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• 2007

September

We began harvest in the Napa Valley on September 1st.

The best way to celebrate Labor Day is to … crush fruit, of course. The warm weather from the last week in August barely let up on the 31st and September opened with sustained heat and dryness. Where’s the fog? Well it ain’t here! It has been hot all week, with highs of 103 degrees in Oakville and 105 degrees in Alexander Valley on Thursday. Without the hydration of the occasional foggy morning, the grape berries have dehydrated without raisining, reminiscent of 2002 vintage. This is giving us very low yields relative to our veraison cluster weight calculations and very concentrated juice in tank.

We began picking in Alexander Valley on September 1st with our Miraval Ranch. We picked there all week, as well as bringing in fruit from the Cloverdale hills, the area leading up to the Geysers and a ranch on West Soda Rock Road opposite Miraval. Colors are dark, black fruit characters are intense and the juices are happily fermenting. Next week, we will finish Miraval and move onto Red Tail Vineyard. It looks like it will be a compressed vintage.

We’re back! On September 1st we crushed our first fruit at the new Oakville facility and we are thrilled to be back and to see our new sorting tables, crusher and tank room in action. We started with Cabernet from St. Helena, brought in some Merlot from Soda Canyon Ranch, Cabernet from Jump Rock and a few growers’ vineyards. The Napa wines are also rich and concentrated, and contentedly filling the new fermentation room with the heady smells of fermentation. Next week we will concentrate on Soda Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon and perhaps start on the Cabernet Franc.

The marine layer finally returned this week and cooled things down significantly. In Alexander Valley we went from a high of 105 degrees last Friday to a high of 70 degrees on Tuesday! The thick fog allowed the grapes to rehydrate; berries swelled, sugars and acids dropped and picking slowed as we waited for the fruit to come back into perfect equilibrium.

In Alexander Valley, we completed harvest of our Miraval Ranch and continue bringing in hillside fruit from the Cloverdale and Geyserville areas. Fermentations are progressing well and we will be ready to press our first tanks on Monday. We anticipate beginning on our Red Tail Ranch early next week. The wines are very dark in color, and bursting with concentrated fruit aromas and flavors.

In Oakville, we concentrated on Cabernet Sauvignon from our Soda Canyon Ranch this week, as well mountain Cabernet from the Atlas Peak area. We also brought in Petit Verdot from Napa and Rutherford. We are very excited about our new facility and especially about our new crusher and sorting equipment. The fermentations are healthy and happy (how could they be otherwise in this wonderful new tank room) and we are very pleased with the intense character of the vintage. Next week will see us press our first tanks and crush more Cabernet Sauvignon and begin on Cabernet Franc.

Ok, enough already! Bring us some sun! When it’s hot we yearn for the cooling fog and then when we get our wish, we long for the sun. The fog and overcast staid in for most of the week with a respite on Thursday, followed by a few showers on Friday. Once we get the bit in our teeth we like to keep picking, so it is frustrating to back off. Truth is the foggy mornings, cool temperatures and mild precipitation have allowed the remaining vineyards to take a breather and allowed us to press some tanks and make room for the rest of the harvest. There is no point rushing Mother Nature and the forecast calls for clear warm weather beginning on Sunday for a solid week, so I expect we will see maturities jump and harvest resuming early next week.

In Alexander Valley, we began picking our Red Tail Ranch. Our first Miraval tanks completed primary fermentation and achieved the smooth tannic balance we seek, so we began pressing. We hope to resume picking at Red Tail on Tuesday or Wednesday.

In Oakville, we brought in two blocks of Cabernet Franc and one of Cabernet Sauvignon from our Soda Canyon Ranch. We picked another section of our Jump Rock Ranch. We also began pressing with two Merlot tanks and a few of the early Cabernets. We have quite a bit of fruit in the south county that may need more time than next week to get to ideal maturity, but we will see how it responds to the promised heat. I sure hope the forecast for warm, clear weather is accurate; only time will tell.

The weather started to turn on Sunday and by Monday we were fog free with beautiful warm sunny days peaking in the low to mid nineties – perfect ripening weather. As expected, the berries that appeared to not be ripening at all last week had a magical jump in sugar. This is due certainly to sugar being manufactured in the leaves, but also to the water balance changing in the berry so that the concentration increases. There is a significant change predicted in weather next week, probably beginning on Wednesday with 30% chance of rain then and 40% on Friday. These are still considered long range forecasts and can change in timing and intensity, but it sure looks like we’ll get some precipitation. While Justin always said, “Don’t ever rush your pick because of a prediction of rain,” if the fruit is ripe, it would be plain foolish to leave it out there. So we are tasting everything that is over 22.5 Brix and if the skin is soft, the flavors are ripe and the seeds are brown we’ll get them in by Tuesday.

In Alexander Valley, we saw significant ripening at our Red Tail Ranch and began systematically picking the blocks as they ripened. Pressing continues as the wines go dry and the tannins smooth out, usually the 15th to 21st day after pressing. The wines are dark and rich and I am very impressed with the vintage so far.

In Napa Valley, ripening was a little slower, but by the end of the week, we began to see some vineyards achieve maturity. We brought in the last of the Cabernet from Jump Rock. The Napa wines have a slightly different personality than those of Alexander Valley this vintage. Colors are very good and the flavors are complex with elegant and varied aromatic components that I think will be very compelling in the final blend.