We are Harvesting…..

October 4th, 2006 by Annette

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To recap what has happened recently:

Our Sauvignon Blanc is fermenting away and smells great.

We brought in Chula Vina Chardonnay on Sunday.  Wonderful year for Chardonnay.  We pressed it all on Sunday and it went down to barrel yesterday.  It is clean and very tasty and will be inoculated with yeast today.

We have been harvesting and destemming Pinot and Pinot Gris from our own estate ranch in Carmel Valley, Hilltop Ranch.  It is beautiful!  Tastes incredible and is very, very clean.  See photos below:

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This is our second year of harvesting from the ranch and so far this Pinot is proving to be an interesting fruit to work with.  It almost “acts” like Syrah when fermenting:  it is very dark and somewhat tannic (for pinot) and it requires a lot more air when fermenting than Pinot should.  It has a great deal of blueberry flavors, something I attribute to the soil, see photo below:

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This soil is a calcareous sedimentary rock, and is what most of the vineyard is planted on.  It has taken quite awhile to get the plants established in this soil, and so we waited until the 5th year to take our first crop off of this vineyard.  Appolonio, our vineyard manager, does almost everything by hand, as this is an organic vineyard, and, I have found, he knows the characteristics of practically every vine.  We are still working to gain balance in this vineyard as the site is very hilly and rocky, but every year it looks better.

More Reviews!!

Here’s the latest review of our 2004 Chardonnay from Connoisseur’s Guide to California Wine:

 

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“Deep, dense and extracted in the nose with plentiful apple-like fruit sitting beneath its broad sweep of sweet oak, this bottling fully lives up to its promise on the palate with rich and expansive flavors that precisely mirror its expressive aromas.  Its long and very flavorful finish shows a slight bit of hardness just now, but this one will shine with the likes of roast duck or salmon in rich sauces, and those with the patience to set it aside for another year will find a lavish and luxurious wine waiting that will have come into its own.”

Thanks Charles Olken.  I’m glad you like it.  This wine is available only at:

Village Fish House, Carmel Valley

Passionfish, Pacific Grove

Star Market, Salinas

Sierra Mar at the Post Ranch, Big Sur

2 Responses to “We are Harvesting…..”

  1. October 06, 2006 at 1:32 am, Iris said:

    Really beautiful Pinot Grapes! I’m sure, you’ll transform them into a very good wine – good luck for the rest of the cellar work.

  2. October 06, 2006 at 11:35 am, annette said:

    Hi Iris,
    Thanks! We are really excited about this fruit this year. I hope your harvest is going well. Would love to hear the season is going in Burgundy!

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