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Notes from the Vineyard


Past "Notes from the Vineyard"


Handmade wines since 1983.

 

Notes from the Vineyard

 

 

FALL 2007


One of the questions I hear most often is, "How was the harvest this year?" I can never manage to give an easy answer. It always takes me a few years to gain perspective on the wines we made, and separate myself emotionally from the trials and tribulations of the harvest. But now that the first reds from 2005 are being released it's time to make some comments.

2005 was an amazingly prolific harvest, so right away I was concerned it would cause a dilution of character in the wines. Many vineyards I saw were hideously over-cropped, but I was smug with the knowledge that for the last nine years we had thinned the fruit in our vineyard sites to a low 2 to 2.5 tons to the acre. We were prepared this year as well and had gone through all of our vineyards, and though a few blocks came in at higher than anticipated yields, the vines and fruit had excellent balance. Timing-wise, 2005 seemed like a dream compared to 2004 when we had only a couple of days to pick the pinot noir. In 2005 the weather was so mild we literally had three weeks to decide when to pick.

In the barrel the 2005 pinot noirs and syrahs seemed radically different than the 2004s-they were alive with acidity and tannins and had none of the unctuousness that marked the 2004 vintage. I loved their precision and their persistent personalities, but worried that they were a little too subtle and esoteric. But after bottling, the wines seemed to fatten up a bit and the tannins calmed down and were well masked by the fruit. Tasting them now they still seem less rich than the 2004s, but they are more complex and utterly alive with freshness, which makes them very food-friendly. In my opinion these pinots are clearly our best to date. As for the syrahs I think they're poised to be terrific, but will give them another year or so before judging-I don't want to be too hasty.

 

Adam Tolmach