Fatigue

This is really when fatigue sets in for us. We’ve been going now for 2 months solid, and things that are not 100% essential just seem to fall off the radar. We’re still getting the dishes done, and the bed made, but after that, a lot of things are ‘extra’ and just have to wait. That’s why we’ve had so few blogs lately.

Here’s were we are at though this morning.
The Chardonnay is in barrel, 100% topped up and we’ve started the routine of stirring the lees every two weeks. We’re not sure if has completed Malolactic yet, we’ll have to send off for a lab test in another few weeks. There are 5 full barrels plus about 20 gallons of topping wine. We should end up with just about 120 cases when we are all done!
The Crimson Clover Cabernet Sauvignon is also in barrel. Right now it’s in one new barrel, one old barrel and about 2/3 of another new barrel with the rest topped with Argon. We’ll transfer that 2/3 of a barrel into one smaller size barrel on Saturday. This has turned out really well so far, and we’re super excited by this vineyard. It’s our second harvest from the site and it looks like a star.
Tuesday we pressed the last of the Haut Tubee, the Chaine d’Or Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and the Split Rail Vineyard Syrah.
There’s now enough Haut Tubee to fill a barrel and we will but it in an older Burgundy barrel. The other two wines are settling in tank now, letting the chunks fall to the bottom. We’ve been surprised by the aromatics of the Split Rail and think this vineyard is a keeper. The Chaine d’Or Cabernet looks like it will yield 4-5 barrels and it also has a great nose right now and seams very well balanced.
Today Stefania will be in the winery getting barrels ready and on Saturday we will go back up and transfer all those wines into barrel. That will leave us just about two tons of Harvest Moon Cabernet Sauvignon fermenting right now. That fermentation is moving along now but it’s very cool, just 60 degrees so it may take a couple more weeks.
We should be back to a more normal routine soon, and hopefully a chance to catch up and get a little rest. We like all the wines we’ve made this year and think 2009 looks like it will be a very nice vintage for us.