Winemaker's Journal

October

Napa Valley Cellar Master Joe Ramirez takes a break between bins.
October 3

There was a big weather change at the end of this week. We started out in the high 90’s with dry, sunny weather, but by Thursday it was overcast with a significant storm moving in Friday night. When the forecast is 100% chance of rain on Friday night, I guess it means it’s going to get wet. This was an improvement over last week’s long range projection which had the rain starting on Wednesday. We were able to pick all the ripe fruit that was out there which put us in a very good situation to “weather the storm.”

In Alexander Valley, we finished crushing with a few vineyards from the area. We pressed a number of tanks as they went dry and the AV crew is quite happy with themselves, as they deserve to be. The wines are great, by the way: dark, rich and full-bodied.

In Napa Valley, we brought in fruit from the Rutherford, Yountville and Napa areas. We continued to press tanks, and our first tank completed malolactic fermentation. The Napa wines are extremely rich and the many different mountain vineyards in our stable are showing beautiful concentration and exotic black fruit character. We have three vineyards from the south part of the county still to pick and they represent about 5% of our crop. They are on well drained soils and should recover quickly from any precipitation. Rainfall amounts are expected to diminish to the south, so I am hoping that these vineyards will not receive significant rainfall.

October 10

The storm over last weekend was much less severe than feared and precipitation amounts diminished as the storm moved south. Whereas Cloverdale received over an inch of rainfall, Oakville and south Napa received less than a quarter of an inch. Fortunately for us (or was it brilliant planning?), all our remaining fruit is in southern Napa county. Sunday was cool, but by Monday temperatures were in the low to mid eighties and rose to close to 90 on Wednesday before cooling slightly on Thursday and Friday.

In Alexander Valley, we continue to press tanks as they go dry. Our first tanks completed malolactic fermentation and were racked off the heavy lees.

In Napa Valley, the warm weather dried out the few vineyards left to pick and started to reconcentrate flavors. Canopies are weakening though, and the sugar accumulation was very slow. We will resume picking early next week and, depending on the weather, could finish by week’s end. In the meantime, we are pressing tanks as they go dry and the tannins taste smooth. The wines are balanced and show exquisite black fruit and floral characters.

October17

After a cool weekend, the weather warmed into the low to mid-eighties early in the week and peaked at just over 90 by Friday. The nights were cold, but there was no fog and the dry warmth brought the last of the fruit to maturation.

We crushed the last grapes of the season at Oakville on the 17th and thus concluded our first crush at the new winery. We are all very impressed with the smoothness of this first campaign and our (somewhat sticky) hats are off to the designers and contractors who put this facility together. We continue to press tanks as they go dry and the tannins reach silky smoothness. We will press our last tank in the middle of November to conclude the harvest season.

We continue to press tanks in Alexander Valley as they reach a balancing point, typically between the 16th and the 25th day on the skins. We should be done pressing by October 24th. Our first tanks have completed malolactic fermentation and have been racked off the primary lees.

This will be my last harvest report. I hope that they have been informative and have given you a sense of participating in what has been a challenging, but ultimately, very rewarding vintage. The quality of these 2008 wines is extraordinary and will be a testament to the value of hard work and perseverance for years to come.