"Let the Fun Begin"

I'm excited to report that we will begin Harvest 2010 on Friday Aug 27th with Hudson Vineyards Carneros Pinot Noir. We are starting about a week later than we did in 2009. The grapes are tasting fantastic with delicious flavors and generous acidities.

The fun began last night with the annual Napa Valley Vintners Harvest Kickoff party - we celebrated in the heat!!! of the night at Beaulieu Vineyards’ gardens, with wonderful food, tasty older vintage wines, catching up with old friends and making new ones. Bruce Cakebread said it best, "when we get up in the morning we have to pinch ourselves because we are so fortunate to live and work in such a wonderful place."

The winery has been meticulously prepared. Our interns, some seasoned and some getting ready to experience their first harvest, have been anxiously waiting for this moment. The energy and excitement for harvest is such a rush!!!! I have been in the vineyards each morning for the last few weeks and it looks like Pinot Noir will continue to creep in over the next week to 10 days with us picking up steam after Labor day. We're not sure what we will do with ourselves if we aren't overwhelmed with fruit on Labor day, as our motto around Schramsberg is that Labor Day is a day for laboring.

The fun around Schramsberg never ends and the 2010 Harvest Dress will be revealed on Friday as we ‘toast’ the beginning of harvest. For those of you that don't know, the harvest dress is awarded to someone that makes a mistake, and they have to wear it all day at work for all to see (think Scarlet Letter). The goal is to have as few mistakes as possible, but nobody’s perfect and we all make mistakes. It could even be me that wears the dress. However, I'll do my best to avoid it. The individual that wears the dress the most is proudly rewarded by claiming ownership of the dress (and all the mistakes attached with it) and getting to take the Harvest Dress home as a trophy of their experience at Schramsberg. I'll be posting pictures of the harvest dress recipients throughout harvest so be sure to check back.

Here's to a great Harvest 2010 . It's all in good fun!!!

Keith

(Photo Credit: http://www.hudsonia.com)