Due to harvest crew constraints, we all finished harvesting Hilltop Ranch Pinot Noir yesterday ourselves. It had rained earlier that morning, but it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day, and the fruit looked great, as well. Most vineyards we sourced from produced a short crop this year, but Hilltop came in with a good yield & high quality to boot. Here are some photos:

Mark & Kara

“No cauliflower pickers in my vineyard!” Appolonio — da man.

“Here are your assignments…”, says master Luke, and..

…hauling buckets.

Dick….”Now why did we train these cordons so low??”

And me with Sweetie.

I didn’t have week-long school breaks for no reason, but times have changed and my son is not in school this week, so forced child labor is necessary as it is harvest. “Dad, get me out of this”.

But, it’s not all about cracking the whip here. Case in point (maybe there’s something in the water, or maybe working here is just too damn fun??):

Harvest Update

As of today, we are finishing harvest. We finished picking Pinot Noir at Chula Vina yesterday, and will finish picking at Hilltop Ranch today. Pictures to follow. It has been a short and light harvest season. I barely can fill the tanks in the winery, but quality seems really high across the board.

WE are in the thick of it now. Much of Chula Vina Pinot has come in, and we just received some Bordeaux varietals from San Antonio Valley in Southern Monterey County. This week: Hilltop Ranch Pinot and the remainder of Chula Vina and we will be done with receiving fruit. Quality looks great, although I’m seeing more botrytis than I’ve ever seen before here, so we’ve had to do a lot of sorting. Nights have been very cold (in the upper 30′s) this past week, so although we are having warm days, I’m not too worried about sugars going up much more. All in all, I think this year will produce wines of sophistication and lower alcohols. Hmmm….What do I get if I’m right with that little prediction? Nostradamus I do not claim to be, but I am pretty excited about what I’m seeing and tasting.  Cheerio!!