Winemaker's Journal

October

Napa Valley Cellar Master Joe Ramirez takes a break between bins.
October 2nd

What a week. It went from highs over 100 on Sunday to heavy clouds on Monday, highs in the low 70’s on Tuesday and then gradual warming. The vines seemed to like it, breathing a sigh of relief and continuing to ripen fruit. The softening of the berries, smoothing of tannins and development of flavors progressed well even if sugars leveled off or dropped. I continue to be impressed with the sophistication of the growers and their coordination with us to manage their irrigations so that we can harvest the fruit at ideal maturity.

We had another big week in Napa County with Cabernet Sauvignon from our Jump Rock Ranch, the remainder of the mountain fruit from Atlas Peak, the last of the Merlot from our Soda Canyon Ranch and Cabernet from Mt Veeder, Rutherford and St Helena. We also did a great deal of pressing. The tank room is bursting at the seams, but if we can consolidate a few of the pressed lots, we should have enough room the get close to completion next week. We have Rutherford and south Napa Cabernet to bring in.

In Geyserville, we had a huge week. We crushed 158 tons on Monday alone! We mostly focused on our Red Tail Ranch on Chalk Hill Road, but also brought in fruit from along Highway 128, Geysers Road and East Cloverdale. Our tank room is pretty full in Geyserville as well and we pressed many tanks and consolidated lots to make room for the next wave of picking. We will complete our Red Tail Ranch next week and will be close to completion by week’s end.

Another week of intense activity, but it feels like we have made it through the most demanding part of crush and should have smooth sailing from here.

October 9th

Weather was very mild this week. The early part of the week was very cool and the temperatures “peaked” on Tuesday and Wednesday in the mid-eighties. Although this kind of weather does very little to raise sugar, the grapes continue to soften and ripen, albeit at a slow rate. The forecasters are in agreement for once that we will get significant rain next week and some sources say the totals may be as high as three inches. With that much certainty of a rain event, we have done all we could to bring in all the fruit that was ripe.

At our Napa Valley winery in Oakville, we completed our harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon from both our Soda Canyon and our Jump Rock Ranches. We crushed fruit from Rutherford, Oakville, north Napa and Pritchard Hill. The tank room is jammed with wine and the logistics of matching tank sizes to harvested tonnages and to pressed tanks is complicated enough to cause you to tear your hair out. But don’t get me wrong, it's a real feeling of accomplishment to find the solution to the puzzle, which we always do. We, of course, did a great deal of pressing, but were able to stay ahead of the crush needs without pressing any tank before its time. We will have one more block to pick from north Napa next week.

In Geyserville, we completed our Red Tail Ranch and crushed fruit from the central part of the appellation along Hwy 128 to complete crush at this winery. The tank room is also quite full, so the same dance took place as in Oakville. We pressed an enormous amount of fruit, especially considering that one of our presses was down until Thursday.

It was a very intense week with the threat of rain causing the picking schedule to get extremely crowded for our outside growers. Due to our planning and solid relationships, we were able to keep on schedule and get all the fruit picked that we could and somehow find a home for it all.

October 16

The forecasters had this one pegged. It turns out that the remains of Typhoon Melor from Japan hooked up with a small low pressure front and really hit us hard. Daily rainfall amounts for Tuesday ranged from 2.12 in Cloverdale to 4.5 inches in Yountville. It was rainy again on Wednesday, although the totals were generally between .25 and .5 inches. Thursday was quite overcast, but the sun finally came out on Friday and it was warm and dry. The humid, warm cloudy days that followed the rain were more of a concern than the actual rain for those with grapes still on the vine. The majority of the grapes still unpicked are loose-clustered and thick-skinned Cabernet Sauvignon, so the rain itself is not the problem; rot and mold are the concerns. The sooner there is warmth and wind, the better the odds of harvesting ripe, healthy fruit. Due to our philosophy of harvesting at moderate alcohol levels, and due to careful planning, 99% of our fruit was picked before the storm.

We picked three vineyards on Monday: two in Rutherford and one in south Napa and spent the rest of the week pressing out tanks as they achieved the right balance smoothness and body. Our first five tanks completed malolactic fermentation and were protected with SO2. It is a common mistake to rush out and pick right after a rain. The fruit is still too diluted from the uptake of water by the roots. We need to wait a minimum of a week before considering harvest.

In Geyserville, harvest has been completed and we also spent the week pressing, consolidating and monitoring alcoholic and malolactic fermentations.

Climate change, what climate change? I can’t remember seeing this much rain in October. I am thankful that our foresight, hard work and balanced philosophy put us in such an advantageous position to have the large majority of our fruit in before the typhoon hit.