wine
Thrall & Dodge Winery craft each vintage using traditional values and personal attention from harvest to bottling. Our devotion to every detail results in the superior quality wines you will be able to enjoy.
Our wine style starts in the vineyard where we get our hands dirty tending to the soils to assure a good, quality, and productive harvest of grapes. We select, sort, and drop fruit that does not agree with our tastes and quality requirements prior to picking any grapes.
The annual crush is more of the event than the method. Because of our wine style, our gallons of must from a ton of grapes are significantly lower resulting in a higher quality juice. We settle the grapes prior to fermentation.
Our slow methods allow another important aspect of our process, the tasting of last year's crush, remembering last year's berries, and finally comparing to the taste of this year's berries. We normally let the natural yeast encourages the development of the varietals' intensity and complexity, producing full bodied wines. During the fermentation process, the cap is gently punched down assuring proper juice over and mixture and temperature is controlled.
Extended maceration is part of our wine style. We evaluate the development of flavor and tannin by sampling the wine frequently. When the taste is correct we drain the wine off of the lees.
During the barrel-aging process and secondary fermentation, the wine is racked only when needed. We do not disturb the wine during this process and therefore we achieve good clarity, clean taste and polished tannins. We frequently monitor the need of this racking through experience, taste, and a sharp eye.
We bottle by hand at the winery generally without fining or filtering to respect the integrity of the grape and the quality of the taste. If you decide to wait to enjoy our wine, please store on its side and in a cool dark place. You may experience some sediment in the bottle which is natural for our wines.
The annual crush is more of the event than the method. Because of our wine style, our gallons of must from a ton of grapes are significantly lower resulting in a higher quality juice. We settle the grapes prior to fermentation.
Our slow methods allow another important aspect of our process, the tasting of last year's crush, remembering last year's berries, and finally comparing to the taste of this year's berries. We normally let the natural yeast encourages the development of the varietals' intensity and complexity, producing full bodied wines. During the fermentation process, the cap is gently punched down assuring proper juice over and mixture and temperature is controlled.
Extended maceration is part of our wine style. We evaluate the development of flavor and tannin by sampling the wine frequently. When the taste is correct we drain the wine off of the lees.
During the barrel-aging process and secondary fermentation, the wine is racked only when needed. We do not disturb the wine during this process and therefore we achieve good clarity, clean taste and polished tannins. We frequently monitor the need of this racking through experience, taste, and a sharp eye.
We bottle by hand at the winery generally without fining or filtering to respect the integrity of the grape and the quality of the taste. If you decide to wait to enjoy our wine, please store on its side and in a cool dark place. You may experience some sediment in the bottle which is natural for our wines.
