I love the changing of seasons, and all that comes with the transition of one to the next.  This fall I felt that something was missing from days dominated by football and ever shorter and darker and wetter days.

Having just finished a fascinating book, “The Emperor of Wine” by Elin McCoy (more on this in another post), I became intrigued by the garagistes, a group of innovative winemakers in the Bordeaux region, producing “Vins de garage”, or “Garage wine”.

Maybe what was missing this fall was some sort of hand in the harvest season.  Not being able to join in on the picking, I thought I could at least celebrate the best grapes the state of Washington and try my hand at some garage cabernet sauvignon. 

After selling the idea to a couple friends, by over simplifying and perhaps over romanticizing the process, together we set out to try our hands at making a few gallons of our own wine.  Check out these posts as we have made our way from grapes to wine:

Sorting and Crushing

Primary Fermentation

Pressing

The First Racking

Second Racking and Tasting

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