Yesterday we pulled out our portion of Pinot Noir from the Woodruff Family Vineyard. It was a fast pick and we had just 2 1/2 bins. The grapes are amazing. I got glowing reports back from Bradley Brown and Pax Mahle on their shares. I imagine both of those guys will price their wines over $50, but it will be a fun splurge in a couple years to try the wines side by side.
Below you can see one of the reasons this is great fruit. This is an average size cluster from this vineyard. That’s about 1/5 the size of an average Syrah cluster. Each little tiny berry is packed with concentrated flavor.
Bin filling up. The crew was really getting the hang of field sorting today, and the bins were free of leafs and problem clusters were left on the vine or in the field.
Everyone in Corralitos was in a harvest rush yesterday to beat a small storm that passed through last night. Apple pickers, berry pickers and strawberry pickers were all out in force. Our little crew all came over from San Jose and includes members of Jerry’s extended family.
Another, sunrise picture. You can see Marcel and Charlie, the vineyard dogs guarding the rows.
Today we will not work. The vineyards will need to dry out from the rain last night and we’ll stay in Seascape and relax and recover for a day. The little bit of rain should actually help the vines at this point. Giving just a little refreshment and extending harvest another 3-4 days. The fruit this year has been great, just not enough of it. I’m afraid when we release the 2008’s in a few years, allocations will be tight.
We finished up the day at Chaine d’Or. We processed all the Pinot Noir. 100% destem this year and into two t-bins to ferment. It went fast and with little drama, except Jerry’s brother cut open his knuckle on the must pump. I told him he was an official winemaker now that he had bleed. Jerry and I both had wounds from the pump two weeks ago.
As we handled the Pinot Noir, Stefania was prepping barrels in the winery. As soon as we finished the Pinot, the crew cleaned up, and Stef and I transferred the Chardonnay from tank to barrel. It will finish its fermentation in barrel now. We went into 3 new barrels, one Sequin Moreau Burgundy, and two Claude Gillets, and three old Claude Gillets. When it’s all done we should have about 4 barrels, or 100 cases.
We wound up the day about 7:30 with Mexican food and Pacificos.