OUTRUNNING THE RAIN FOR A GREAT HARVEST...

OK, enough of the rain!! You may recall we had too much heat at the time of our last newsletter. Then came the rain. That's the way it goes in the agriculture business! But through it all, the Chardonnay crop was picked the second week of October just before the heavy rains, with nearly 8 tons for our own label and 111 tons delivered to a buyer in the Central Valley. The Merlot was picked at the same time but as you may have read in news at the time, we joined other growers around the region waiting for the remaining red grapes to ripen before the rains hit.

Fortunately, Mother Nature cooperated and we were able to pick the Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varietals about two weeks ago. The Cabernet was picture perfect. Our early estimate was 5-6 tons, so imagine our surprise when we realized we brought in nearly 9 tons! As you may recall, we didn't pick any Cabernet last year because the rain and lack of sun prevented proper ripeness. Post harvest, we have Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petite Verdot all developing at the winery, which will give our winemaker Bruce Regalia many blending options. It should be fun and we will keep you up to date in the coming year.

Our only disappointment this year was that we did not end up with enough Sauvignon Blanc to vinify and release to you this spring. The 2011 vintage will benefit from another year of maturity on the grafted vines.

Our 550 gallon stainless steel tank arrives at the winery.

Last year we experimented with a 75 gallon stainless tank for the Chardonnay which we blended together the wine aged in French Oak barrels for the 2009 vintage. We liked the results - the wine exhibits fresh natural fruit flavors as a balance to the oak. This year we purchased a 550 gallon tank to continue to evaluate stainless Chardonnay and our ability to increase production.

Although we are ever anxious to develop our signature winemaking style for each varietal, Bruce keeps reminding us that we need at least three years to discover what works best with our grapes. One of our Passions is "Great Wine" and we will continue to seek out the best barrels, the proper yeast, the right combination of oak and stainless. We hope you will enjoy the process of fine winemaking along with us.

HOW TO AERATE WINE ...

Include 6 bottles of our Merlot in your 1-case order and we'll include the VINTURI Aerator as our gift to you. ORDER >

The process of aerating wine is commonly referred to as "letting it breathe," which simply means maximizing the wine's exposure to air. Red wines benefit most by breathing, but big white wines open up as well with contact with air. All wines contain some tannin which makes the wine astringent and causes your mouth to pucker. As wines age, tannins soften allowing the fruit flavors to come forward. Air also breaks down the tannins and is the reason we swirl and decant.

VinturiIn our February newsletter we touched on choosing the correct wine glass for each varietal so that the wine could be "swirled" to open up the bouquet and flavors. Most wine lovers arefamiliar with using a wide glass decanter to let a wine breathe but another great way to open up a red wine is to use an aerator.

VINTURI makes a wine aerator which our family uses with our Merlot and other big red wines. The aerator can be used for a single glass or with a decanter. It is designed to accelerate the contact of the wine being poured with air. Some of you may already use one and appreciate how it can make a good red wine even more enjoyable without having to wait for the wine to "open up" in the decanter or wine glass.

When you order a case of wine with 6 or more bottles of our 2007 Merlot, we will include a free VINTURI aerator in your shipment ($39.95 value).

MALIBU FOOD & WINE, DECEMBER 5...

Jim and Debby will be at the Malibu Food and Wine Festival on December 5. Join them at the Malibu Bluffs to sample exceptional dishes, superb wines, enjoy live music, dazzling ocean views and holiday cheer, all in support of St. Jude Children's Hospital and The Blue Project of Malibu. Kimmel Vineyards will be donating one of our wooden boxes with 3 bottles of Chardonnay representing the first three vintages of 2007, 2008, and the newly bottled 2009.

More information is available at www.malibufoodwinefestival.com

FREE WINE TOTE WITH YOUR HOLIDAY ORDER ...

Plan now for the holidays and remember to use your discount voucher code "FRIEND" to receive a 20% discount. Order a case of wine with at least 6 bottles of Merlot and receive a Vinturi aerator as a free gift. We will also include a wine tote with each order for easy gift giving to your friends or relatives. These durable wine totes are made from recycled plastic bottles - just let us know how many bags you need.

Let us know if you want us to ship direct to another address. We will certainly do our best to accommodate your wishes.