2009 Harvest at Charles Vineyard
Harvest 2009 is in mid-swing for the Charles Vineyard! So far we have picked Pommard Clone Pinot Noir for Schramsberg Vineyards and the Foursight 114,115,777 and Pommard. This past week we picked Papapietro Perry's fruit and some Pommard for Russian Hill. Tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday PP's 114 Pinot Noir will come of the vine, as well as the Sauvignon Blanc for both Foursight and Navarro Vineyards. Whew!
It's an exciting and exhausting time of the year, especially with the tasting room. Let me tell you -- picking grapes at 6:00 a.m. then scurrying home to clean up and open the tasting room makes for a LONG day. But a good one.
Everything looks fantastic this year. Flavors were there from the beginning, the weather's been cool and even for the most part, so sugar progression is also steady. The only interesting thing about the 2009 fruit is that, in the earlier picks, there were still a few green berries hidden amongst some clusters. It was rare, but you'd have an entire ripe cluster with one green berry. The seeds would accordingly be green inside, but it wasn't common. To that end, we decreased the amount of whole clusters we're using by a bit, to accommodate increased tannins from green seeds and stems that were in some lots.
This weekend we had the tiniest of sprinkles and some dry lightning, which made everyone hold their collective breath. However, no fire issues, and not enough rain to really do anything.
In Anderson Valley, we're happy to report everything looking great so far.
It's an exciting and exhausting time of the year, especially with the tasting room. Let me tell you -- picking grapes at 6:00 a.m. then scurrying home to clean up and open the tasting room makes for a LONG day. But a good one.
Everything looks fantastic this year. Flavors were there from the beginning, the weather's been cool and even for the most part, so sugar progression is also steady. The only interesting thing about the 2009 fruit is that, in the earlier picks, there were still a few green berries hidden amongst some clusters. It was rare, but you'd have an entire ripe cluster with one green berry. The seeds would accordingly be green inside, but it wasn't common. To that end, we decreased the amount of whole clusters we're using by a bit, to accommodate increased tannins from green seeds and stems that were in some lots.
This weekend we had the tiniest of sprinkles and some dry lightning, which made everyone hold their collective breath. However, no fire issues, and not enough rain to really do anything.
In Anderson Valley, we're happy to report everything looking great so far.
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