UPDATE: VINTAGE TWO-TRIPLENAUGHT:The Wheels Come Off There was a car manufactured in Germany years ago, called the Borgward. It was a solidly constructed car, as sturdy, surely, as a Mercedes, and capable of cruising on the highways and autobahns at speeds upwards of 100 mph, yet so smoothly that you never noticed until you saw […]

UPDATE: VINTAGE TWO-TRIPLENAUGHT:Rainy Day, Man This has seemed like a difficult year to gauge ripeness. I hear reports, from everyone I know who makes wine, of high sugars, most often concurrent with high acid levels in the grapes, and low pHs.(Usually, as ripening proceeds, the heat that pushes sugar levels higher also serves to lower […]

UPDATE: VINTAGE TWO-TRIPLENAUGHT:Lord Willin’ and the Crick Don’t Rise So, let’s see; it’s the third of October, now, and day 50 of crush 2000. Who (as the song asks) knows where the time goes? In a couple of days we’ll receive the Syrah from the Parmelee-Hill vineyard, and pass the halfway point for tons crushed […]

UPDATE: VINTAGE TWO-TRIPLENAUGHT:Dancing with Lunacy This morning it became official. The inevitable sense that comes, sooner or later, in every harvest, that “all hell has broken loose” arrived in every muscle in my body. Some time during the night, last night, as I lay sleeping, the white flag was waved and the surrender took effect. […]

UPDATE: VINTAGE TWO-TRIPLENAUGHT:Read ‘Em and Weep! Maybe it’s all the CO2 in the winery during crush–it feels like there’s a different kind of energy that runs me at this time of year, and I’m surprised I haven’t noticed it before. Then again, human beings often seem to be exceptionally good at not seeing what’s right […]

UPDATE: VINTAGE TWO-TRIPLENAUGHT:Is It September Yet? A big part of harvest is about waiting, and the hope is, usually, that there is time to wait, because there is so much to do. The first two loads of fruit we brought in sneaked up on us, and we were fortunate that they didn’t come mid-harvest, when […]

UPDATE: VINTAGE TWO-TRIPLENAUGHT:Back to the Future I sat in my kitchen Friday morning the 18th, working on the Organolepticians (#5), and happily anticipating a peaceful weekend celebrating my birthday; the celebration would start with a 10:45 am massage appointment — only another 20 minutes or so to wait. I was nearly finished writing, and rose […]

UPDATE: VINTAGE TWO-TRIPLENAUGHT:We Can’t Go On Meeting this Way Here we go again. I no sooner get the Viognier tucked away in its barrels, ready to ferment, and heave a big sigh of relief, looking forward to a weekend at Pt. Reyes with Cornelia to do some bicycling, some napping, some eating and drinking wine, […]

UPDATE: VINTAGE TWO-TRIPLENAUGHT:Maybe it was the Full Moon In my walk through the Viognier Saturday, there were highly practical considerations to be addressed. Viognier wine tastes the way it does because that flavor is in the grapes, when they’re ripe, on the vine. Some grapes just taste like grapes. Viognier, if it’s grown properly, tastes, […]

UPDATE: VINTAGE TWO-TRIPLENAUGHT:First Stirrings of Harvest Late July: While vacationing in Western Massachusetts, I retrieved a phone message from Paso Robles that had an urgent quality. The Viognier grapes planted at a new vineyard source for us were rapidly gaining in sugar. (JULY!) It was impossible not to be skeptical: new growers. First harvest. Probably […]