On Monday, I walked our estate vineyards in Carneros with Dr. Phil Freese, our esteemed viticultural consultant, as well as with Kenneth and Nabor. Having successfully weathered the first week of this month and its five days of high 90- to low 100-degree temperatures, we decided to take stock of The Donum Estate.

Last week we brought our (early-ripening) Dijon clones in from Nugent Vineyard in the Russian River Valley and also harvested Dijon fruit from the small vineyard around my house located due south of the city of Sonoma.

Yields at both vineyards were very low -  about one-third of normal. Yes, that’s correct, we are off over 60% in tonnage this year. In the Russian River, we had heat with single digit humidity, 7% at the lowest point, which remarkably produced relatively minor dehydration loss. The spring frosts had forced us to thin to promote evenness in crop development, and we had to thin again late in the season for botrytis (Botrytis cinerea, the so-called “noble rot,” but not very noble in Pinot Noir).  Kenneth said the juice he has in the tanks is fantastic, what little there is.

I had thought we would be harvesting in Carneros around September 12-18. The flavors are starting to come in nicely. We got through the hot spell without having to harvest, so now we are presented with the possibility of extended hang time. The purpose of our walk was to see if we should take advantage of that opportunity and whatever risk that entails, or if the fruit could be picked now.

Just to make matters more interesting, there is a slight chance of rain on Friday.
As we tasted, the consensus was that our fruit was almost ready, quite good but not great in terms of flavor development, just in need of a little more concentration. Sometimes the skins felt slightly crisp as we chewed the berries, and the flavors reminded us of an apple or pear just a few days from being fully ripe, no longer green but not quite at the peak of ripeness.

Phil agreed that he tasted a lot that was close but not quite there yet. With foggy mornings and a chance of rain on Friday in the forecast, he was concerned about the high number of small “shot” berries. He cautioned that the small berries tend to be farther ahead in development, and although they are lighter in weight, there are more of them this year. With their smaller size and thinner skins, he was concerned that moisture could cause them to split.

Kenneth agreed that if we see that happening, we’ll pull the trigger. Phil quipped that it would be a good time for the grapes to see the inside of a tank.

I marveled that the clusters were cool and firm to the touch, that they didn’t show much evidence of dehydration. In the wake of the heat wave, the berries filled in again and, amazingly, much of the shriveling has disappeared.

Despite what Phil calls a “diverse population” of grapes on the vines – large, small and a few shriveled from dehydration, which tend to contribute an unwanted jammy character – he said we are sitting on an incredible vintage. With small berries and small yields, we should have great concentration and good acidities.

Kenneth and I joked a lot. He wants to wait a week and I want to pick now. It’s the classic grower/winemaker stand-off and we enjoy the faux fighting with one another as we actually work toward a consensus. We all agree that if we had to pick now, the grapes are in good shape, ready. But with the promise of additional hang time to shift those flavors into high gear, we all feel that’s something we’d like to take advantage of.

We agree that the Roederer and Calera selections could use more hang time, so that if we do begin to trickle fruit into the winery, we could start with the Chalone and Hanzell selections.

Then, in a change of roles, Kenneth admitted that he’s getting antsy and he’s trying to keep his cellar people occupied, while Nabor said we’re not ready and we need a bit more intensity in the fruit.

It’s been an emotional year for Nabor dealing with the effects of two frosts. He admitted being nervous, but he realizes we may have a real opportunity here. We could play it safe and just get the fruit in the winery, but having come to this point, the promise of hang time is enchanting. It could make a good vintage a great one in terms of quality.

We discussed a couple of blocks with “golf balls,” grapes that are dimpled. It seems logical to pick those first. We asked Phil what the fruit looks like in Burgundy when it’s picked, because it’s so much more likely to be beaten up by rain there. Phil said they get to their destination by a different path, achieving more flavors at lesser sugars. I commented that the breakdown of skins occurs earlier there, and he concurred. He said that if you squeeze a berry in Burgundy and rub it between your fingers, it will stain your fingertips completely red. That’s not the case here.

As we continued to taste berries in different blocks, we kept saying we want to give the vines more time. I advocated for four days and Kenneth said let’s check them in a week or so. Then we began fantasizing about taking four days off and flying to Burgundy. Just fly to Paris, drive to Burgundy, walk through a number of vineyards, then turn around and come right home. We were kidding, or were we? Kenneth got out his laptop and began to check airfares. Burgundy is like Oz for us because we always need to take care of our business at the same time of year back here in “Kansas.”

Phil summed up our concerns about waiting: “Is this a gift or a trap?” We concluded that the risks are manageable and the wait is worth it. Phil pointed out that in a year when a number of people were forced to pick by the heat, we have an opportunity to differentiate our wines by waiting. Kenneth said that his instinct is to wait, despite the thumb twiddling in the cellar.

Kenneth and I agreed that we would walk the vineyards together again, probably on Thursday. We recalled how the 2004 vintage was very much the opposite – how we decided to pick before the heat then. Now we have the reverse circumstance. This reinforces our conviction that we can’t farm by calendar or recipe. We need to be completely flexible and in touch with the peculiarities of the vintage. And, as we said in the last post, we always need to be prepared.

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