I write this at my first real opportunity to sit down in front of a keyboard in two months. Due to the kind weather throughout the growing season, 2012 found us with a fair amount of extremely high quality fruit. I was impressed by the evenness of ripening and the lack of ‘bad things’ like rot, sunburned fruit, etc. to remove at the sorting table. This makes everyone happy. As we work with different varieties and sites that encompass the warmer and cooler parts of Sonoma County, there is usually a small break in the action of harvest activity. It allows me some rest and time to reflect on the wines we are offering in the fall. This year, things were so steady and constant that this luxury was not available. It was a real positive for the new wines, but takes its toll on me and the amount of time I have to present this offering.
The previous couple of vintages had their challenges – Either percussive heat in the late summer or rain during the later part of harvest. This year the challenge was to actually find the challenge. The growers we work with are adept at managing the crop load, so we came in right where we wanted to be. I was also able to have things harvested right on the early side of my ‘ripeness window’ which have given us wonderfully elegant and flavorful wines.
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