Monday, September 26, 2005

You've Got Merlot

I've discovered during my brief time in the wine industry, that every vintage is unique - and troublesome. The perfect year isn't perfect until it's over and we can look back at it. (And I've yet to meet one of those years). 2005 in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys is consistent with the inconsistency of grape growing. Spring was early, which led speculation of an early harvest. Late Spring rains damaged some flowers, reducing crop a bit. The Summer was perfect for setting the fruit, and the Fall seemed to follow suit with nice warm days and calm cool nights. Until now that is.

Most of the Napa fruit is still hanging from the vine while a long, unseasonal, cool spell is hanging in the skies. The plants need another hit of heat to push them to the proper sugar levels - which in Napa are usually notoriously high. This long final wait may lead to fruit that is more 'truly' biologically ripe, and lower alcohols in the final wines - A more European style if you must. What I mostly see is a lot of winemakers sitting around waiting for their grapes to come in.

Over at Blankiet this is thankfully not the case. We did wait a bit, and cleaned a little bit more, but our site in the Mayacamas toe hills is early ripening (though also later than last year) and as of yesterday the entirety of our Merlot - a grand 32 tons - is crushed. The first of our Cab sauv will roll across the tables mid-week and we may press off our first dry wine at week's end. I am especially pleased as I am expected in Germany mid-October and thought I might not get to see the whole process through.

It's been a kick to work in the World Famous Napa Valley. Wine is very serious business in these parts, and you don't take many chances with a bottle that will score 98 points and retail for over $100. It's still fun, but it's definitely different. Also different, is working for a Consulting Winemaker. Helen Turley is great (and tall and handsome and famous and humble) - she shares her thoughts freely while she works and will gladly take the time to answer our questions - when she's around. We take samples every morning from our tanks of juice and send them up to Helen's house in Calistoga along with their charts. Helen and Jon taste them, and fax their comments to the winery. There are written protocols in our manuals for additions, pumpovers, etc., and Helen's associates at Blankiet - Brian and Jeanne - are extremely capable winemakers in their own right. It's sort of a recipe, although you never know what kind of shape the ingredients (the grapes) are going to be in. Decisions about the wine are generally made only after a phone call or two.

What's the secret? There are so many of them, from the slow sorting to the splashing pumpover (just how it sounds). I think I've barely scratched the surface. That to me is one of the greatest joys of making wine. Everyday when I go to work I learn something new. And I don't know of many who can say that about their jobs, but I do wish it for everyone.

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Paradise Hills

Everyday, with the morning mist still hanging over the Napa Valley, I make my way to the Mayacamas Hills of Yountville, through the archway of Domaine Chandon and onto the dirt frontage road that leads to Paradise Hills Vineyard, the home of Blankiet Estate. The track wends west, and follows the Dominus property line aquaduct back into the hills. The sloped vineyard here is planted entirely to Cabernet sauvignon and Merlot grapes - the winery produces no white wines. The Cab is planted on the north slopes, on steep ash soils covered with gravelly loam. The Merlot plantations to the south don't reach quite as high in elevation and their volcanic soils form a basin around the winery site before curving out of sight around the hill topped by the Blankiet home.

I was fortunate to be invited along on a recent pre-harvest vineyard walkthough with Jon Wetlaufer, the viticulturist who planned the plantings here, and Jaime Avina, the vineyard manager. We walked the rows, choosing different aspects of all of the various blocks. While Jon's wife, Helen Turley, was conducting a baseline sampling for sugar (brix) levels and acidity (pH), we surveyed the vines for signs of stress, vigor, defficencies. The general idea is to allow the vine just enough growth to ripen just enough fruit - around 3lb. per vine in this case. This can be achieved through fertilization, irrigation, canopy management and a variety of other methods. The best and least laborious method, is to choose the right vine with the right rootstock planted in the right spot. This may sound simplisticly obvious, but we are still sorting out how to do this consistently. Much relies on vine spacing - Paradise Hills is planted 1m (3ft) between vines and 2m (6ft)between rows. The close-planted Abel block at Escarpment was more like 1mx1.2m and most of the tractor-farmed Sauvignon blanc in NZ is 2mx3m.

We expect the first fruit will cross the sorting table of our virgin destemming line sometime at the end of this week. Then we'll find out if we've forgotten anything while setting up this brand new winery. I'm looking forward to getting my mitts on my first Bordeaux varietals. And getting to the job of making some wine.