We have just finished the 2013 harvest which has been a very rewarding challenge. In all honesty, I like this vintage at least as much as the much-heralded 2012. The only trick was to find time to sleep for about three weeks when the largest workload occurred. Fortunately I have a place to ferment everything at once so there were no compromises made on harvesting dates or time in tank. The treat was a heavy, but perfectly metered pace and, even with my modest number of picking bins, we were able to have everything in place when it was needed. That said, I am still putting the finishing touches on this newsletter on Halloween while red grape skins are just loaded in the press and will be pressing late into the evening.
The early varieties were just a little early while the later ones were quite a bit earlier than usual. The compression of harvest could be amazingly stressful for those dependent upon using the same fermentation vessels multiple times. I have seen three vintages where this compression has occurred and took steps to plan for those rare vintages. Yields were generous almost without exception. The growers I work with are great at managing crop levels so as to not overdo it. So, what I see from 2013 are super-high quality wines that will be in good supply. What a treat!
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