Harvest got underway a few weeks back with my Chardonnay, which I’m resolved to pick early in an attempt to capture a crisp, restrained style — not the typical very ripe style coming out of Russian River. After dropping Dean off at school I drove this Penske up on Tuesday 9/10 to pick up just 2 1/2 bins from the “Jack Pierce” block off Olivet Road, between Piner and Guerneville, and farmed by Randy of Harvest Moon. And, as luck would have it (for me), my sister was in town with partner Jim, and they were volunteered to help sort the fruit! One of the goals of the sort, in addition to removing MOG, was to pull out clusters with mildew like the above. There was a minimalistic approach to farming the Jack Pierce block — no hedging, no pesticides, and fungicidal copper/sulfur were last sprayed months ago. Some mildew was present in one portion of the block, and while most didn’t get into the bin, one still had to be vigilant. That’s our new friend Sherri also helping. Besides the potential for off-characters (taste/aromas), molds and rots can also produce enzymes that can result in the browning of a […]
Tuesday, September 18, 2012Posted by Bobat 2:44 pmin blog0 comments
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the table at September’s Family Winemaker’s tasting! The wines, while still young, were showing nicely I thought, and I was particularly gratified to hear compliments and excitement about our new Chardonnay. Wine critic Richard Jennings (Huffington Post, Snooth), whom I’m afraid I did not recognize, had nice things to say about the wines, scoring them all above 90. You can read his impressions of the tasting in general here; and you may search for “wait” in this article to see his descriptions of our current wines and see a photo of yours truly at the end of a busy day 🙂
Use our discount ticket code FRIENDOFWC and get 20% off tickets for the Family Winemakers of California Tasting 2012 at Fort Mason, from 3pm-6pm on Sunday September 9th! This is the most comprehensive tasting of California wines in the world, showcasing our state’s small, family-owned wineries. Take-away wine sales will also be available from many wineries; is there a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon? We’ll be pouring our 2010s and our 2011 Chardonnay, hope to see you there!
