This is a big week for us, the big payoff for the year. We’ve had great weather and the fruit is beautiful.

The Calera Pinot Noir selection did come around in flavor intensity, and it was worth the wait. It came off yesterday, with sugar in the low 24 degrees Brix (approximate percentage of sugar) range.

We had a little bit of rain yesterday, too minor to do much, a drizzle more like a heavy dew. It may have softened the skins a little, so we’re ready to harvest the Donum block that we were waiting for today. All the Pinot Noir should come off this week, and we’ll probably take in our Chardonnay early next week.

Normally our vineyards ripen and are harvested in order of … More…

We’re still waiting. Our Calera Pinot Noir clone has ripe skins, the acids are starting to drop and the sugars haven’t moved much, so we’re waiting for a “pop” in the fruit, a flavor shift. Will it still come?

It doesn’t always happen. We may not get a flavor shift in the vineyard, but then it will eventually come out in the wine. Or we can have beautiful ripe fruit flavors, but the skins are still green.

Last year we had flavors appear early, disappear and then reappear. We really don’t have that much experience with long hang time. Kenneth probably has more from his winemaking in Oregon.

Because our moderate weather has persisted, the question is, if you don’t really need to pick, at what point … More…

After a week of heat in the mid- to high-90s in Carneros, and 100-plus temperatures in Sonoma, I find it interesting that we haven’t picked very much, and we will probably wait until the week after next to harvest most of our crop.

Others have had to pick, but not us. Our sugars were at 21 to 22 degrees Brix (approximate percentage of sugar) when the heat came and now we’re at about 23. We saw a little bit of dehydration, but on the whole there weren’t huge shifts, the canopies are healthy and the fruit is beautiful. We walked our Russian River vineyard on Tuesday, and it looks wonderful, too. Our two Dijon Pinot Noir selections are holding nicely in the high 23 Brix range.

Nabor commented that when the fruit is at 21 to 22, it’s so healthy and intact that it can withstand heat, perhaps because the … More…

We hear a lot about terroir these days. In my humble view, the vineyard site produces terroir, which is the unique quality of that specific place. Terroir shows itself in wine, certainly in Pinot Noir, but you can over-ride it.

You can create wines from one place that seem like they are from any place.
Usually in warm vintages, very ripe grapes are the biggest culprit. For example, the 2003 Burgundies all taste very much the same.

To capture terroir, that has to be your goal. Often, at 26 degrees Brix and above, you will lose it. By cranking up the sugars and ripeness, you can negate the effects both of vintage and terroir.

Yes, I think soil is the major contributor to terroir (although terrain and climate play large roles as well), but … More…