It was our first weekend off together in what seems like a zillion years, so Bridgett and I enjoyed our time together and I missed the winter barrel tasting at San Juan Vineyards. My weekend off with my wife was priceless and I knew I could go out and visit Chris another day and taste some wines from barrel. I poked my head in the barrel room and found Chris doing some testing on the '09 Cab Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese. He was testing the alcohol levels of the wine after they were finished with malolactic fermentation. This is the process where wine goes through a secondary fermentation turning the much harsher malic acid into the much softer and approachable lactic acid. Chris poured me a sample of each of the wines which are in the infant stage of their career. I have to tell you that we are in for a treat with the Merlot and the Cab. The perfume on the nose of the merlot was incredible, and at this stage of development I was quite impressed with the flavors that I The detected in the wine. Both the cab and merlot were soft yet structured with excellent balance and potential. Both these wines are screaming gold medals already. The sangiovese was at a funky stage where it had the nose of burnt popcorn and cabbage. Hard to tell at this stage how it would turn out. The mouthfeel was excellent and I am sure that Chris will perform his magic and we will have another wine to be proud of from our local vineyard. The cab franc is also at an awkward stage but I detected some very nice possibilities in this wine with a very rich body and soft tannins. I believe cab franc will catch on fire here in Washington State and I am happy that San Juan Vineyards has made a commitment to this varietal. We have an outstanding winery on our back porch here in the San Juan Islands and if you haven't visited the facility yet I highly recommend it. Stan