Harvest Notes 2017

September 7, 2017

Paragraph 2 of this harvest journey. The first chapter was way too long and filled with more drama and a few profanities, that we decided that we should leave well enough alone and move onto Chapter 2.

This past week has seen the beginnings of  starting harvest  with St. Peters Church Zinfandel and today the  Sweetwater Zinfandel. Our yields have been nearly half of what we expected. The 2-week heat wave, had its way with both of these vineyards. Not to worry, both Zinfandels are safe and happy at the Winery.

So far our new interns have turned out to be a great group of 3.  Two are from France and 1 is from the good old USA!  I really feel these guys are going to enjoy Camp JC!

Today, being the first official crush at the winery we are going to have a nice Cheese and Charcuterie plate with a couple of nice bottles to celebrate!

Today we transferred a portion of the Sweetwater zinfandel to our concrete hippo. I feel the hippo allows me to gain a purity of fruit and focus of terroir. The rest will be fermented in small open top vessels. The combination of both give the wine a depth, richness and completeness.

Next on the list is the Stagecoach viognier. I will be visiting this vineyard on Saturday morning. Soon after will be the Sweetwater Petite Sirah. The heatwave pushed the sugars beyond what the flavors were showing, and now that we are getting a touch of cool weather, will allow for proper flavor and texture development.

That’s all for now