Toucan Wines

Wet Weather has us Working in the Winery

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:47:00 +0000

We've reached about 11 inches of rain for the season, a great start for a region that usually doesn't see much of the wet stuff until January. The cold weather and rain forced us into the winery to look for projects, of which we have no shortage.

So, we're currently labeling the recently released Estate Toucanet. I had some time after harvest to label and packaged enough of the wine to support the release, allowing me to begin shipping - but we blew through that batch quickly.

The Estate Toucanet is perfect holiday gift and wonderful toasting wine for the season. Enjoy this dessert wine with friends and family.

Estate Toucanet Gets Thumbs Up from The Bernards Inn's Terri Baldwin

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:05:00 +0000

The Bernards Inn is a world-class hotel and fine dining destination in Bernardsville, New Jersey. The fine wine collection is the work of Wine Director/Sommelier Terri Baldwin, and has been awarded the "Best of Award of Excellence" from the Wine Spectator Magazine for the past eight years.

Terri has put together an amazing International list, including French first growth wines dating back to the 50's and California premier Cabernets dating into the 60's.

We're proud that Terri has selected Toucan Wines for her fine wine list, including both our 2005 Estate Zinfandel and our Estate Toucanet. Here's what Terri has to say:

Estate Toucanet: the beauty of this unique sweet dessert wine is the flavor and texture. When I tasted this wine, I was extremely pleased with all that it offered. Dark sweet fruits, raspberry, wild cherry, vanilla, mocha. Great for gift giving with its uniqueness, this wine will be sure to satisfy the sweet tooth after dinner or as a holiday toast. Not cloyingly sweet, the texture is elegant and smooth that will have you thirsting for more. This wine will also age incredibly well for 15+ years. The packaging of this wine is also elegant in a 500 ML bottle (16 oz) and boasts 5 Toucan birds on the label…. Terrie Baldwin

Winter Arrives with Rain and Cold... Last Event of 2009

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:48:00 +0000

On Monday, the second rain of the season brought another 1.5 inches adding to the 5.5 inches gifted at the end of our harvest. More rain is expected this weekend making this a great start for the season. Our first frosty nights arrived in October, but yesterday the temps dipped into the mid-20's leaving a blanket of frost that covered our entire valley.

Our very last special tasting event will be at Monterey Street Wine Co. in San Luis Obispo on the 18th (Friday) from 5 till close. Frankly, this will be more of a party, the venue is great and improving everyday, and the tasting will be a selection sparkling wines and Toucan Wines. They'll feature gourmet foods, wines to taste and wines by the glass. This will be the perfect chance to enjoy some great wine and select a few last minute holidays gifts.

Plus, I'll be pouring our wines at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande every Saturday from 1-5pm through the end of the year.

Vineyard and Home Projects, plus New Events...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:35:00 +0000

Our December newsletter is now available, amazing how quickly this year flew by. Now that winter has arrived, were starting work on a new patio in back of our home with a fire pit and a retaining wall. We're also doing some changes in the vineyard. This winter we'll raise the drip line and wire, used for tying vines in summer, and shorten the drip line to water between the vines instead of on top of the vine.

The vineyard looks beautiful this time of year, as seen in this photograph taken this week. We've had one terrific rain storm that offered over 5 inches and our next rainfall is expected next week.

We also have a number of new events coming up - this Friday I'll be in Atascadero for the evening pouring outside of Endless Summer Jewelry as a part of the Wine and Art Walk in that town. On Friday the 18th, I'll be again at Monterey Street Wines in San Luis Obispo from 5-8pm - this is a great event and I encourage all locals to come and enjoy a good time and evening out. And of course every Saturday through the rest of the year I'll be pouring at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande.

Finally, we ask that you order your gifts of wine from Toucan Wines via the website or simply by called us directly.

Happy Holidays!

Wines for the Holidays...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:49:00 +0000

Don't worry - I'll be pouring our latest releases as well and some library wines at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande every Saturday through the holidays. Currently available from the winery are the 05' and 06' Estate Zinfandel and our dessert wine Estate Toucanet.

Holiday gifts will be shipped from the winery to your friends and family and we even have a couple of magnums of Estate Zinfandel for special gifts.

Petite Sirah - Too Shy to Show at It's Own Party...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:20:00 +0000

That's right - I've withdrawn the 2007 Estate Petite Sirah release and locked it back in the winery bottle cellar until it screams for release!

Yesterday, our release party at Lund's was a lot of fun and thanks to everyone who came to visit and try the wines - our 2004 and 2006 Estate Petite Sirah showed very well, as did the dessert wine Estate Toucanet and the Sunset Ridge Vineyards 07' Petite Sirah - but the Toucan Wines 07's Estate Petite Sirah was still very tightly wound and shy to unfold into the beautiful wine hiding behind the label. Frankly, it just didn't show up for the party!

As with all of our wines, I've tried to release them at a point that they can be enjoyed relatively immediately. But our Petite Sirah has a history of being a slow starter, beginning with our 2004. This first release of Petite Sirah, the 2004 vintage, is now in full bloom and drinking beautifully (as enjoyed yesterday). The 2006 was also released too early and was very closed upon release, and now just beginning to show it's inner beauty. Both of these wines are sold out at the winery, but our 2006 in available locally at a few fine wine shops and restaurants. Email me if you're looking for this wine in SLO county and take a look at our location guide on the website. You'll find our 06' Estate Petite Sirah in several fine restaurants in the NY/NJ areas as well.

So, the Toucan Wines 2007 Estate Petite Sirah will remain tucked away in the winery bottle cellar until sometime next year. If you enjoyed the wine yesterday and want to reserve your own supply - please email me directly and I'll hold your order until released (again). In the mean time, enjoy the other offerings from Toucan Wines including our 2006 Estate Zinfandel (a blend that includes 19% Estate Petite Sirah), our new sweet dessert wine - Estate Toucanet, and still available for the holidays is a limited amount of library wines - our 04' and 05' Estate Zinfandel.

Thank you for your continued support. I promise that eventually our 07' Estate Petite Sirah will reward each of us with it's inner beauty - but obviously on it's terms, in it's own time and only when it's ready.

Terrific Event and Another this Saturday...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:52:00 +0000

We enjoyed a great wine pouring event at Monterey Street Wine Co. this past Friday evening. A terrific crowd showed up and the party was on. Five of our wines on the bar and every one was showing well, also joining me was Sunset Ridge Vineyards showing their 2007 Petite Sirah produced from estate fruit grown on their small family vineyard. Pictured is Patrick, owner of Monterey Street Wines and a picture of Darrel and me sitting at the MSW bar. Darrel is the vineyard manager of Sunset Ridge as well as other premium vineyards in the region.

Our next big event is this Saturday at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande. This is our 2007 Estate Petite Sirah release party - we'll be pouring new and older vintages of Toucan Wines Petite Sirah, we'll have some snacks, chocolate, a jewelry show of Margareta Lund's hand crafted artisan jewelry, and once again Sunset Ridge Vineyards will be joining me and pouring their Petite Sirah. Come see us from 1-6pm this Saturday!!

Estate Petite Sirah Release Party

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:38:00 +0000

On the 21st of this month we release our latest limited production estate wine, our 2007 Estate Petite Sirah. Only 35 case produced, you won't find this wine (or any of our wines for that matter) at Costco or Trader Joe's.

You will find his wine and me on Saturday the 21st at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande, I'll be pouring samples of this new release and older releases as well. Read all about our 2007 Estate Petite Sirah and after the 21st order online or find it at your local fine wine shop.

Also, take a look at our online slideshow featuring photos of our life on the farm and the wine making of Toucan Wines.

Events and Beautiful Weather...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:32:00 +0000

This past weekend we poured our wines along side some great food at Woodstone Marketplace. We met new friends and shared a glass with several vineyard volunteers and friends who attended.

And we have some other exciting events coming up over the the next week and over the holidays, please take a look at our events page to see if you can join us in the coming weeks.

The weather has been mild and it truly is a beautiful fall here on the central coast of California. If vacationing in the area, please consider attending one of our tasting events and better get to know us.

Finally, if you have the need to send gifts this holiday season - consider a gift of Toucan Wines! We can ship to your friends and clients to your specifications even using your own holiday cards or notes. Contact us at the winery if we can help this holiday season.

Ten Questions with Lynn Diehl - asked of Doug Timewell of Toucan Wines

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:23:00 +0000

Lynn Diehl recently did a casual interview with me at the winery and the result published in a regional paper. See Lynn's other work supporting the local food and wine industry at The Tolosa Press and Wine Region News.

2009 Toucan Wines tucked away in barrels...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:49:00 +0000

It's been a weird growing year - first the continuing draught and then just when we thought everything might be lost to heat, the weather and the fruit cooperated and turned out a lovely crop. Further, the weather then turned cold at night slowing down harvest (just a little) and definitely helping by cooling down the winery at night. As our harvest was coming to a natural end, the gift of 5.5 inches of rain put any hope for a second crop harvest to bed.

Overall our estate vineyard yield was down but the quality was there and that's what really counts. We sincerely thank all our friends, volunteers, family and supporters for all the help this year - another year where your help really counted!!

As you can see in this picture, the recent rain has already turned the vineyard green (at least for now).

First Rain of the Season...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:49:00 +0000

On the central coast we are receiving our first real rain of the season, this storm will deliver as much as 6 inches of rain fall.

Fortunately, we spent yesterday morning pulling in the last of the ripe fruit from the our small estate vineyard. Overall quantity from our 3 1/2 in going to be down from previous vintages, but the quality is terrific.

Thank you to those who attended our Estate Toucanet release party at Lund's in Arroyo Grande. If you'd like to taste our latest releases, including our new Dessert Wine, see our Event schedule for an opportunity to taste our wine and say hello. Our next event is this Thursday in Pismo Beach...

Harvest has come all at once...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:06:00 +0000

After our initial harvest of estate Petite Sirah, we held off thinking that harvest would be spread out over weeks and weeks. But, we're finding the fruit is perfectly ripe and the flavors are perfect. The only problem is... it's all ready (well just about). We've picked the majority (with the help of many friends) of the crop and tonight and tomorrow we're going in for more.

Toucanet Releases...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:41:00 +0000

Our Estate Toucanet is the premier release of a wine produced from the desire to make an entirely estate based Porto styled dessert wine. This premier release is represented as a blend of three barrels from our 2007 vintage and one from our 2008 late harvested vintage - all of which have been fortified or Mutage with brandy spirits distilled from our 2006 Estate Zinfandel. As you can see, our premier release of Toucanet is the product of three great vintages from our estate vineyard and a wine made in the style of the finest age-worthy Porto dessert wines.

Select estate Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, harvested from our small vineyard, once crushed, was cold soaked pre-fermentation for several days. A slow fermentation with special yeast ended with the fortification of fine brandy - Mutage d' esprit. Aged in fine oak barrels for up to 22 months, Toucanet is an incredible and lovely sweet dessert styled wine that tastes of dark sweet fruits, deep raspberry liquor, wild cherry-vanilla, and hints of mocha. Presented in 500ml traditional Porto bottles and sporting our new image of five Toucans, this wine is ready to enjoy now and will hold for up to ten years with proper storage.

Order from the winery direct or one of our fine wine shops and restaurants.

Shipping Wine Again and Harvest Begins...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:02:00 +0000

We’re back to shipping wine this week – the weather is cool and that means we’re shipping any outstanding orders and new orders received today and tomorrow morning – feel free to call me at the winery for available wines and visit the website http://www.toucanwines.com/order.htm

Yesterday we harvested the Estate Petite Sirah, our first crush of the season. The Estate Zinfandel is still a couple of weeks away from harvest - and were looking forward to a warming trend starting later this week. Thanks to all our volunteers who helped out this weekend!

Early September in the Vineyard and Winery...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:07:00 +0000

Having survived the heat wave of late August, we're waiting for the Estate Zinfandel and Petite Sirah to come into full ripeness. We might be able to harvest a small quantity this weekend and then wait and see.

Last Friday, Terrie helped me rack the 08' wines and I must say they are very special - a vintage worth waiting for.

The first of the 08' wines to release will be 150 cases of the "Old Vine" Evangelho Vineyard Carignane - which I hope make available during the upcoming winter holidays. We'll be able to offer, from the 08' vintage, a typical sized offering of Estate Zinfandel - blending with 11% Estate Petite Sirah and currently resting in 80% new French and Hungarian oak barrels. I expect this wine to release in early 2011; And for our Petite Sirah lovers, a mere 24 cases of 08' Petite Sirah will be available, very similar in style to our 2006, the 08' Estate Petite Sirah will sure to please. Also from the 08' vintage, we'll bring back the Toucan Cuvee, up to 50 cases of the Toucan Cuvee will find it's way to our customers in 2010.

Toucanet Release Party in Arroyo Grande

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:58:00 +0000

On October 10th, from 1-7pm, we'll be celebrating the release of our Estate Toucanet. This wine was produced from the desire to make an entirely estate based Porto styled dessert wine.

Lund's in the Village of Arroyo Grande - Oct. 10th 1-7pm

Select estate Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, harvested from our small vineyard, once crushed, was cold soaked pre-fermentation for several days. A slow fermentation with special yeast ended with the fortification of fine brandy - Mutage d' esprit. Aged in fine oak barrels for up to 22 months, Toucanet is an incredible and lovely sweet dessert styled wine that tastes of dark sweet fruits, deep raspberry liquor, wild cherry-vanilla, and hints of mocha. Presented in 500ml traditional Porto bottles and sporting our new image of five Toucans, this wine is ready to enjoy now and will hold for up to ten years with proper storage.

A few magnums and a few standard sized 750ml bottles will be available to members of the Toucan Wines Club.

Produced:
302 (6 pack) cases of 500ml traditional bottles
24 bottles of 750ml traditional bottles
6 magnums 1500ml

August Newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:21:00 +0000

Here is our August newsletter for those not on our email list. We are announcing the Toucanet Release Party October 10th at Lund's in the Village of Arroyo Grande, specials, and other news. Find us on Facebook and of course please check in on our website to view special deals or new releases.

The weather has been colder than I'd hope for this summer, but a heat wave is coming later this week. I'm thinking late September for the first grapes from our state vineyard. We've been focused on getting ready for harvest, but we still have some work to do in the winery racking our 08' wines. I'm feeling good after knee surgery and getting stronger every day.

Hot Day on the Central Coast...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:25:00 +0000

Today the heat arrived in force and the grapes are soaking it up. The LaBrea fire is growing out of control about forty miles south-east of us and the wind is kicked-up. Were all hoping CDF gets control soon! I'm enjoying a little time spent inside recovering from a little knee surgery and getting strong for harvest.

Last week we ran up to the bay area to fetch the grape-brandy (shown here in stainless steel storage) for this year's Toucanet. Our first release of Toucanet which spent up to 22 months in fine oak barrels will be available next month. Our brandy, distilled from our 2006 estate wine, in the initial release - is prepared by St. George Spirits, well known for their Hanger-One Vodka and more importantly the many fine products crafted at this artisan distillery.

The vineyard is netted and we await the ripening of our 2009 vintage.

Vineyard Netted and Ready for the Birds....

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:40:00 +0000

Well, we're not hoping for birds but we get our share. And yellowjackets too. It's that time of year and this time the netting was done with the help of the crew from the Huasna Valley Farm. These folks chipped in and made it all look simple - I drove the tractor and they did the rest!

Today, I worked with Terrie to fine tune the ends of the rows by adding bricks to pull back the nets from the fruit. Birds will team-up and weigh down the nets to get access to the ripe fruit. Those birds know every trick in the book - and were working to keep one step ahead. Yellowjacket traps are set, Terrie has about 12 traps that she keeps filled with cat or dog food. Seems to be working great right now.

A dry year and now very windy. Not hot, but mild and dry. Should be an outstanding year for our estate wines.

We also have a bunch of new pictures for the series "Where Did You Wear Your Toucan Wines Hat". This is a picture of Dave Smith, of St. George Spirits - this is the high-end distillery we use to produce brandy from our estate wines and for our Toucanet.

To view additional pictures, join us on Facebook - click here. To get your own Toucan Wines Hat, visit our website.

Nearly four weeks into July,,,

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:59:00 +0000

Here at Toucan Wines we've had some warm days and cool nights, typical for this time of year. It's been a dry growing season and the vines have produced an average sized crop of what I believe will prove to be outstanding quality. The vineyard is just about ready to net from bird damage, a final step which I hope to get done with a lot of help on August 2nd

This week we bottled our premier release of Toucanet, 300 six-pack cases of 500ml traditional Porto bottles will be released in early fall. Learn more about Toucanet by clicking here. This wine spent up to 22 months in 4 great barrels and the result is very special... you need to taste it for yourself!

Preparation for harvest has started with the ordering of fermentation materials and cleaning. Lots of details at this stage and we still have a few bigger projects to complete before harvest begins. Soon, I plan to rack all the 08' wines and settle on our barrel regiment for the 09' vintage.

Vineyard and Winery Update

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:15:00 +0000

With the vineyard tying done, the vineyard freshly mowed (hopefully for the last time this season) and having just sprayed -- I can turn my energy to the winery. Oh yea, I have some hoeing still to do :=(

Our vineyard is looking good and the crop appears to be normal or slightly larger than normal. Once the fruit turns, we'll walk through and crop-thin where needed. The mild, but dry, weather may extend the growing season unless we see warmer days in July. I worry this time of year about cluster burn from the sometimes 105 degree days we get during a heat wave.

In the winery, I have everything ready for bottling the Toucanet. The wine's been racked, samples went to the lab, Nitrogen tanks are filled, corks arrived, additional bottles and boxes arrived. Now it's just a matter getting the wine into bottles. The 08' wines are resting in barrels and developing nicely.

Tying and Thinning the Vineyard...

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:43:00 +0000

We're nearly down to the last acre of tying and thinning, it's been very warm the last two days and we're both dragging. The fruit looks great and I'm hopeful for a full crop of the highest quality. After several weeks of cooler weather, these couple of days take some getting used to.

Toucan Wines June 09' Newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:31:00 +0000

Here's our latest newsletter for your reading pleasure. Note in the newsletter the LAST CALL for Toucan Cuvee and Estate Petite Sirah.

The Wine List of Summit, NJ

noreply@blogger.com (TOUCAN WINES) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:55:00 +0000

In Summit, New Jersey, The Wine List of Summit is a fine wine shop where we met Neil and enjoyed sharing our story and wines. Here’s you’ll find both our estate Zinfandel and estate Petite Sirah.