John Tyler

Day-to-Day

Pinot lovers unite

It’s here! The 5th Annual Pinot Days tasting at Fort Mason is this weekend Sunday, June 28th from 1-5:00 p.m. Touted as California’s largest single... [Read more]

New Recipe: Pam’s Plum Good Ribs

It is just about summer time and that means firing up the grill with a tasty collection of chicken, ribs, burgers and steaks. We wanted to share with you a special... [Read more]

Southern California Wine Events

Lake Arrowhead Event Hello all Southern California Wine lovers! Does sun, wine, great food, blue skies, clean air, crystal clear water, music and a beautiful lakefront... [Read more]

Family History & Vineyards

The hunt for the light brown apple moth

Similar to Sean Connery’s character in the Hunt for Red October where he plays a  captain on the hunt for a superior Soviet nuclear submarine, I too am on... [Read more]

Ever wonder how a vineyard gets its start?

There are so many great things about spring time; sunny weather, Bbq’s, days at the beach and planting fresh vegetables to be enjoyed all summer long. With... [Read more]

New release- 2005 John Tyler Zinfandel

The 2005 harvest was one of the largest in recent history. A cooler and longer growing season with moderate weather created ideal ripening conditions allowing the... [Read more]

Wine and Winemaking

Challenging the status quo

It seems like there are wine writers, reviews, judgers and raters galore out there these days frankly, too many to keep up. But recently I read a column from Dan Berger’s Vintage Experience that caught my attention. As Pinot Noir growers and now producers it seems to be more and more difficult to get some to understand our Pinot Noir program. We... [Read more]

Free the SO2

Taking barrels samples is an important and ongoing process in the world of winemaking. As the wine progresses and changes over time it is vital to consistently keep a close watch on the state of each barrel and additionally, the lot as a whole. Today we took samples of all the 2008 vintages mostly looking for levels of free SO2. Free SO2 or free sulfur... [Read more]

Top of the morning

This morning I went down to the cellar to top our 2008 Pinot Noir. They are trudging through malolactic fermentation at this time. The cold weather is slowing this process down a little but we are almost there. Topping is extremely important and with our strict barrel regime I check the barrels for topping every week. The amount of topping we do changes... [Read more]

Winemaker’s journal

Tyler taking barrel samples As winemaker for a small, family run winery we often encounter problems that the big guys don’t have to worry about. Because of our boutique production we get a limited amount of chances to get things right. We get two opportunities to make great Pinot with the focus on the two clones; Wente and Pommard. We get one... [Read more]

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