Winery Visit

On the left is where the wine is made with the main vineyard on the right. 

For my winery visit I had the privlidge of visiting "The Canadian River Winery". This was a small winery about 20 min from campus. The winery had a fair amount of vines perhaps about 2 or so acres. We entered the tasting room and were greeted by an older man who turned out to be the owner. My girlfriend an I had fun sampling the different wines and learning about them. I was surprised by how good some of them were.

This is the building where they make their wine, with a small tasting room to the left.

The first one I tried was a 2016 Merlot. This wine was very tannic and much more oaky than any Merlot I had ever had before. This wine also smelled very oaky and had been barrel aged for 2 years. This wine was my girlfriends favorite.

The second I tried and my favorite was a Red Zinfindel. This wine was also very oaky and had been barrel aged for three years. This wine had mild fruit notes, and was not quite as overpowering as the merlot. 

The third was a savignon Blanc - This wine was mildly citric, with light floral and pear after notes.

The fourth was a Cabernet Savignon - The owner said he was a little disappointed with this wine, and that it was very mild and underwhelming. This was due to a bad harvest in 2016 due to freezing in April. The wine was a little less tannic and powerful than most  Cabernet. This was counteracted by the wine being rather oaky and earthy due to being aged in Oak.

I also tried an Oklahoma Riesling - This wine was very fruity and sweet. It tasted like honeysuckle and green grape juice. This is a grape that does really well in the Oklahoma climate. 

Lastly I tried a Dry Riesling - This wine had similar flavors to the other but much less sweet. I bought a bottle of this for my mother. 

Some of the wines they had for sale.

The wine I bought.

After the tasting I was able to take a tour of their facilities. The owner was familiar with the class and was more than happy to explain their wine making process and answer any questions. First they had a quick video that showed an overview of their season and process. The begin pruning in Feburary and the buds begin to break in April. He said it is a nightmare if they have any late freezes during this time period. One reason they are successful is they have soft sandy soil, rather than the hard clay of most of the state. In July they harvest and all the grapes are hand picked. Sometimes, particularly with the savignon blanc they are able to get two crops. After being picked the grapes are put in the freezer to cool them of from the hot Oklahoma sun overnight. This cools the grapes to 45 degrees. Next the grapes are put in the crusher/ de-stemer

Where the harvested grapes are dumped to begin the transformation into wine. 

After this the grapes are put into the press to have their juice extracted. The owner said they can get about 200 pounds of juice with their new machine. The juice is squeezed out and collected underneath. 

The extraction machine with the fridge in the right corner.

The juice is then put into large steel vats where it can be fermented or stored. They had 8 500 gallon tanks and 3 1000 gallon tanks. The time they stay in the vats vary , but some types may stay in the vats for sever months.  After this the red wine is ready to be barreled and the white is ready to be bottled. The white wine can go from grape to sold wine in about 160 days. 

Some of the 500 gal steel fermentation tanks.

The red wines are then but into American Oak barrels to be aged for up to a few years. 

Me and the winery cat in front of some aging barrels. The one by my right shoulder was a 2016 Merlot.

When the wine is ready it is bottled. All of the wine is hand bottled and corked. Two people can bottle about 200 cases in a day. 

Where the wine is bottled and corked. The wine flows from a large vat on the wall to the machine where the bottles are filled.

Overall this was a really fun and informative experience. It was really neat to see first hand how wine is made and what the equipment tooks like. I hope I am able to return when they are harvesting or first making the wine.