AVV: October 2007 Archives

More than 9 weeks after that first truck load of Pinot Noir slowly trudged its way up our long driveway to the winery, the last bins of Cabernet Sauvignon arrived today.
Faced with the threat of rain this week and days that grow ever shorter, it was unlikely the remaining grapes would benefit much from leaving them on the vine any longer.

 

Considering all the scrambling that's been going on around here over the last 66 days--whether it was trying to find tank space for the 2163 tons of grapes we received or a spot in the cave for all the barrels--the end of the harvest has been almost anti-climatic.

Although we've crushed the last grapes, there's still more than a month's worth of work to do whether it's filling barrels, filtering the fermented juice, cleaning out tanks or even doing some bottling. But the work load is such that we're planning to go back to our regular work week, which is probably great relief for the crew that's been holding down the graveyard shift.

There's a lot to look forward to next week, like temperatures pushing into the low 80s. That's a little abnormal for this time of year, but it's exactly what we need right now. It would dry out the vineyards and allow us to finish picking those last bunches of Cabernet Sauvignon. The sugar levels are still a little lower than I'd like to see them and a few days of heat would put the grapes in better condition.

We can tolerate a few days of rain like we've had this week, but we'd have to reassess things if it goes on for too long. Luckily, virtually all the fruit is in by now with just a few tons left on the vine. The worst case scenario is we don't pick that Cab. I'd rather sacrifice that small amount of fruit than bring in substandard grapes. It's been a great harvest and I certainly don't want to do anything that would damage that fact.

The slower pace has made this harvest a little easier. There's always a long list of tasks for the cellar crew--pumpovers, digging out tanks, bringing in the new barrels (a truck filled with 232 arrived this morning). And while we are still running around-the-clock shifts, we've had the luxury of allowing some of the crew a much deserved day-off here and there.

Harvest is always a juggling act. If you get a steady flow of fruit from the vineyards, life is easy. However, rarely are things so predictable.

I've written about the initial rush, then the lull. The pace began to pick up as September turned a bit more seasonal. Now we are at a point where everything has slowed to a snail's pace. Harvest started with the promise of becoming one of the quickest on record. It's ending as the harvest that refuses

to offer us any closure. As of today, we still have about 300 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon waiting to be picked.

 

Meantime, the fruit in the tank seems to be taking a cue from the fruit on the vine. Fermentations are very slow and the readings we take periodically show the temperatures actually dropping rather than increasing (as the grapes ferment, they generally give off heat). From a wine-making perspective, a slow fermentation can improve the quality of the finished wine, allowing for better flavor development.

 

From a practical perspective, however, that just means we are running out of places to put the new fruit arriving at the winery almost daily.

Some much-needed relief did arrive last week in the form of 3 16,000 gallon stainless steel tanks. They are now the largest at the winery, holding the equivalent of about 6,700 cases of wine. The tanks were temporarily installed at the end of our parking lot and will eventually be moved outside the new cave we are building. Although we are initially planning to use them strictly as holding tanks, they certainly are making crush just a little easier right now.