretty happy)
Picture (1) is Tony Nobles - on the grid and getting ready to race.

Vines "Go to Sleep" for 2006

Just 16 days after harvest the vines have lost most of their leaves and are ready to go to sleep for 2006. While this apprears to be a dormant time, the crop for 2007 is being created by the vine. The process of a winter sleep, rain, frost and other elements are now at play.

Who is competing with California Wine Sales!

Recent news published by Rich Cartiere's Wine Market Report indicates the following -
"Old World wine producers France and Germany have staged a double digit volume and revenue growth comeback in imported bottled table wine shipments into the U.S. markets."
"While the Old World is seeing its shipments surge, bottled table wine shipments into the U.S. from the three key New World wine producers - Australia, Chile and South Africa - are declining"

p.s Chateau Julien has enjoyed excellent export growth for 2006 - opening 2 new foreign markets.

Cort Brower Resh turns 3 years old

In the world of
the Brower family, our 1st grandson, Cort Brower Resh was 3 years old last week. Another blondie and a great kid. Naturally!!!! The son of Dr. Eric Resh and Dawn Brower-Resh, Esq. Wow - tell me about the silver spoon!

Chateau Julien introduces our 25th Celebration wine "Bravura"

Tomorrow night, November 11, 2006, we will put together the final blend (Cepage) for the 2004 Vintage "Bravura". This is our first proprietory wine and is a blend of 50% Merlot (flagship) and 50% Malbec. We grow both of these varietals in our South County vineyard - at the Estate. We will taste 25 years of winemaking at the "sold out" dinner event.

November 8th, 1980 - 26 years ago today

Bob and Patty celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary today, by working the entire day at the Chateau. Dinner out tonight, however and where?

Substance in Red Wine Appears to Let Mice Live Longer

As reported by the Wall Street Journal on November 2nd - "The mice were part of a new study showing the reseratrol at high doses can block many of the deleterious effects of high-calorie diets in mice, enabling them to survive significantly longer than they normally would on fattening fare"

The study was conducted by researchers at harvard Medical School and the national Institute on Aging.

Perhaps another glass or red wine would't hurt!

Monza - Just one more time!

On your left, Jean Todt stops by to visit with Tony Nobles and Kevin Crowder. Great to see him. Next picture is Tony Nobles, trying to sleep in his Formula 1 car (couldn't be the late night party!). Possible?? I think not! Alright, I will be done with the Monza event, finally.

Ferrari - June 2004 - The Anniversary of the 275 (53 lucky people)

Well, all the Ferrari stuff of the past week reminded me that the 275 Event in Italy, June 2004 was the starting point for all of this. On your left is Bob and his 275-GTS, the second picture was taken by Ferrari for the race.

One more posting from Monza, Italy

As you can we, the trio on the left is Tony Nobles (he has the Formula 1 cars), Bob Brower, and his buddy Tony Aniello. Pictured below is another of the group from the 2004 Italy 275 Event, Preston Hen. Preston was driving his FXX car and has a collection of great cars.

Back to Monza, Italy

Pictured together is Bob Brower and Tony Aniello (the lucky guy sitting in a Formula 1 car - ps. check out his smile).
The other picture is Tony Nobles and Bob - good friends from the Italian 275 tour in 2004.

Harvest for 2006 complete on November 1st

As rain was approaching it was time to harvest the last of the grapes hanging for 2006. This is our Sangiovese at the Estate in Carmel. This is our 25th harvest at Chateau Julien Wine Estate.

Halloween Day - 2006 The Vineyard is ready to pick.

As you can tell, the days are getting shorter the nights are getting colder and the canopy is beginning to turn yellow.
The good news is the seeds are brown and crunchy and the acid/ph is ideal.

TIME TO HARVEST!