Aglianico or Ugly Hanako? Help Us Name That Wine.

2009 Aglianico wine. Label from
a 2001 portrait.

The grape is called Aglianico and it's originally from Italy where it's a noble grape and you can find Aglianico wines on wine lists at Italian restaurants in and around New York City that typically sell for $75 or more. We planted Aglianico vines in our vineyard when we couldn't get Nebbiolo the king of Italian grapes.  Sam from Nova Vines (the vine nursery that supplied our certified vines) recommended it and we had tasted Aglianico from Baja Mexico which was good so we said why not.  It's not something that everybody grows and there's nothing wrong with having a niche when it comes to marketing. The Aglianico grape produces a very deep dark rich purple juice, one of the thickest, purplest, chewiest wines you'll every see, at least as it grows in our vineyard in San Diego County. Sam at Nova Vines had it on a moderate root stock that would in theory control vigor because the soil where we were planting it looked pretty fertile and we wanted to slow down the vine's growth. It turned out the soil was not that fertile; it was sandy decomposed granite without clay and water doesn't hold and since the root stock is not aggressive the Aglianico vines have not matured fast.  On the other hand the Aglianico block at the top of the hill is the most tame part of our vineyard and we like the vines which is more than I can say about some of the Tempranillo vines planted over the leach field which are growing out of control into a jungle.

Because it would be several years before our vines (planted in 2007) matured, in the year of our Lord 2009 we decided to purchase Aglianico grapes from Guadeloupe Valley in Baja Mexico because the wine we had tasted from that region was pretty good and this would allow us to begin producing and marketing Aglianico wine. When the grapes arrived I tasted them and detected salt and we discovered I was a super taster for salt. To me, the grapes from the git-go were salty and the wine was salty and I never liked the wine and we contemplated throwing it out but one day at a wine tasting I had it out there and Coyote Karen tried it and said "this is the best wine you ever made" and she said it was "very earthy" and I learned that day she likes earthy wines. I had given a couple of bottles to my ex-boss John from my daytime job who had opened one when a company president he's consulting was dining at his house and I got a phone call from the CEO who said he wanted to order a couple of cases immediately over the phone and he gave me his credit card.

This is proof that what I like is not necessarily what you like when it comes to wine and that's a good thing because instead of dumping this wine we've been selling it and people who like "earthy wines" love it.

The Princess in May, 2013.

The TTB gave us trouble when we tried to design a label for this wine. We wanted to call it 2009 Aglianico but they wouldn't let us call it that because the grapes came from Mexico.  So, we added the appellation Guadeloupe Valley to the label and that wasn't approved. Getting desperate for a label that the Obama Administration would permit I submitted a design for "Ugly Hanako" that was approved. Before there was a TV show called "Ugly Betty" there was an Ugly Hanako and we must now tell you that our daughter, aka the Princess of this blog, is named Hanako which is the most popular girl's name in Japan and means "beautiful flower child."  The vineyardista my wife decided early on to put the princess in charge of the Aglianico vines and she quickly called those vines "uglyhanako" which rhymes with "Aglianico" and reminds us of the frown she made every time we asked her to help us in the vineyard. To make the label, I took a snapshot of a portrait done of the Princess when we were in Paris in 2001 which is the time she had her first flower and was becoming a woman and the artist drew her how she would look when she was 21 although she was only 11 at the time.

How does she feel about having her picture on a wine label called "Ugly Hanako?"  I'll let her answer that. But as there was no harm meant and we know she is a beautiful person we as the parents see no harm and it's worth a good laugh and she's a good sport and seemed to enjoy pouring the Ugly Hanako in the tasting room when she came back from Africa and even autographed bottles. The label reads: "The wine is beautiful and complex just like our daughter" and that's a compliment.

The salty, earthy, briny 2009 Aglianico is almost sold out and in a French oak barrel is aging wine made from our 2010 Estate Aglianico (15 gallons of our first harvest on 4th leaf vines which was a little high in acid), 2011 Estate Aglianico (30 gallons produced from 2011, which is quite good but not enough to fill a barrel). And how did we fill the barrel?  I uncorked and poured wine from bottles and cases of the 2009 Aglianico which I didn't like and which I was ready to through away but I thought it would add some complexity to our estate grown grapes and it did. So those wines, combined with a new French oak barrel and topped with a few bottles of  rich, dark 2012 Aglianico, we have quite an interesting, powerful wine with fruit and acid and body and nose and beginning and middle and finish and it's tasting pretty good and we're getting ready to bottle it and the question is what should we call it: Aglianico? More Ugly Hanako? Something else?

Normally, I would offer to send you a complimentary bottle for suggesting a name we end up using but the last two times we did that the vineyardista ended up in the emergency room so let's just say if you have the honor of submitting a name that we use you're invited to taste it at our tasting room.  Cheers and thank you for your suggestions!

(Winemaker's note August 29 2015 - two weeks ago I opened a bottle of the Aglianico made with our "estate" grapes and my eyes were opened. It is indeed a complex wine, with fruit, acid, beginning, middle and end. At the San Diego Wineries wine tasting event this spring our good friend, mentor, and winemaking teacher Lum Eisenman had a sip, came back for a pour, then, came back for a glass. He was hooked. This wine is unique, special, good, and has grown into something that even the winemaker likes. It is living up to the same great expectations we have for our daughter - and like life itself, just as complex. Cheers!)

("Ugly Hanako" wine is produced by Blue-Merle Winery, located in Escondido, San Diego County, California. It may be purchased by contacting the winery at http://www.bluemerlewinery.com on Twitter @bluemerlewinery and on Instagram @blumerlewinery. As a postscript (9/22/13), the 2013 Aglianico has been harvested and the grapes were beautiful and the new wine is as dark and purple as it ever was. the grapes were harvested at 24.5 brix and we were able to cold soak the grapes for 4 and 1/2 days extracting all of those dark colors and fruit flavors, and then the wine was slowly fermented - in the cool, airconditioned winery, for another 7 days. This year, 2013, as the vines have matured, the crop yield increased. We harvested close to 1,000 lbs and pressed 65 gallons of wine, enough for a barrel. New barrels have been ordered and we will rack the wine into barrels in November, after a "battonage" - stirring up the lees -- in late September or early October. P.S.S. - the 2014 Aglianico harvest produced an amazing dark and full bodied wine. Because the yield was small - about 30 gallons - we blended it with a deep Estate Zinfandel. It's still aging, as is the 2013 as o 8/29/15.  Cheers!)

Good News, Bad News and So It Goes

The good news is it's Saturday morning and it's Spring and the vines have sprung and we just sold $240 worth of wine which is all packed up and ready to ship. Before leaving I open a notice from the IRS and although we paid our corporate tax before January 31st they say the payment was late and they they request us to please pay $267.21 Thank goodness this is the kinder, gentler IRS and they just sent a notice instead of G-Men to confiscate all the inventory.

It reminds me of the time the other month when we sold $240 worth of wine and then went to our supply shop to buy more bottles and more corks which ended up costing $300.

You don't want to do the math because it's not pretty. We're making the most expensive wine in the world and it's costing a lot of money.

1st Shipment To New York City

Dear Wayne,


About that wine I sent you....

You mentioned the New York City wine distributor you know is also the owner of an Italian restaurant so I  included North American wines made from grapevines with an Italian origin. I purchased the grapes grown by Camillo Magoni who immigrated to Baja California from Italy. It is said the cuttings used to plant his vineyard were carried by suitcase from Italy to the hills of Guadeloupe Valley, just over the border from San Diego. We have made a 2006 Nebbiolo from Camillo's grapes that was to die for and I think there are 12 or so bottles left in the world. So it was in 2009 when we kicked into high gear that we contracted to purchase more grapes from Camillo, this time Aglianico and Montepulciano. What I have sent you is a bottle of each: 100% Aglianico (which we call Ugly Hanako since that rhymes with our daughter's name and I had trouble getting my Baja-grown Aglianico label approved by the TTB) and 100% Montepulciano (the so-called "Monty",  because I also had trouble with the TTB with that label if it were called Montepulciano from Guadeloupe Valley). Both wines reflect the tough character of the Mexican soil. Friends of ours have described the Aglianico as "earthy". The Montepulciano is less earthy: its color is lighter, cleaner. You will catch some fruit on the nose. Both wines would pair well I think with rich, hearty Italian dishes.  I will let you and the distributor be the judge. (For my taste, I find the character of the soil salty, although not as salty as your character.)

Opposite the wines whose grapes grew in Mexico is a 2009 Mourvedre whose grapes were trucked to us by Paso Robles Bill. Paso is one of the greatest wine regions in the world and we love the wines produced there and jumped at the opportunity to purchase her grapes. .What surprises me about this wine is its light color (it might remind you of a Pinot) and there are times when I detect the essence of strawberry on the nose.  This is a well balanced wine -- a bit more "fruit" than the others, probably the result of being cold soaked for over a week after harvest, and a slow fermentation that brought out all of the flavors. I have not met a woman who has not liked this wine. It pairs well with appetizers and lighter dishes. I'm curious what the New York distributeur/restrauteur has to say about it. I like it.

The final selection is a wine made entirely from San Diego Grapes.  This wine is still in a pre-release stage and I'm curious (and hopeful) what it will do in the bottle.  Our 2009 "Merleatage" (named after our Blue-Merle Aussie) is made from combining what were full French oak barrels of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Petite Sirah. We also had about 15 gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon as well we had to deal with (which went into the mix), and when I tweaked it, I blended in 10 gallons of our estate Tempranillo to give it more bite. Because more than 3 barrels of wine went into the mix, this is the largest lot of any wine we've made (about 80 cases produced). A reason for sending it to you and the distributor to try is that there is enough to sell, if there is demand. We opened a bottle to test after sending you yours and enjoyed it with the lamb roast I slow-cooked for Easter. The wine was enjoyable, and as I said, we are full of hope and expectation that this one will turn out to be "not too bad" and perhaps, even "pretty good" although not among the best we have ever made. (Those are too few to send to the distributor; we are holding those back for our best customers. However, we will soon start bottling some of the 2010 wines and there should be good ones among them and enough to allocate some to distribution.)

We have a few friends and fans alive and well and living in New York City who would love to be able to purchase our wines so we await your judgement and wish you and your friends an enjoyable tasting because our wine is meant to be shared among friends.

Let's Get Down To Business

The economics look like this:

Some $50,000 invested in the vineyard.
Some $10,000 invested in winemaking equipment & barrels.
A thousand here and a thousand there and finally this has added up to real money.

The weather looks like this:
Nice and cool with bottles aging gracefully in their place.
Summer is a few months away, and heat waves could accelerate aging of some unsheltered bottles.

The inventory looks like this:
Bottles up to our ears.

What to do?
Time to sell some wine.

Other than Australian Shepherd owners, who's going to purchase a premium wine they've never heard of? The solution, make them an offer they can't refuse. So, we're announcing introductory pricing of $15/bottle when purchasing an assorted case. And, as an extra incentive for customers living within driving range, we'll include a bunch of our magnificent yellow pincushion Protea flowers pictured above. We are promoting this special on our Facebook page (targeting local residents) and also via Twitter, using the hashtag #SanDiego to attract local peeps. One of our aims is to be "your personal winemaker." This has certainly worked with family and friends. Now, let's see if we can turn this into a micro business before we run out of room and before the next heat wave.

(Editor's Note: If you're a California resident and would like to learn more about purchasing a case of award-winning, hand-crafted wines for $15/bottle follow this link: http://bit.ly/fXKBq6 )

Wine Delivered to Diocese & Marketing 101

We bottled 20 cases of wine over the Thanksgiving holiday and a "tithe" of the wine (10%) was delivered to the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego on Saturday morning. The Reverend Canon Steve Wendfeldt accepted the gift on behalf of The Bishop. Canon "Steve" had time for breakfast , so over eggs Benedict dripping with extra Hollandaise sauce we discussed "Church Marketing 101". What he said applies just as well to promoting a winery, or a business:

Become known in the community:
* Join the local Chamber of Commerce. Get a link from their website.
* Approach local real estate agents/agencies about exchanging links. Give them your cards, flyer, brochure which they can include in their information for new comers.
* Get a listing on the website of your town.
* Take out a Yellow Pages listing -- make your listing stand out (by reversing the image, etc.)
* Flyers: post them up at community service bulletin boards, at shopping centers, wherever appropriate
* Identify members of the press in the community who would have an interest, and issue press releases, often. (For example, at Grace Church in San Marcos, the members got together this month and provided Christmas gifts for every single child in the local Head Start program -- that's worth a press release. Another example would be the education classes sponsored by University California San Marcos which are held at Grace Church each week). Be sure and understand the correct format each media outlet prefers.
* Use the church to hold events, such as concerts, lectures, classes, etc. If you have a good piano and a suitable space, contact all the piano & violin teachers in the area, and let them know they may use the church for free concerts.
* Hold a youth dance for teenagers, from 9pm - 2 am. Charge $1 or a can of food (to be given to the local food bank) as admission.
* Offer a "Friday Morning Out" for mom's -- where mom can take a couple hours off, leaving her kid(s) at church.
* During the Christmas season, on an appointed Saturday, offer to take care of the kid(s), so the parents can go shopping. Make this available as a service to the community -- not just the membership.
* Design ministry opportunities for retired seniors. For example, contact local schools in the area to see if they would welcome church members as tutors to help kids improve their reading skills.
* If you live in a town with a military base with lots of deployments, consider a ministry for young mothers (whose spouse may be deployed). Example, have the retired folks who love to knit offer a gift of a sweater/clothing for newborns....
* Use the kid's Christmas pageant as an opportunity to practice "all are welcome" by giving parts to all children who attend Christmas services -- even those who are attending church for the very first time. Prepare extra costumes for angels and shepards, and invite any newcomers you see at church that day to participate. (Make sure there are adults on hand who can guide the little ones who haven't participated in the rehearsals.) Publicize the open pageant to the community. Parts for everyone. No auditions required.
* For a "Blessing of the Animals" service, partner with the local ASPCA or animal shelter to get the word out about the event. The co-marketing will work well for both organizations, as both groups care about critters.

These are all great ideas, and we should follow them up at the Blue-Merle Vineyard and our little church in the valley, Grace Church San Marcos. What would you suggest?