Wow…what a rain storm!

We knew that we had a chance of rain for Tuesday, so we started to wrap up the picking of Chardonnay last week. We had been holding out for that last little bit of flavor development and on Saturday, finished the Chardonnay pick at Wood Ranch in Rutherford. On Monday we brought in Syrah from the Mt. Veeder district and finished the Merlot from Atlas Peak as well as Howell Mtn districts. We have a little bit of Petit Verdot left on Wood Ranch as well as the Cabernet Sauvignon. I’m not worried about the Cabernet Sauvignon because it has loose clusters and thick skin, which helps protect it from bunch rot. However, the Petit Verdot has a tight cluster, and I think we should pick it as soon as we can get in there. We have a little Mt. Veeder Zinfandel, which should probably come in as well. So what am I not worried about and hope that it succumbs to bunch rot…..WHITE RIESLING!

Freemark Abbey makes a late harvest Riesling called Edelwein (noble wine) Gold. Imagine you are the winemaker. You are diligently walking the White Riesling vineyard, taking samples and appraising the degree of ripeness. You have been observing the vineyard for weeks, watching the green hard berries turn to yellowish green, softening to the touch and developing the ever so pleasant spicy, fruity Riesling flavors. The degree of sugar is around 21.5 degrees brix ready to pick and then, we get a dousing rain storm, leaving everything soaked, including the soil. This scenario happened yesterday. We had a relatively warm rain that is going to be followed by a few days of warming weather, creating the perfect conditions for the parasitic mold botrytis cinerea to grow on the berries. This is the “Noble Rot” or Edelfaule of German fame. After a week of warm weather, following the rain, we will probably observe that the greenish golden berries are turning purple and slightly brownish purple. While this can be a disaster with most wine grapes, often called “bunch rot”, we know that we can make our famed dessert wine “Edelwein Gold”. With a dose of patience, we will let the grapes stay out there longer.

I’ll be walking this vineyard diligently over the next few weeks, to see if the botrytis grows.

Stay tuned…

The Art of the Triple Sort

At Signorello Vineyards, we have been "triple sorting" our red varietals for over six years. We triple sort the grapes to make sure no raisins, stems, rotten bunches, leaves, jacks or anything else besides berries make it into the fermentation tanks.

The grapes are picked at night into 30 lb trays (champagne boxes) which are then dumped one by one onto an elevated conveyor where the crew begins the first step of the process. Crew members stand at the side of the conveyor picking out the leaves and rotten bunches before the grapes are dropped into a destemmer where they are destemmed, not crushed.

From the destemmer, the berries move to a vibrating table (le trieur) where the raisins and green shots (non polinated berries) are removed.

From the vibrating table, the berries move to a third, flat conveyor where the rest of the crew tediously picks out the little pieces of stem, jacks and any remaining leaves. On average, we have at least six to eight crew members working the flat conveyor to make sure the crop is pure before entering the fermentation tanks.

From there, the whole berries, skins and juice are pumped into the fermentation tanks for a 25-30 day maceration period. During this maceration period, the tanks are pumped over and pressed down twice a day to give the juice the best possible flavor and color.

This process is very slow going (about 1.5 tons per hour), but is worth it because the final quality of the wine is so good. We wouldn't have it any other way!

Cheers!

- Pierre Birebent, Vineyard Manager & Winemaker, Signorello Vineyards

One good storm and the cellar's full

So as of 10:30 this morning our trusty Picovale weather station out in G-block here at Montelena had recorded 1.99" of rain, the station at our Chardonnay vineyard just north of Napa showed 2.03", and it is still dumping out there. We all saw this comming and were part of that great scramble that Molly Lippit spoke of in her most recent post. This past Saturday we harvested all 44 tons of our remaining Zinfandel and Primativo in anticipation of today's storm. Here at Montelena we're all about taking our time and waiting for optimal ripeness, but sometimes the correct course of action is to go go like crazy and get the fruit in. The other consequence of this is that the winery is now full, at capacity, and we're having to put wines to barrel as soon as they go dry in order to empty tanks just so that we have that volume to press into. This space crunch isn't surprising though as we are on track to set a record for the largest harvest in the modern history of Chateau Montelena. We were expecting a slightly above average size harvest... Just goes to show that you never know what you're going to get until it is in the tank.

My recommendation for a grey day like today is a warm fire, a good book, a close friend, and a bottle of Chateau Montelena Zin!

Cheers!

Cameron Parrry - Winemaker
Chateau Montelena Winery

Battle of the Palates Winners announced!

Congrats to Eddie, Gillian and Yvonne from PlumpJack Restaurant Group who took top honors at our Battle this morning in SF.

We had about 25 trade and media in attendance and sounds like a good time (and challenge) was had by all. The tasting was quite a challenge, but a great education experience. Nothing like trying to identify grape leaves and juice!

Rain Dance

There's no better way to see an entire industry scramble than to mention a threat of rain while most of the valley's vines are still bearing fruit. Consult the National Weather Service, and we're getting a solid 5-8". Consult weather.com and we've just but a 40% chance of showers. I walked a block with a winemaker who purchases grapes from the Paradigm estate earlier today, and her exasperation seems appropriate to mention here. "I like to imagine all those meteorologists sitting around throwing darts at a board. 'Gonna rain? Sure. How much...well, just hit a number and we'll tell them that.' They have no idea how insane it makes our lives!"

So scramble we will. Our Merlot is ready to harvest, and was a pick that, pre-storm warning, we'd earmarked for a Tuesday arrival. The rain will apparently besiege the valley Monday evening. Alright then, we say, we'll harvest Monday morning and be happy. But the other two producers who take our Merlot, and the one who takes some of our Cabernet, want their grapes now. Tomorrow. Yesterday. So early today we sit down with our vineyard manager, query him with the robustness and staying power of the picking crew he's assembled, and wonder how we can make this happen. Done, he says.

Within an hour, the winery was a cluttered mess of picking bins, frenzied winemakers, and energized pickers, all awash in the melodic timber of excited Spanish. The luxury of a methodical harvest has left us. What we're faced with is the art of intelligent compromise - what needs to come in, what could come in, and in what we have the confidence of allowing to ride out the storm.

A big rain is a legitimate concern - moisture on the fruit can exacerbate mold concerns, canopies that have already begun their gradual decline might not bounce back, and, above all else, the rain makes working outside just a trifle more challenging. Dusty dirt quickly becomes sticky mud, and your feet will never, ever forget the chill of a cold, wet October morning.

Our Merlot buyers will get their fruit this weekend. For both producers, this means processing in one weekend what they would normally process in one week (since we are, without a doubt, not the only grower they are harvesting this weekend). Crews will work overtime, double-time, whatever time is needed to carry the grapes from picking bin through to tank. This is the beauty of what we do. Harvest flirts with routine, it alludes to control, but at its essence we are all at the mercy of the sun, the clouds, the wind. I have yet to meet anyone truly dedicated to this industry who would have it any other way. We are an agricultural society, and as such we are all loyal disciples of the church of Mother Nature.

The upside here is that the wines we've made so far, and the fruit that we're picking this weekend, are stellar. Consolation prizes, perhaps, for the frenetic dance we've been forced into to prepare for the week's precipitation. The grapes left out hanging have strong canopies, and should tolerate the rain well. Forecasts for the days following the storm are clear, and truthfully, a little rain does nothing more than wash the dust off those late-ripening varieties.

When everything is picked, when tanks are dry and barrels are topped and buttoned up for a cozy winter's nap, this week's drama will be an interesting talking point in the grand story of the 2009 vintage. But for the moment, the adrenaline of knowing where we need to be and what it will take to get us there is enough to remind us that we are all but pawns in a much larger game.

Molly Lippitt
Paradigm Winery

Well it’s really fall and really harvest now; almost on the dot the weather broke from excessive heat to beautiful autumn Napa Valley weather and all the grapes say thank heaven! We brought in the little bit of Pinot Noir we make, come by the winery and I’ll explain, and we started on Merlot and one small tank of Cabernet, but none the less we’re really into harvest. We were hopeful that our yields would be a bit up from last year, a dismal 1 ton an acre, though there is incredible concentration and intensity, we were hoping for a robust 1 ½ tons an acre which would be close to normal. The drought still is in effect and Mother Nature is still a bit tight with her water.

We’re all done with whites except for a late harvest Sauv. Blanc we’re doing this year and the reds in the tanks look great. Aside from a little rain coming next week we’re looking very good and hope to be all in by Nov. 1. We should see a landslide of Cab starting by the end of next week, so hold on to your hats and I’ll let you know how it’s going. If you’re in the neighborhood, come on by and I let you sort some grapes.

Ciao for now,

Jac Cole
Spring Mountain Vineyard

Waiting for "Just So"

It's a waiting game. We're waiting for "just so." Simple ripeness is not enough. Everything has to be just right - sugars, acids and phenolics all have to be "just so." It's a tough balance to achieve and in many vintages, like Godot, it never arrives. Because nature rarely offers perfection harvest is usually a battle of nerves—ours vs. Mother Natures and Mother Nature always wins. For small production wines like Cornerstone it's all about precision harvesting. We focus all of our attention on small blocks of vineyards and strive to harvest at the moment of perfection when everything is "just so." This year it seems that Godot himself has actually arrived as each of our vineyards has been coming in at the perfect point. Picking at perfection is only attained by being in the vineyards and knowing your vines. Pictured above, Cornerstone's winemaker Jeff Keene (left) and consulting winemaker Peter Franus walk our Hardman Road Block in southern Napa near Silverado Country Club. We've picked half of our Cabernet Sauvignon now, but this block, a cooler site, is perhaps a week or more away. Indeed things are looking very, very good in Napa.

Craig Camp

CornerstoneCellars.com

Cabernet Harvest at Quintessa 10-14 days Behind Normal

It's the first week in October and we have finally picked our early Cabernets - mostly from the estate's south and southwest facing hillsides - Dragon's Terrace, Riviera Sur, and South Terrace blocks. We started last week with the vineyard edges and have continued to pull in more this week. It's a bit of a late season, with Cabernet Sauvignon pick dates averaging a week or more later than last year and the gap between Merlot, which is always the first pick off of the property, and Cabernet 10-14 days later than normal. Merlot has been closer to two weeks later than last year, mainly the result of delayed budbreak this spring. Why the delayed budbreak on Merlot? Another one of nature's mysteries.

The quality of both the Merlot and Cabernet is excellent so far with small berries, even ripeness and minimal berry shrivel from the hot spells in September.

The moderate weather this week is a relief from the seesaw hot-cool-hot-cool weather we had a few weeks ago. Temperatures through the end of this week and weekend look mild and skies are clear.

Meanwhile, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon fementations for our Illumination Sauvignon Blanc are finishing as projected, with bright tropical and herb aromas coming out from behind the yeasty fermentation smells. We are beginning our second round of battonage on the early lots this week.

Come visit to see harvest in full swing, it's a sight to behold. If you can't make it to Quintessa, visit us on the web and check out our harvest video at http://www.quintessa.com/.

Cheers-

Charles Thomas, Quintessa

Parry Cellars

Different style, different content: Today I turn my blogger hat over to my close friends, Stephen and Sue Parry. Their winery is truly a quality micro-production...they start and finish in one day. Once everything is picked, I take over up at Schweiger Vineyards, working hard to create the best wine I can for Parry Cellars. I'll have more news from Schweiger soon!

Andrew Schweiger, Winemaker, Schweiger Vineyards
www.twitter.com/schweigerwine

So, with no further ado, take it away, Sue...


Parry Cellars, located on the Silverado Trail north of St. Helena, completed their harvest on Friday, October 2 - all 3.17 tons. Our harvest doesn’t take long since we only own a half-acre vineyard with some 1,200 cabernet sauvignon vines that we know up close and personal. It takes longer for Paul Saviez Vineyard Management’s crew to set up the previous day— hauling in the truck, fork lift, tractor, trailer and bins—than the two hours it takes for harvest! Picking began at first light when the temperature was a chilly 40° and was finished by 9:00 am. Stephen and I spent our time picking out leaves from the bins, plus a couple of comatose lizards. The grapes were then hauled up to Schweiger Vineyards and Winery on top of Spring Mountain where Andy makes our wine. After going through the destemmer—my favorite machine—they went into tank at a nice cool 42 ° . The grapes looked great and tasted wonderful with the potential of being one of our best cabernets yet!

Cheers, Sue and Stephen

The best, worst first day...

Pride Mountain Vintage '09 - It all began with a 49ers loss against the Vikings, a hangover combined with a lovely dose of Monday-itis.

Monday, September 28th kicked off our grape crush with our first official grapes from our estate here at Pride Mountain. We already had around 15 tons in our cellar but this day was to kick off the beginnings of our estate fruit. When we arrived there was already about 3 tons sitting on our crush pad - fast, efficient and reliable PMV vineyard workers were delivering our first batch of Viognier. I moved directly towards the scales to step up to my new responsibility of WeighMaster, turned the scales on only to read "Code 8." Uh oh. This meant trouble! The cords were all connected, but it was telling me they weren't. Plus, we were expecting more Viognier!

8.30am, the mastermind of "Mr Fixits," a coworker here we commonly call MacGyver, pulled everything apart as we called for the scale's engineer to come up and fix it for us ASAP. Not only that, but our must pump was giving us problems! We had to cancel picking for the day and it took about 5 hours for the scales to be fixed. A 12 hour day for 4.5 tons of Viognier! A number of other Monday-itis events occured but our spirits were kept high with a continuous shuffle of 1970s hits, a delicious BBQ and lame, cheesy jokes. Love this place!

A week later and we have processed another 40 odd tons of Viognier, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah. We have a record harvest of Viognier this year of 35 tons and theres still some left to pick! I'm just surprised at just how cold it has become, and so quickly, too! Being a vintage hopper has kept me away from brisk winters because I've literally just followed the summers, but this year my job will keep me here over Christmas - I'm a little nervous!

Renee Dale,
LKI

Forty Years of making Cabernet Bosché!

Yes, this is the fortieth harvest of the Bosché Vineyard for Freemark Abbey Winery. Let’s see, if math serves me correctly, that would put the first harvest at 1970. This year’s harvest started with the Bosché Merlot on September 10^th, the Cabernet Sauvignon started rolling in September 19^th and continued off and on through October 3^rd. The vineyard is only 23 acres, however, we have it divided up into various small acre blocks to help us pin point (cherry pick) the ripening period. Differences in soil, coupled with vine age, clone, rootstock and crop size, all contribute to the rate of ripening. The Bosché vineyard is on an alluvial fan, sometimes referred to as the Rutherford Bench, that has a very deep gravelly soil. Lighter, gravelly soils will typically ripen earlier. Hence, Bosché is one of our earlier vineyards.

Not far from the Bosché Vineyard is our Sycamore Vineyard. Sycamore is typically a week later than Bosché. The soil is a clay loam, less gravelly as Bosché, yet produces very small berries and very deep rich wines. In the picture, I’m tasting and inspecting the fruit from the early morning pick at Sycamore Vineyards

Alan's Got Some Major Skills

Hey, he's my brother so I can brag about him... This morning, 7:15am they were almost done picking the Petit Verdot, but I managed to catch Alan's superior tractor skills.

Having the large bin on the rear of the tractor allows our harvest crew in the adjacent rows to just reach over and fill the bin. The alternative is to run each bucket to a large bin at the top or bottom of the row.

Did I mention we are on a slope of 32 degrees that is comparable to a double-black diamond ski run? We could probably ski if we got more than an inch of snow and we removed all the rocks, but that's rather unlikely.


Seems like we almost have all our fruit in, except for one little block of Cabernet Sauvignon. There was talk about the weekend winds causing some water loss in the berries, but our fruit was in great condition this morning. Alan was here checking the rows on both Saturday and Sunday to be sure.

Just look at that! Impressive, no?





Currently in the cellar, we have about 18 independent fermentations going on at the same time—some are in stainless steel tanks, some in concrete tanks, others in individual barrels... Thank goodness the Viaders were all born with acute attention to detail. Alan has been holding down the fort, and our mother Delia, self-proclaimed "Chief Bottleneck," will be back tomorrow after a short trip visiting the youngest Viader in high school. She has a lot to catch up on when she gets back in! She'll probably want to taste through each one. Let the games begin. :)

Fondly,

Janet
sales & marketing at VIADER

Full Moon Musings

I love sleep, so perhaps the most challenging thing about harvest is the lack of it! But the challenges of a sleepless ten weeks are easily overcome by the magic of night harvest. In Napa Valley during harvest, it is like an underground club. You drive up the Trail to your harvest destination and you see all the lights at all the different wineries, and you think, ‘Oh, they’re picking that block today.’ You run into the same people at Model Bakery or Starbucks as soon as they open and give each other a knowing nod, or a ‘How’s harvest?’ One of the best treats is being able to drive through St Helena with no traffic.

But my favorite part about night harvest is the moon. And last night’s full harvest moon was exceptionally lovely, and on this cold crisp night, I could really sense the changing of the seasons and I know we have only a few more weeks to go.

Last week was our busiest week, and we harvested almost 30% of our total production in one week! Merryvale finished harvesting our Chardonnay on Friday, which concluded the harvest of all of our white grapes. After today, we have only one block of Merlot left to pick, having brought in Buena Vista selection Merlot from Hyde Vineyards this morning.

We still have a lot of our Cabernet left on the vines, and we look forward to a little warming later this week to get some more Cabernet into the winery as the week ends.

We have already pressed some reds, and harvest parties are already on the schedule. We look forward to bringing in the rest of our Cabernet, and are optimistic about the quality we are seeing in the cellar so far. Cheers! Remi Cohen

All work and no play...

Well we've been crushing everyday since the 8th of September, and we're about 77% percent complete with 585 tons processed so far this season out of an expected 760. That's a lot of long days, as Daniel has attested to in his postings, with the crew working 6 days and about 80 hours a week. The days are full of repetition, thousands of grapes going past eyeballs on the shaker table (your eyes just start to wiggle along with them after awhile), never ending early morning pump-overs and late nights cleaning the crush pit in the dark. With all this hard work and long days, the mood in the cellar tends to get a bit serious and solemn , so we like to mix it up a bit - enter Formal Day. If the office staff has casual Friday, shouldn't we have Formal Saturday? Yes it is goofy and silly, and just plain fun for everyone, the crew, the staff, and the tourists alike. This tradition goes back many years here at Montelena and is just the ticket as a mid-harvest mood breaker. Who knows, next weekend you might find us all in grass skirts and floral prints or ten-gallon hats and wranglers. You'll have to stop in to see, or at least check back for next week's blog. In the mean time, have a look at our Facebook page for more photos of our sharp dressed cellar crew in action.

Midway at Miner

Now that we are well into the 2009 harvest, here is a run down on grapes we've brought in thus far at Miner Family and a quick assessment.

Day 1 of harvest came after Labor Day (a rarity for us) with the arrival of just over 5 tons of Sauvignon Blanc from Oakville Crossroad Vineyard. We will produce 350 or so cases of SB, which is down from the 800 cases we made in 2008. Also during week one, we brought in some Tempranillo and Grenache from Mike Naggiar's Vineyard in the Sierra Foothills. Beautiful, ripe, and tasty, these two reds were pressed off skins and are now in barrel (See Miner's first post, our amateur video of Tempranillo going to barrel).

All of our Viognier from Simpson Vineyard has been brought in: 75 tons this year and down from the 100 tons in '08. Fueled by Rutherford Grill ribs and cornbread, our fierce night shift crew (Wes, Ben, and Gabrielle) pressed Viognier until the wee hours (think 3am) for six consecutive nights. We barreled down some of our Viognier but the majority is slowly fermenting in tanks. After being kept at finger-numbing temperatures, our Rosella's Vineyard “777” Pinot Noir has now started to ferment in half-ton bins in our warehouse. A whopping 325 cases worth of Carneros Pinot Noir from Sunset Vineyard came in this year - an indication that vineyard yields would be up,and indeed yields look like they are up across the board for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Case and point, our first block of Chardonnay to come in from Stagecoach Vineyard yielded 33% more than last year and Hudson Vineyard Chardonnay in Carneros also came in with yields above average. We will have plenty of top notch Chardonnay to go around this year and we're planning on doing 3 vineyard designated Chardonnays: Hudson, Hyde and Genny's Vineyard.

We brought in just over 5 tons of Marsanne from Stagecoach Vineyard last week for our La Diligence bottling (a partnership with Domaine Francois Villard/Rhone Valley, France). As for Napa Valley reds, it's looking like they will be ripe soon and we will be prepared for an onslaught in the next week as Cabernet Sauvignon yields are likely to be high.

The winery is starting to smell good as we approach the harvest '09 half-way mark with around 250 tons in so far. Until next time, when we come up for air... or beer

Gary Brookman
Winemaker, Miner Family Winery

We're Not Alone

At VIADER, the mountain is filled with wildlife. I spotted a few tracks this morning while walking through the vineyards.

Wild turkeys! This is the time of year when they strike wherever and whenever they can. The result is massacred clusters, with whole berries missing, or berries with punctured skins ultimately leading to the demise of the individual berry... These bird brains travel in large flocks, hiding out in the nearby forest. Besides the threat of being chased by our Dalmation, Lady, and other predatory critters, this is a turkey's paradise.

Here's another critter siting from our neighbor's property, Burgess Cellars, taken in late January. But I also found large cat prints this morning in our vineyard.

This is not your small feline friend, but a bobcat. The bobcat seems to still be actively chasing those jack rabbits, ground squirrels and gophers that rule the underground here.

Raccoons, rattlesnakes, black bears, mountain lions... There's no doubt that Deer Park, CA is the country. Last year, the same neighbors called us last year to warn us: "Hey, we chased a black bear out of our property and it went into yours!"

Luckily, we haven't yet faced the dark furry darling. We can just sit back and enjoy the view.

Best regards,

Janet Viader

sales & marketing at VIADER

Zahtila Vineyards - In The Fray

Finally, we've actually picked some fruit! Now, for me, it's officially started as we've received our first small lot of cabernet sauvignon.

And, to show some girl-power, please see the photos of yours truly, in the green sweatshirt and Maundra, the wife of one of the part time workers, in the hat, as she and I cut clusters from the vines in Rutherford early this morning. The green netting was used to dissuade birds from helping themselves to the luscious, ripe berries.

The fog didn't lift until we were done, so the two hours from 7am to 9am were just cool and wonderful - great, grape picking weather.

Now I feel like I have a right to be tired!

Happy Harvest!

Laura

Our total, .92 tons of cabernet which will make it into the Bentley program (not even the 2007 vintage is released!).

How to Survive a vintage...

When you're smack bang in the middle of vintage and your supervisor laughs as he finds you on your feet leaning against a tank fast asleep at 3am you really do start to wonder what it's all for. That was my second vintage when I learned that night shift was just not for me, no matter how much candy, red bull, coffee or cheese toasties I consumed.

Every vintage I feel like I learn a heap of things in such a short space of time. This is my fifth vintage so far and I feel like I should be blowing out candles and cutting cake! Well, I did just celebrate my 23rd Birthday so I must be just still in the mood but I think it should be celebrated when you get to your fifth vintage and still feel the itch for fruit to come in and the excitement of the first load of fruit pulling up on the back of a flat bed.

The more I learn about wine, the more I don't know! After 3 years of studying it for my Bachelor's degree back home in New Zealand, and 5 years in the industry abroad, I still feel like a spring chicken intern. I know I could setup a pumpover in my sleep, and often have the odd haunting nightmare of broken hydrometers scattered around the cellar. I asked my boss Sally if she could interpret the dream for me and I think she was spot on: "I think you're bored and itching for vintage to start."

A very wise woman said to me recently: Be patient, and enjoy the beauty of it. Patience is a virtue; one that I clearly am lacking. We have been waiting patiently for these grapes to peak to their tastiest, and its already officially Fall! I'm reading all the blogs about crazy long hour days and juice splattered interns. Right now I feel like I hardly even deserve my beer at the end of the day.

But to be patient, is to spend a lifetime in the wine industry, knowing I will never know all there is to know about wine. Which is exactly what I intend to do. On my vintage experiences around the world I have learned that in order to survive a vintage:

• Look after your feet


• If you're hungry - EAT something!


• Always find time to laugh


• Why try harder when you can try easier? Keep it simple... stupid.


• Even if you're a 23 year old girl from New Zealand, don't feel like you have to prove yourself.


• The best way to earn the trust of your new work mates... is to feed them.


• Do not underestimate the value of communication!
  

Here at Pride within a couple weeks I have learnt how to rescue someone inside a confined space wearing a SCBA tank, the do's and dont's of forklifting, how to weigh fruit (as of today I am an official WEIGHMASTER!), how to run a press, a pumpover and free sulphur all at once, and how to make a delicious steak marinade!

I intend to keep you updated on my experience of this wonderful winery so stay tuned. You most definitely need to check out Daniel Orisson's amazing blog entries for Chateau Montelena and I also have my own personal blog called Eno Files - everything you don't want to know about wine! at http://harvesthopper.blogspot.com/

Photos are to come!

Buona Vendemmia! (Have a good vintage in Italian)
Renee

LKI
(Little Kiwi Intern)

Race Horse Runnin'

Time goes by like a race horse runnin', open up the gates, she takes off
a-runnin'
--"Race Horse Runnin'", The Nickel Slots

Everybody, everybody, let's get into it.
Get
stupid.
Get it started, get it started, Get it
started...
--"Let's Get It Started", Black Eyed Peas

The horses are at the gate...and they're off!

Today we finally got things REALLY under way. I've got to keep this post brief as it's 6pm and I still have to press 7 ton of Chardonnay fruit tonight.

I'm ecstatic with the quality of the Chardonnay we picked today. Tomorrow we jump into Merlot and will probably finish Merlot for the season. Cabernet is not far behind.

We celebrated a blessing of the grapes today, officiated by long time family friend and minister, Pastor Ted Muller. The sound is a little low, and it's typical Andy Shaky Cam, but video below.

Cheers!

--Andy Schweiger, Winemaker, Schweiger Vineyards.

The first grapes are in...now what?

Harvest 2009 officially kicked off for Paradigm Winery last Thursday, with just over two tons of Cabernet and a shy ton of Cab Franc taking the lead in the 2009 vintage. Though just a small percentage of what we’ll harvest this year, it’s enough to get us back into the familiar pattern of early mornings, rounds of punch downs and pumpovers, perennially sticky hands and soggy feet, and grape shrapnel turning up in every odd place.

The Zinfandel will be our next project, hopefully ready to harvest by the start of next week. Zinfandel can be infuriating – uneven ripening will have some berries puckering into raisins while others in the same cluster still taste tart and bland. We watch the canopy and sigh with forced patience as we wait for the slowpokes, worrying over dehydration and willing the vine to get its act together. It always does, eventually.

The mornings are growing progressively colder, there are more oak leaves in the driveway than there were last week, and the valley glows in that special way made possible only by slanted autumnal sunlight. The other morning I arrived at work just in time to watch the sunrise. The pale sky above me was dotted with hot air balloons at staggered altitudes, some close enough to see small faces peering over the edge of the baskets. Though I sometimes wonder if what I do for a living is the best or the worst way to enjoy my favorite season, at that moment the answer was unquestionably clear.

Molly Lippitt, Paradigm Winery

The People Who Pick

I was dreaming in Spanish, at least I was dreaming I was dreaming in Spanish. As I slowly woke and came back into reality it occured to me I could not be dreaming in Spanish for obvious reasons. Then the lyrical strains of the harmonious Spanish language again floated through my bedroom window. The vineyard outside my bedroom window was alive with pickers in the pre-dawn glow and their happy chatter filled the air. How anybody can be that happy before dawn and facing hours of backbreaking work always amazes me.

That was about ten days ago and those crews were the first wave, picking grapes bound for sparkling wine. However, now those first ripples are getting ready to turn into a tsunami of harvesting as the Napa Valley gets ready for the main event: the Cabernet Sauvignon harvest. There has been scattered activity around the valley as first the grapes for sparkling wine and then some of the white varieties were harvested. We picked the grapes for our Cornerstone Sauvignon Blanc early last week, in perfect conditions. This was our first harvest of Sauvignon Blanc from the Talcott Vineyard just outside of St. Helena (not too far from Taylor's Refresher), so I was out there at first light to watch the pick. It never ceases to stun me how hard the picking crews work. None of what we do could be possible without them. Every time I watch a harvest crew in action I realize that few of us could survive a half-hour, while these crews work at breakneck speed hour after hour until the mid-day sun forces the picking to a merciful end.

Tonight our new Sauvignon Blanc is slowly bubbling away in a cold stainless steel fermemter, while the pickers themselves sleep the sleep that only exhaustion can bring as they prepare to hit the vineyards tomorrow before the morning light illuminates the seemingly endless rows of vines waiting for them. Today we scheduled the pick of our Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon for this coming Tuesday and our Oakville blocks will be right behind. It's going to be a busy two weeks for us, but it's nothing compared to the ultra-marathon our pickers have already embarked on.

Craig Camp - Cornerstone Cellars

Pumping out those Pump-Overs

Our estate fruit is coming in at a steady pace. About one-third of the vines still have fruit, and within the next week we expect to pick the remaining lots of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon for our VIADER proprietary red blend, and Petit Verdot which is the main component in our "V" petit verdot blend.

Currently we have several fermentations going. To keep things fresh and for style, we use a variety of fermentation vessels including the more traditional stainless steel, concrete, and even single barrels. To ferment in the barrels, the heads need to be popped out, and the bungs tightly wedged in. Shown here is our Malbec, from young vines that produced barely 15 gallons this year.

The pump-overs and punch-downs are now a part of daily life in the cellar, and are even part of the "nightlife." Alan was here until at least 10:00pm last night! Why he didn't call his little sis' to come help is beyond me...

I've also attached a small video of our cellar assistant performing a pump-over of the Syrah. Look at that beautiful color. And it smells and tastes delicious. The caves are whirling with the "intoxicating" (for lack of a better word) airs of primary fermentation.

All the best,

Janet Viader

sales & marketing at VIADER

P.S. At the end of the video I ask Maurilio to "sonrei te" which means "smile" in Argentine Spanish. Who knew he was camera shy! :)

Harvest continues at Merryvale

Harvest is moving at full speed in Napa now. Due to hot weather all week, we have accelerated picking Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet. By the end of next week, we anticipate finishing our Chardonnay harvest. This week, we have really begun to harvest the Bordeaux varieties, particularly Merlot and early Cabernet blocks.

Fortunately, the heat was not as intense as originally forecasted, and the highs are only sustained for a short part of the afternoon. Forecasts are for a return to seasonable or below average temperatures beginning early next week. That will likely slow down the ripening in the remaining Cabernet blocks.

This morning we harvested small portions of two blocks of Cabernet from the Schlatter Family Estate in St. Helena. Attached is a pic of a few lug bins in the back of the truck.

Remi Cohen
Merryvale Vineyards

Finally, we’re off and rolling!

We started with Sauv. Blanc 18 days later than last year which is about where we think we are for the whole harvest, though this heat we’re living through is trying to force our hand. The photo is a shot of Leigh Meyering, our Associate winemaker, Ron Rosenbrand our vineyard manager, and me yukking it up because we have something to ferment.

The grapes looked great and since the 18th we’ve brought in some more Sauv. Blanc and a bit of Chardonnay, and everything is looking and tasting great. Reds are now our next target with Pinot Noir leading the way; yes I said Pinot Noir, it’s a small project we do from grapes we grow at about 1600 feet elevation that surprisingly produce some lovely Burgundian like Pinot. We’re also looking at some Merlots that are on the edge of being ready.

The winery is getting that wonderful CO2 fermentation aroma which means harvest is really under way so stay tuned as the fun has just begun!

Jac Cole
Spring Mountain Vineyard

ZD's First Day of Harvest

The first day of Harvest!

We have officially joined the Harvest hum that has been buzzing around the Valley for a few weeks with our Pinot Noir. Picked in the wee hours yesterday morning at the deLeuze Family Vineyard in Carneros, our incredible team hand-harvested the small, tight clusters of perfectly ripe Pinot Noir grapes.

Walking among the vines in the cool hours of early morning, spirits were up as the vineyard crew expertly snipped the grapes and added them to bins attached to our biodiesel tractor. Once the truck began delivering the grapes back to the winery in Rutherford, the cellar crew got to work in the unrelenting heat of yesterday’s mid-afternoon sun.

As the grapes were loaded off of the truck, ZD staff gathered around to bless the grapes and give thanks for another terrific growing season while raising a glass to the Harvest ahead. We toasted with 2007 Founder’s Reserve Pinot Noir in memory of our Founder, Norman deLeuze, an incredible wine and the perfect foundation for the Pinot Noir grapes. Then it was time to test out the new crush equipment. Chris, our Winemaker, did the honors as he gently dumped the first bin of Pinot Noir grapes into the waiting machine.

Like clockwork, the grapes were deftly sorted and destemmed before being pumped directly into the stainless steel tanks for fermentation. Once in motion, a second truck delivered the remaining 8 tons of grapes and the scent of fruit hung heavy in the air.

Meanwhile, the deLeuze family decided to combine tradition with technology and soon enough a grape stomp was under way! The three siblings stomped, taunted, teased and stomped some more as they battled to see who could make the most juice in the shortest amount of time. With juice flying and stony looks of determination, the race to juice superstardom was neck and neck. Suddenly Robert was ahead by a few milliliters, he stomped faster, pounding those grapes into oblivion, and victory was his.

Looking from feet to juice and back again, he decided against drinking his victory libation, but satisfaction could be seen from ear to ear.

Elyse Chambers, ZD Wines

The Nighttime…Is The Right Time….

…For picking Chardonnay!

OK, I know it doesn’t rhyme and isn’t as much fun as what the blues standard refers to, but it sure makes good wine. Night harvesting the chardonnay ensures that we receive cool and plump fruit. The cool temperature is important for minimizing extraction of any bitter flavors, helps the settling process, and means that we use less energy chilling the juice. The more humid night air allows the grapes to recover from any dehydration the previous day, and the firm berries transport better than hot mushy ones – they don’t breakdown as much in the bins, which gets back to the extraction point above.

The other important and too often overlooked aspect of night harvesting is that the conditions are much better for the people doing the harvesting. I know that if I had to run up and down the rows 50 times in long sleeves and pants while carrying a 40 pound box of grapes on my head, I’d much rather do it in the cool morning air rather than the mid-day heat.

Now, I’ve been talking an awful lot about Chardonnay in these last few posts and I don’t want you to get the wrong impression, so you’ll be happy to know that in the last week we brought in the first Cabernet Sauvignon from here on the Estate. We’ve got three little tanks full of some of the blackest Cabernet I’ve ever gotten my hands into. Tremendous color and plenty of great ripe berry flavor to go with it. The first full crop of our Takahashi Ranch Merlot – a blending component for our Napa Valley Cabernet – also came in this week, and it also is showing fantastic color along with some of the best flavor that we’ve seen from Merlot here at CM. If these first few tanks are any indication, this will be a fantastic vintage.

This week we will continue bringing in Cabernet from our Estate vineyards as well as from our Napa Cab growers, and we should be finishing up the Chardonnay within the next 10 days. The first of the Estate Zinfandel is on deck today, so come on by and have a look!

Until next week – Cheers and may you “be with the one you love.”

Scroll down for our intern Daniel's latest post.

Cameron Parry - Winemaker

Chateau Montelena Winery

Harvest Simple Joy

By: Daniel Orrison

9/22/09

Legs, back, arms, mind… tired. Hands, shirts, shoes, socks… stained. Harvest is officially in full swing. Grapes are coming at a faster pace than ever expected while the room for storage is quickly running thin. But away from specifics and onto experience…

I meet a man on my day off (first in 7 days), who took one look at my hands and asked first, ‘how’s harvest going?’ and second, ‘dead yet?’. I laughed at the later part of the question and replied with a modest but accurate… ‘almost’. He then went on to tell a story from his first harvest (he has now worked over 20), and it went something like this: He was young, out of college, ready to take the wine world by storm (sound familiar?), and his boss at the time said “son… this line of work is not pretty, you won’t be tasting wine all day, meeting women or having fun. You will be working, on call, always. Every part of you will hurt at one point and you will wish you were dead, this I promise, especially here.”

Quite a first conversation with your boss if you ask me… Cameron’s first words were much more welcoming.

The boss then said: “Because son, I’ve seen kids like you come and go, and here’s how it’s going to work. After the first week you will think you are tired. After the second, exhausted. And by the third… dead.” I can now honestly say this is a very accurate description of the harvest lifestyle. Days run together, the workload seems impossible, and the word tired takes on new meaning.

However, I feel the old man’s boss forgot a few parts of this story. He forgot to say how much fun you will have along the way (the laughs and memories), how rewarding it is to look back on everything you accomplish each day, how special it is to be a part of a tradition much larger than yourself, and how educational the experience is for anyone who loves wine. Sure, at points we’re tired, but in my eye that’s what makes it so great! The understanding that everyone is tried, everyone’s hands hurt, everyone could use a day off… but still, day after day, year after year, people all over the world wake up to celebrate the ups and downs of harvest. For instance, he didn’t mention that at 10pm, while cleaning presses in the pouring rain, listening to your cellar master, Gilberto, sing ‘life is beautiful’ you will laugh harder than you ever have. He left out how wonderful a feeling it is to put your feet up on a couch after working an 18-hour harvest day (something you can only understand after doing). Or how calming the feeling that surrounds a winery at midnight can be. The small joys, the subtle moments, and the silent “thank you” wine constantly offers its maker that reminds us of how worthwhile what we are doing is. This area, he most certainly forgot to mention. Because harvest, simply and unexplained, is about truth, hard work, discipline and tradition. These words are not to be thrown around, but respected. And while some days may be hard, tough and stressful the final product is worth every scrape… this, exactly, is what makes it so great. It’s not easy and because of this its rewards are not plain -- but amazing, incredible, and transcending (think 1973 Montelena Chardonnay). Or, in my eyes, what makes the industry move round. What excites us each morning to wake up and work hard.

Tasting on my day off. Life is good. Respect the small stuff.

God bless from Napa.

Cheers,

Daniel

Barrel Fermenting Tempranillo

Mia Fassero
Miner Family Winery

Still Waiting In Calistoga

The picture is of zinfandel growing in Calistoga. As you can see, the clusters are very full and the grapes grow up against each other. This is what makes zinfandel such a challenge to grow. Moisture can build up between the grapes and in the interior of the cluster, promoting mold. We combat this by thinning the canopy, pulling leaves from the eastern face of the vineyard and making sure the "shoulders" or "wings" of the cluster are removed. It's a painful day, the day we have to drop the shoulders, but a necessary step to ensure the health of the crop.

These grapes are still growing in my vineyard in Calistoga. Last brix measurement was about 25, but seeds and pulp of the grapes still lack maturity. We'll continue to irrigate and let the fruit hang until we see the pulp turning more clear, less green and the grapeseeds become brown.

Soon, but not yet!

Laura Zahtila,
Zahtila Vineyards

Honoring Ed Debartolo, Jr in San Francisco

It's late September and I've only harvested 15 tons of fruit - 9 tons of Chardonnay and 6 tons of Pinot noir, most of it for my client, Schoolhouse.

So, what better way to enjoy my unexpected down time than to head to the Palace Hotel in San Francisco to join an all-star cast of pro-football players, rock stars (MC Hammer joined me for a quick photo) and politicos (including Willie Brown and Diane Feinstein) in honoring legendary owner of the SF 49'ers Ed DeBartolo, Jr over the weekend? DeBartolo, Jr was inducted into an internal Hall of Fame created by the 49'ers to honor the numerous legends that have emerged from their organization.

Pride Mountain Vineyards, along with a few other exceptional wineries, was invited to pour our wines for the group, which included Steve Young, Ronnie Lott and Jerry Rice. A ceremony was held to induct DeBartolo, Jr, featuring tributes from many luminaries and a serenade from his good friend Paul Anka, who had re-written the lyrics to his classic song, My Way, to commemorate DeBartolo, Jr having done it "Your Way."

All in all, it was a night to remember, and we were thrilled to share our wines with the guests. As my husband and I watched the team trounce Seattle on Sunday, we were relieved to find that the team was in excellent form, even after their night of celebration.

More information about the event can be found on the 49'ers website.

And now, back to the grapes!

Sally Johnson
Winemaker, Pride Mountain Vineyards
www.pridewines.com

Children of the Valley

Clark-Claudon began our harvest this week and here Laurie Claudon shares her thoughts:

Each harvest represents a collection of stories; stories of the season & the people who made it happen. This, my 36th Napa Valley harvest, has filled me with memories of all those stories. Best of all, watching my grand children “working” & playing in the vineyard & the winery has made me reminisce about my children doing the same. What a wonderful way to raise a family as well as the next generation of grape growers & winemakers!

Our valley is full of second & third generation kids who have been raised the same. For all of the adults, harvest, though joyful, is also a time of chaos, hard work & finger crossing. Yet, for the children it is a magical time of getting up before the sun, having a breakfast of ripe grapes, playing in the picking bins, joking with the vineyard workers, & running through the vines.

Many of the top winemakers & grape growers in the valley today initiated their passion with these early experiences.

Laurie Claudon,
Co-Owner & General Manager

Photos by Briana Marie Photography (daughter of Laurie Claudon)

Everybody is out there waiting for harvest!

One never knows, here at Chateau Boswell, who is going to get first pick but usually it is the wild turkey. Wild turkeys are the great bane of the growers in the Napa Valley, but I am also blessed with resident Pileated woodpeckers, kit foxes, and deer and I would not have it any other way.

As I spend each dusk and dawn patrolling our estate vineyard I am on the search for all of these wonderful creatures enjoying the fruits of our labor. As my husband says who could blame them!? Organically grown grapes from an owner who is willing to share to keep nature’s balance by employing only distress bird noises, irri tape, fencing and radios to deter these stealth creatures from taking more than their share!

Seriously though...this is going to be one of the Napa Valley’s finest vintages; a long growing season with phenological ripeness and for many varietals ripeness without high sugar indexes.

However...as always this is another vintage where quality wines will be made in the vineyard first followed by precision and lack of further compromise in the winery. This was a year of paying close attention to powdery mildew issues, in fact one of the most challenging years for growers...proper timing and a reduction in unnecessary spraying was of the essence. Suckering and leaf thinning were primary and if close attention was paid to just the right balance between canopy management and irrigation conservation the rewards will be significant this year.

What is happening in our facility thus far? A small amount of Chateau Boswell Chardonnay, some Arietta Sauvignon Blanc and Morlet Family Vineyards Pinot Noir and Realm's Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier.

Did anyone notice that we did not have the annual blast of high heat on Labor Day weekend?...and how crazy is it that we had rain last week and incredible high heat today. Maybe the sun will get to my hillside fruit before my dear resident poachers?

Happy Harvesting to all and to all a good wine!

Susan Boswell, Owner
Chateau Boswell Winery

6:20 am. Wake up little Pinot. Time to ferment.

Scott Chafen, Winemaker
Dutch Henry

6:00 am. Where's your Zin?