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| Sunrise on Harvest Morning at Marston Family Vineyard |
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| Harvest Bins |
In
what has quickly become routine, or
perhaps quirky superstition, I enjoy
walking amongst the fruit at dusk the evening prior to harvest and reveling in
the efforts of the past growing season. In this day in age it’s particularly
rewarding to witness the fruits of our labor,
and feel a strong sense of pride in the quality of our grapes. Make no mistake, as important,
or critical, as we may think we are
to the vines, our abilities are
secondary to the mercy of Mother Nature and her natural landscape, and to that end we are extremely fortunate to have
the opportunity to grow grapes in the beautiful Napa Valley.
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| Barrel Fermentation |
Perhaps
it’s become a common misnomer, but “harvest”
by no means signals the end; rather,
it marks the transition from grape grower to winemaker. Whereas our
viticulturist has traded his weather reports from Saint Helena for Lake Tahoe,
our winemaker has replaced his golf clubs with a clipboard and calculator. Led by
the remarkable Marbue Marke, our cellar
team is buckled down and full steam ahead. Our first fruit came from four
different hillside terraces on the property,
and each block will be fermented separately in oak barrel to complement its
character. Each year we employ the use of both oak and stainless steel tanks
for fermentation depending on the vineyard location,
fruit quality and growing season. Fortunately,
2012 has been a relatively predictable year,
and has allowed us to follow our winemaking program with only minor variation.
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| Cabernet Sauvignon |
With
roughly 50% of our grapes harvested and undergoing natural fermentation, the balance of our fruit is still hanging in the
vineyard. The microclimates and location of the remaining vines combine to make them later ripening sites, and we made the decision to allow the mountain skins to
continue to ripen ever so slightly to complete the ideal flavor profile. We did
experience light rains that dropped roughly 1.22 inches over a 4 day
period, and as expected the fruit
held up remarkably well. In fact,
walking the rows suggests that the rain actually cleaned up the clusters of any
dust and made them shine with their beautiful purple hue. The forecast for
the next few days is promising, and we
anticipate finishing harvest just in time to don our Halloween costumes and
trick or treat our way through the vines that provided us with yet another exceptional
vintage.
Cheers,
James
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