Winemaking

Enology is the science winemaking. Part art and part science, the study of wine is a passion for Settembre winemaker Blake. With a Certificate in Enology and Viticulture from UC Davis in California, in addition to his PhD in Electrical Engineering, Blake carefully measures and monitors his wine, using a combination of scientific and sensory methods to constantly understand its evolving state. Settembre Cellars strives to craft exquisite wines in a manner that supports a Colorado grape in reaching its inherent potential while letting the vine's seasonal story develop and be expressed. Fermentation in stainless steel tanks allows us to delay press and fully translate a grape’s place to bottle (extended maceration is virtually unheard of in wineries where quick rotation of tanks is demanded by economic influences). French oak barrels are used to achieve an elegant integration of oak and wine. Our wines are unfiltered and bottle-aged prior to release, allowing the wine to properly develop first.

• We've used 100% Colorado Grapes for every vintage. Sourcing from out of state is often easier, and more affordable, but we are commited to Colorado. We believe Colorado Grapes can yield world class wines, & we aim to be among the group of wineries that demonstrate it.
• We Hand Sort our grapes not once, but twice. Only the best clusters reach the crusher destemmer and once crushed the jacks are removed. We work at a slower pace (hours per ton, not tons per hour during crush) but are convinced the attention to detail at this step is important to our final goals.
• Fermentations take place in Stainelss Steel or French Oak barrel to avoid leaching and scalping from plastics.
• All of our reds go through Extended Maceration where pressing off of the skins is delayed, often for up to 2 months, to allow structure and a sense of place to be reflected in the bottle.
• We use a small, and extremely Gentle Press made of stainless steel to extract only the finest free-run and first pressings from the grapes.
• With a precise target of elegance & finesse, new French Oak Barrels are purchased each year to ferment the Chardonnay and then used to age the red wines.
• Our wines are unfiltered, rather time & Patience are used to clarify wines & ensure the nuance makes it into the bottle.
• Our motto, use Science to measure and understand the continual evolution of wine in order to guide the timing of traditional winemaking techniques.
• Our wines are bottled with top of the line, extra long, premium Cork closure. Not only renewable & biodegradable cork allows a wine to evolve in the cellar.
• No wine before its time; we Bottle Age our wines prior to release. Our red and white wines have demonstrated exceptional ability to cellar and improve.