The Natural Landscape of Harvest

Sunrise on Harvest Morning at Marston Family Vineyard

With all the pomp and circumstance of harvest related activities complete, and the majority of our neighboring vineyards finished, I’m thrilled to report that we have officially begun harvest at our estate on Spring Mountain. On a pristine Friday morning on October 19^th, the first blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon were picked at Marston Family Vineyard. 

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.

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.

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

Marston Family Vineyard

View from Spring Mountain Vineyard by Ron Rosenbrand, Vineyard Manager

May 2012 Vineyard Update After a very wet and cold March and April, May was beautifully warm to hot. Day time temperatures were mostly in the 80’s and 90’s. We only had one rainy day with only 0.25 inches of rain. This brought the season total to 37.30 inches. This is some 9 inches below normal for the season, but we are in good shape for irrigation water for this year. The warm temperatures pushed vine growth along tremendously. Bloom started two and a half weeks earlier than last year and the year before. The entire bloom process went from start to finish in about 12 days. We are checking fruit set currently and should have a good feel for the degree of success soon. Early indications are quite positive. This earlier bloom puts us on a much more normal pace. If the summer temperatures are fairly normal, harvest times should do the same and we could expect to complete harvest by the end of October. How nice would that be for a change?
Another very noticeable thing in the vineyard is the increase in the number of clusters on the vines this year. We expected an increase in the trellis-converted blocks, but we are also seeing increases in Vertical Gobelet blocks. As always, as long as the weather doesn’t create a major problem, total tonnage this year should be up from the past 4 years.

May has been a very busy month out in the vineyard as is the case every year. But when you have warm weather it pushes us along even faster. During the month, we completed all the suckering and have been very busy mowing down cover crop, undertaking mildew control, tying and training of the vertical gobelet vines, shoot tucking and positioning in the vertical-shoot-positioned trellising, field-grafting some 7000 vines to Malbec, Chardonnay and converting clones in Pinot Noir. The warm weather has helped those grafts take successfully and they are currently taking off. Soon, we’ll start working on leaf removal to get some sunlight on those developing clusters and help get them acclimated to direct sun exposure before the real summer heat begins.
We have begun our insect releases for various vineyard pests including releasing lady bugs for leaf hoppers. The bluebirds have once again taken over the bird houses along with the swallows. There are many, many babies out there which have a tremendous appetite. We have a researcher from UC Berkeley working with the bluebirds. She is doing extensive studies on insect populations and the blue bird’s diet. We will have some great information when she completes this 12 week study. We also have another group of researchers from UC Berkeley studying three different flowering cover crops and the beneficial insects that are attracted to these flowers. This study is in the second of three years. They are also studying bat populations, the species of bats that we have here at SMV and their diet. Interesting stuff. We’ll keep you updated on the results.

Earth Day Meditations from Peju Province Winery

Wine is the consummation of human nature-love. People care so passionately about the quality of the fruit produced to make the wine that the care we take of the vines is unsurpassed in its attentiveness and devotion. In wine, the whole concept of terroir communicates how winegrowing encourages humans to be attuned to the Earth, the systems at work and the interconnectedness of it all. How often do you think about how the climactic conditions your banana withstood affected its flavor(s)? We care more now as a collective society than we did in the recent past about where things come from and how they came to be, but we’re probably not quite there yet in terms of thinking holistically about all of our choices. Anyway, terroir is more than just the soil, the microclimate and the location. It is the mark made by all the aspects of the Earth around that vine. Think: the ‘nurture’ influence on humans in the nature/nurture duality. No two wines will ever be the same and what's more fun than discovering the subtle differences with your palate?

In Rutherford our soil is full of sandy loam. Blocks farther from the Napa River at the back edge of our property produce the most concentrated fruit, as they have to burrow deeper to find a water source.  The little section of vine which grows under the shadow of the Eucalyptus tree behind the winery takes a bit more time to ripen than the rest. The south facing vines ripen more quickly than the north facing vines. There are an infinite variety of observations to make. And again, one discovers these facts through one’s senses. Tasting the grapes and paying attention. Wine is an ode to the human capacity to smell, to taste, to feel, to see, to discover and to enjoy.

I grew up in a society that spends more of childhood in a classroom learning about nature from a book than discovering it at the source itself.  Maybe that’s why being in nature is so precious to me. I experienced its majesty for the first time in early adulthood. It’s been captivating, wondrous and new every time ever since.

I write to you now with my belly in the dirt, splayed out in the middle of the vines, listening to the birds chirp, watching the grasses and the just-sprouted leaves on the vines move in tandem as the wind whispers through them. A spider scurries across my notebook; ants scuttle over tiny clumps of dirt and teeny rocks and miniature sticks along an unknowable but evidently determined path to fulfill their purpose. Contemplating our own ‘purpose’ can feel like an inscrutable burden of our elite human consciousness, but for me, being in nature makes me feel closer to it- whatever it is. The ‘purpose’ of being alive. And it feels almost simple. When the birds sing and perch on the vines and flutter around each other in instinctual patterns, and the wind blows warm, dry air through my hair and across my face, and when as far as the eye can see, plants move like jazz music in the infinite patterns created by the wind. I feel still and at peace. The American conception of what is happiness is a confusing one at times, but nature is always there to remind us of what is real. Perhaps the fact is simply that we exist.

In gratitude, I pledge to be better about using my travel coffee mug (did you know these are called ‘tumblers’?) rather than turning a blind eye to the number of to-go cups I rack up in one week. And I plan to fight against the New Year’s Resolution Syndrome and actually still be in the habit of using said tumbler a few months down the road. Check in with me.

Peju farms certified organically in Rutherford and sustainably elsewhere with CCOF certification on the horizon, has 10,000 square feet of solar panels contributing 36% of our annual energy, composts, recycles, offers incentives to employees to buy hybrid cars, and is generally committed to continually converting our daily practices to always improve on our sustainability. We started using biodegradable flatware when silverware is not a viable option this year. Every little bit really does count. What will you do differently? Starting TODAY!

I'm back at the computer now, but it was nice to take a moment with the Earth to honor her on her  special day. It’s a pretty rich sense of belonging to feel once you tap in to the fact that you are very much a part of this Earth and a part of the whole system and that we are all in this together.

Watched a beautiful movie recently which communicated this visually. ‘Life in a Day.’ Directed by Kevin Macdonald. Produced by Ridley Scott. Distributed by National Geographic Films. Made from 4,500 hours of footage submitted in 80,000 submissions from 192 nations. Watch it.

Thank you, Earth and Nature.

Thank you, Life!

Now go outside and enjoy being alive!

Cheers,

Britt (e-mail me or post a response!) for Peju Province Winery
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Bud-break in Rutherford