Winery Happenings . . .
Crafting a great wine doesn’t depend on harvest alone. Behind every bottle lies a continuous process of analysis, quality control, and thoughtful decision-making that guides the wine throughout its evolution. Activities include virtual blending sessions to define the wine’s style, continuously improving the Good Manufacturing Practices, and technical tastings of the 2026 vintage where we begin shaping our wine’s future. These are different stages of the journey, but they all share the same purpose: crafting wines that faithfully express their origin while honoring each owner’s vision and maintaining the highest standards of quality.
Virtual Blending
Sometimes we cannot get to The Vines to blend our wines in person. So, instead, we blend virtually. In fact, our inaugural 2020 vintage was blended virtually. At the winery, samples of our wines, along with a selection of blending components for possible blends, are carefully prepared by the team and sent to us. Every sample is prepared in duplicate: one set is sent to us; the other remains at the winery, ensuring that Mariana and we are tasting the same wines during the session. When we receive the samples, we go online with Mariana and do what we’d otherwise do in person: explore different possibilities, exchange ideas, and make winemaking decisions together, always respecting our vision and the vineyard’s unique character.
Good Manufacturing Practices
We are pleased by The Vines’ commitment to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). They’ve begun work toward their third GMP certification, focused on maintaining and strengthening this important quality standard. The team is currently monitoring the critical stages of winemaking, aging, and bottling, ensuring full traceability and compliance throughout every step of the process. The goal is for every bottle produced to meet the same standards of quality, safety, and consistency that define our wines. Certification is not a finish line, but an ongoing commitment to continuous improvement throughout the winery.
Tasting and Decision-Making
The winemaking team has begun tasting the wines from the 2026 vintage, one of the most important stages of the year. At this point, they’ve begun evaluating the evolution of each wine to define the next steps, including varietal expression, blends, aging programs, and barrel use. Every decision considers aromatic profile, structure, balance, and expression of terroir, together with the goals established for our wine. Despite the challenges of the 2026 harvest, our winemaking team is pleased with the quality achieved and excited by the potential our wines are already showing at this early stage of their evolution.
