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Notes from the Vineyard


Past "Notes from the Vineyard"


Handmade wines since 1983.

 

Notes from the Vineyard

SPRING 2000

Postponed Weather Report

There might be some truth to the popular notion that it never rains in southern California. But, even though the weather here is almost always mild and nice, it does not follow that, climatically, every year is like every other year. In fact, natives of this state know what is certain about southern California weather is its complete unpredictability. Here, we can have summers without heat, and winters without cold. So, to say that we had two very unusual growing seasons in 1998 and 1999 is a little ridiculous, but let me try to explain what that meant for the wines we made.

Both years were characterized by cool spring weather that made the flowering go poorly. This gave us small clusters that didn't weigh much, and thus a small crop. And as much as growers and wine-makers would like to deny it, there is a very strong reverse correlation of crop yield and wine quality. There is simply more flavor in grapes from vines that produce a modest crop. The other major factor that influenced wine quality in 1998 and 1999 was the lateness of the harvest. In both years we didn't harvest a grape until the last few days of September--and didn't finish until November 19th! The important period of grape maturation occurred late in the season when the days are shorter and the weather cooler. This had a profound effect on the grapes, which had higher acidity levels and more intense fruit flavors.

The weather here in 1999 was decidedly stranger because we had no summer. It never got hot, not even in Ojai. We had a nice warm sunny September, which saved us, because otherwise many of the grapes from our vineyards would never have ripened. Most of the wines turned out a lot like the 1998's, high in acidity and full of extract. In a word, fantastic! There are a few wines that are so extreme that they strike me as odd at this point. I do not know whether they will be truly great or just wonderful and weird. These are wines with very high alcohol, very high acidity and amazing flavor. Only time will tell whether they will come into balance, but at this point in time I am quite optimistic.

 

We have produced some of our best wines to date from these two extraordinary years. In this newsletter we offer our richest chardonnay to date, a compelling and delicious pinot noir, and three of the five syrahs we made in 1998. Enjoy!

Adam Tolmach