RACKING THE WINE

One important step in winemaking is called "racking the wine." As wines age, some sediment drops down and collects at the bottom of the barrel. This sediment is called lees. The lees can add wonderful flavors and aromas to the wine if handled properly, but if left too long at the bottom of the barrel, it can also cause issues. The racking process involves siphoning off the wine from the barrel into another container, leaving the lees behind. The lees shouldn't be left on the wine for more than a few months. Most winemakers rack their wines at least 3 to 5 times. The wine is racked as many times as necessary to remove all the lees and when this is accomplished and the specific gravity is 1.000 or lower, the wine is ready for bottling.

Racking takes time and effort, but is not all that difficult... especially when you have several little helpers like we do!

TANIS Vineyards and TNT Dynamite RED in the news!

TANIS Vineyards and our TNT Dynamite RED were featured in the business section of the Ledger Dispatch this past Friday!

The article follows:

Tanis Vineyards features wine tasting, vineyard in Ione
Friday, February 22, 2008
By Marcia Oxford


Jill Tanis designed the TNT Dynamite Red label.
Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger Dispatch

The first weekend of February saw the opening of Tanis Vineyards, the latest winery to join the ranks of quality producers in Amador County.

Winemaker Andrew Tanis and his wife Jill launched their winemaking venture a decade ago when they began planting a quarter of an acre in Elk Grove where they lived. Andrew, a home winemaker at the time, explained, "We planted numerous varietals to understand how they grew. I also got all the textbooks I could from UC Davis to learn about grape growing and wine making."

Five years ago, the couple built a house and moved to Willow Creek Road in Ione and began following the lessons learned from their Elk Grove experiments. Before they could plant vines, though, they had to clear their land of liberal quantities of poison oak, whose distinctive leaves are featured on some of their labels. "As I was making wines, a couple of winery people told me I was making a really good wine and should consider selling it to the public," Andrew noted. "I owe a lot to people like Steve and Jamie Concannon at Convergence Vineyards and Mark McMaster at Nua Dair for helping along the way."

Tanis Vineyards produces Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Sangiovese, Primitivo, Syrah, Barbera, Cabernet Franc and TNT Dynamite Red, a blend which Andrew said differs every year since they began crafting it. "Reception has been phenomenal," Andrew continued. "Everyone likes all the wines because they're smooth and full-bodied."

"The TNT Dynamite Red is one of our top sellers because it's very good and people chose it especially for Valentines day," Jill said. Likening their personal experience in wine production to vines that endure harsh conditions to produce exceptional wines, she continued, "Tanis Vineyards began as a dream and a plot of land covered with an intimidating patch of poison oak. Five years later, with hard work and perseverance, it has been transformed into something special. Andrew loves his craft, because winemaking involves a blend of art and science that he finds exciting."

Jill has a background in information systems management and since 2000 has operated Tanis Design, providing Web and graphic design to clients; her favorite design is their TNT Dynamite Red label. The Tanis main label concept was also her creation, finished by a local artist. Early on, Andrew lost and never retrieved his wedding ring in the vineyards while hand-pressing grapes. The label, on which a ring wreaths around grape leaves, is a symbolic reminder that although there is loss in life, the important things endure forever, Jill observed. The couple are parents to five children, ages 6 to 19.

Tanis Vineyards, at 13120 Willow Creek Road, is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information, call 274-4807 or visit http://www.tanisvineyards.com.