Light at the End of the Tunnel

And then there was a day off........Well we have just about finished our harvest season. All of the grapes have made their way into our cave and are just finishing up their primary fermentation's. It sure was an interesting year and one that I am sure we will look back on as one that made us wiser.

First off, I have never had a vintage with such a perfect split of white varieties and red varieties. We were able to spend the first 4 weeks of the vintage concentrating on only the white varities (Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc) and then 1 week of just slamming our reds in (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Touriga Nacional, Tannat and Syrah). What a rush it was at the finish line.

Throughout September there were a couple of rain falls, one in particular at the beginning of the Month, I think here name was Hannah, which is one named removed from the mix for my first born. This all made us a little nervous about the up bring of rain and the cooler fall giving us a hard time ripening our fruit. This is when we went out and did what all the financial people hate to here and knocked off the fruit we knew would not ripen.

October was interesting and really lead to what made us push the envelope on hang time for our reds. The rains slowed and the nights were cool and even cold in many cases (but not quite enough for frost) with abundant sunshine during the day. By the end of September our sugars hit their peaks for the season and stopped really changing much. All the month of October they were hanging anywhere from 22 - 23 brix giving a great potential for balanced alcohol. Even with the sugars in a perfect range I just wanted darker seeds, better flavor, and silkier tannins. So the grape stayed on the vine.

As of October 19th we official got hit by frost on our Vineyards at Tarara. That meant a week of controlled and fun chaos. We received 30% of our harvest in three days and at the end we were glad we did. The fruit was just getting to the point we wanted it. The tannins were softening, the seeds where brown and the flavor in almost all the fruit was just starting to show lovely ripe berry notes. The best part is there was a perfect balance of acidity to hold it all together.

A couple weeks later our Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc are just chugging on through their ferments. That Cabernet Sauvignon spent it's first 8 days just cold soaking. The wait seems to be well worth while. The wines which could have been disastrous this year have turned for the best. Stunning.

Looking back, the whites that I was once sceptical on are showing incredible complexity at such a young stage and beautiful elegance. I think in some cases there quality may even surpass the nearly perfect 2007 vintage.

Only time will tell what the final result of 2008 will be, but my gut tells me it is going to be a great vintage that will also drink well young while you wait for the 2007's to mature.

Cheers to another vintage in the history books.....almost.