Our Process
Calicaro is a small boutique winery. We make extremely small quantities of exceptional wine. Our wines have a high degree of concentration and complexity but still retain suppleness and balance (we think of them as doing weight training at the club but taking yoga classes too).
We carefully follow a process consistent with our philosophy of wine making.
First Step:
We select vineyards that meet our specific criteria. We love vineyards that have slightly cooler climates for slower maturation and long hang time, depleted, well-drained soils and devigorating root stocks that will produce small yields of concentrated fruit. Vines need to struggle a bit to produce great fruit and we look for vineyards that can make that happen.
Second Step:
We select specific blocks within the vineyards that will be managed intensively to produce the highest quality fruit. Management practices include the close planting of vines, growing multiple clones, rigorous leaf and fruit management, including trimming of vines to provide sun to grapes and culling or dropping of a large portion of the immature fruit to increase concentration in the remaining fruit. We want quality over quantity. Some of our vineyards produce as little as two tons per acre versus an industry average of 4-6 tons per acre.
Third Step:
We select growers and vineyard management teams that will manage for these specific results. It takes rigor and discipline to manage for quality over quantity. It requires a long term view. We work with people who know and understand this and back it up with long consistent track records. Our vineyard managers are careful, meticulous and innovative. When possible, we select managers who use organic and sustainable practices. We seek to build long term partnerships with our growers and managers.
Fourth Step:
We carefully monitor maturation in the vineyards to pick at the peak moment, often doing multiple fruit picks, as dictated by the ripening rates of the different clones and micro climates within the vineyard. We hand harvest during evening and early morning hours and hand sort. We handle the fruit gently and carefully to preserve peak condition.
Fifth Step:
We use whole berry or whole cluster if possible. If we do decide to crush, we do so very gently. We cold soak and ferment in small bins. We punch down multiple times per day during the fermentation process. We make our wines in very small batches – one barrel at a time - with constant care and attention.
Sixth Step:
We age the wine in a mix of new and used top quality small French oak barrels, selecting our oak from a wide range of coopers to match it to the wine. Our barrel aging ranges from about 11-24 months depending on the wine.
Seventh Step:
For our single vineyard designations, we want a full true expression of the specific vineyard terroir and varietal. This is true of all of our single vineyard designated Pinot Noirs and other varietals. We also want complexity and achieve this in part by making wine from different clones of the fruit across our blocks within the single vineyard. We perform careful and extensive blending trials to achieve our specific style- big, but balanced. On our Pinots this will typically involve at least three clones and perhaps as many as six or seven, using both traditional Burgundian clones and the newer Dijon clones.
Eighth Step:
We bottle our wines using natural cork. For certain of our wines, we may provide additional aging time in the bottle prior to release of the wine. All of our wines are stored in climate controlled conditions and will be shipped to you at times when we know the wine can travel safely without overheating (fall, winter and spring).
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