Finally Kicking Off the Harvest

Last week marked the beginning of harvest for us here at Spring Mountain Vineyard. As is normal, we started with Sauvignon Blanc, but to confound the doom and gloom of what everyone knows is a late vintage, we were only two days behind the start of last year.

As you can see, (photo) we had the whole crew in to celebrate, and share a glass of bubbly to officially get the year rolling. It’s always a day full of excitement and expectation. The Sauvignon Blanc that came in was from one of our newer plantings, four years old this year, and it is a clone we are very excited about, ENTAV 376. It’s a very fruit forward, small bunch and well-balanced version of Sauvignon Blanc that will work very well in our blends.

The juice is now all in barrels and fermenting away and we are now getting ready to bring in some of our red varietals, starting with Pinot Noir and maybe a little Syrah. We’ve spent a lot of time in the vineyard of late, as you might imagine, and I must say I’m more than a little enthused about what I’m seeing and tasting. Even though this is a later than normal year, we’re already getting some great flavors in our Cabs and Merlots and I’ve got a good feeling we’ll be getting the lion’s share of the reds in before the end of October. Even though we’re hovering around 22 Brix with the Cabs, the flavors are bright and fruity and there is little to no green herbal notes, which is terrific! This could be much like the 2005 vintage, with great flavors and depth and very moderate alcohols, just ripe, balanced, and beautiful wines.

Stay tuned for more updates and I believe more good news!