Fratelli Perata Winery

When family visits we always pull out something special. This split (half) bottle of 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva was paired with filet.

While a little past its prime, the wine still had delicate cherry notes with hints of to***co and earth. It was very delicate and not acidic or harsh.

We've got a couple more bottles of this so we'll have to find a good reason to open them soon!

Now that we've finished our work, it's time for some fun!

The tasting room will be closed sporadically for the next couple weeks while we have family visiting. If you are planning a visit, please make an appointment so we can be sure to be here for you!

We spent a lot of time this morning checking on the vineyard and what a difference a week makes!

We're finally seeing some verasion in varieties other than Sangiovese. What we're seeing is about what we expected: the vines are not ripening very evenly and many of them are closer together than usual.

The Sangiovese is always first but the Zinfandel is usually right behind and this year it's way behind.

We only saw one vine of Cabernet Sauvignon with more than a few red berries so ripening will be a little harder to judge and grape sampling will be very important.

The Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Charbono haven't started verasion at all.

All the vines look healthy but there are slightly fewer clusters than last year. So it will most likely be a smaller crop than average.

What a wonderful day to be a grapevine!

Expected high of 80 degrees, a light breeze, and plenty of sunshine.

Keep growing Cab vine. We can't wait to see what you make this year.