2008 Harvest Report

2008 Harvest

The 2008 harvest ended a few days before Halloween and one week before the elections. What an eventful year in so many ways.

In the California vineyards it has been quite a year as well. The early season frosts gave way to an ideal warm dry summer, followed by a heat spike in early September that pushed ripening on the Sonoma Coast and in the Russian River Valley. Our harvesting and fermenting went smoothly and our Split Rock and Lone Oak Pinots and our Napa Valley Cabernet are now resting in French Oak.

We’re excited to have completed our first harvest season. Our winemaker friends tell us that every season has its challenges and you have to be on top of your game and prepared to adjust to meet such challenges. We were lucky this year- there were very few challenges. The fruit looked and tasted spectacular. We double sorted carefully so all of the fruit going into fermentation was in top condition.

For both of our Pinot vineyards we picked Dijon clone 667 fully ripe. We will later blend with other Pinot clones to add depth and complexity. The wines emphasize darker fruits and are packed with layers of hedonistic jammy flavors. The big fruit is balanced with good acidity and relatively high alcohol levels, adding sweetness and viscosity. It is unapologetically big New World style wine but not over the top or out of balance.

Until next spring the wine will rest in barrel and our work will be to monitor, taste and top off the barrels as necessary. In the spring we will blend wine made from other Pinot clones with the 667 base wine. Another six months in barrel and then we will bottle and be ready to ship our first vintage of Pinot Noir. The Cabernet will spend another year in the barrel and be ready to bottle and ship in the fall of 2010.

The second harvest season begins immediately after we bottle our Pinot. And the seasons…they go round and round….

Cheers,

Dave