February 13, 2014 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 17 (17 of 44 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
February 13, 2014 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
BUSINESS NE'00'S
Locals find
truth in wine
By LLOYD MULLEN
lloyd@masoncounty.com
This year, a crew of four, Jacy and Scott Griffin
and Brian and Jacquie Peterson owners of Mosquito
Fleet Winery in Belfair, placed 23rd among the top
100 wines in the Northwest, as voted by the website
Great Northwest Wine.
The two families have worked together in other
business ventures, but none took off as well as Mos-
quite Fleet Winery, Brian said.
The couples traveled to Napa and Sonoma in the
California wine country in 2007. Brian said they
enjoyed the wines.
"We could do this," he said. "We looked at each
other and said, 'Yeah, let's do it.' "
In 2009, the families started their first crush.
Brian, the head winemaker, traveled to vine-
yards around the Northwest to learn more about
the process.
"We've built wonderful relationships with some
growers in Eastern Washington. Some of them in
the Yakima Valley area, Red Mountain, Walla Wal-
la," Brian said.
He attended winemaking classes at the Univer-
sity of California, Davis.
"(Brian's) not a shy guy. Brian called the wine-
makers to ask questions," Jacquie said.
"I started picking their brains about what they
did. I learned a lot from a lot of different people.
Little pieces. Peter Prager from the Sweet and For-
tified Wine Institute of America took me under his
wing and coached me a lot. Asked me questions and
challenged me," Brian recalled.
After the first year, the families began increasing
their production. In 2009, they produced 200 cases. In
2010, they made 850. In the past two years, they have
produced 1,280 cases of wine.
In the tasting of their wines, one of the most over-
looked pieces, according to Brian, is the nose of the
wine, otherwise known as aroma.
"I think a lot of times we need to take a little longer
to let wines open up and smell a lot more before we
taste them. That (letting them breathe) impacts your
flavor profiles a lot. It's important to take your time
and taste it to see what comes out," Brian explained.
When he's tasting, Brian counts to six to sense the
different notes and varietals.
"The first thing that hits you is the midpallet, then
the big finish: How much tannins are left on for a long
finish that stays in your mouth after you've even swal-
lowed. You get better with it in time," he said.
Those notes are brought about by several processes,
but it starts with the fruit.
"We never let our grapes sit," Jacquie said.
"We pick out all of the raisined (dried) fruit -- every
leaf, every stick," Brian said.
"We hand-sort to a great degree before it goes into
our de-stemmer. We pull out all of the little jack stems
the best we can. That makes for a cleaner ferment,"
he added.
The winery then lets the grapes ferment for a few
days. Either in a cold-soak, or warm soak. The cold
soak, Brian said, brings in the color from the grape
skins. They then chill the grapes with dry ice.
"About the third day well warm it up and ferment.
We're really picky about the ferment temps," Brian
said.
Keeping the grapes cool will preserve the nose, he
said. If the temperature rises, the flavor will be more
complex.
Once the wine makes its way into the barrels, it sits
there for 22 weeks. It's a tedious process, Scott said.
"We learned the difference that a barrel makes in a
wine. Brian will take them through the same juice and
put them in different barrels or the same barrel with
different juice. Even the years will change the flavor,"
Jacquie said.
There are three types of bums they use in their
wine barrels -- light, medium and dark.
The lightest keeps the sugars in the French oak
barrels. This gives the wine more flavor from the bar-
rel. The more the barrel burns, the more the sugar
comes out.
"The heavier you go, leather, tobacco -- the stron-
ger smoke flavors (are) more powerful. These toasts
will affect the flavor profiles we impart into the wine,"
Brian said.
It's more than a name
The Mosquito Fleet Winery got its name from
Washington ferries that emerged in the 1840s.
"Its a great story and a rich local history. We could
continue making wines and never run out of boats to
use," Brian said.
The original fleet that the winery displays on its
bottles eventually became the Washington ferry sys-
tem, according to Jacquie.
"Retelling the local history is something people
have really enjoyed. It's been a fun piece -- sticking
with the nautical theme," Brian said.
The best part of their business venture, according
to Brian, is the tremendous local support.
"We've got a lot of people enjoying a local winery.
Participating in the crush, from jumping in when
we're bottling. Especially lately. We've started serv-
ing out of the serving room since May. A lot of local
pride. Families bringang in their friends to test the
local winery. It's been a lot of fun," Brian said.
The winery had its annual wine-tasting Feb. 8.
Mosquito Fleet Winery
Where: NE 21 Old Belfair Hwy in Belfair
What: Six new releases from 2011
-Cabernet sauvignon
-Meritage
-Cabernet frank
-Syrah
-Griffersen reserve
Journal photos by Lloyd Mullen
TOP: Owners of Mosquito Fleet Winery Brian
and Jacquie Peterson and Scott Griffin stand in
front of a new batch of barrels in late January;
MIDDLE: Four wines and one port are on display
in the front of the shop; BOTTOM: Wine presses
through the top of a barrel in the 22 week aging
process.
Mason County Journal- Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014 - Page A-17
i i