THE VENDAGE part 1



The vendage is almost over. It has been a lot of work this year. We picked the Pinot gris September 23rd which was a little early in the season, but we wanted to keep the alcohol levels down and have the fruit flavors dominate. We fermented it outside to keep it cool.

The Syrah was picked on September 28th also a little early, but with a brix of 26.5 it was ready. We also fermented it a little on the cool side to help preserve fruit flavors. It promises to be very full bodied and is so dark that you can not see through it.

Many wineries picked their Pinot noir the third week in September before we had two days of rain. It was one of the earliest picking times ever. We decided to gamble and wait. We were concerned about the short hang time and feared that the resulting wine would lack flavor and complexity. We waited and waited until the weather forecast was predicting rain for a week so we picked on October 10th with a resulting brix over 26. It is almost finished fermentation the color is very intense for a Pinot. We expect that it will be better then our 2012 Pinot. Time will tell. More later................