Turbo-charged

 

If I had to sum up the 2007 vintage after the first week, here's how I'd characterize it: turbo-charged.

We've just about finished picking all the whites on our property, the Chardonnay and even the Viognier, which customarily wouldn't come in for a few more weeks. It's about what you'd expect given the weather this year. After a fairly moderate summer, temperatures have been pushing 100 the last few days and the dry                            conditions in the vineyards (we've only received about 65 percent of our normal rainfall this year) have really accelerated the harvest.

Meantime, the rosé we're making seems to be taking a cue from the vineyard. That rosé we thought would need 12 to 18 hours to pick up the colors and flavors we were seeking, finished off in about 5 hours. We drained off about a third of the juice and left the rest to keep soaking for a few more hours. We'll blend the components back together down the road to get the profile I'm looking for.