Here, you see ordinary springtime shoot thinning, which is done to assure we don’t have too many shoots, and therefore, clusters (too many shoots cause crowding; flavor intensity suffers with too much crop):

The first cluster thinning normally happens right after flowering. If there are more clusters than we anticipated or more than we believe the vine can ripen with good flavor intensity we thin out some of the immature grapes.

But, we had some very  bushy vines this year, thanks to heavy rainfall in May (not normal). It’s important to keep the “canopy” of leaves open so air flow is good and mildew is under control, so more thinning:

And, then came the “Summer of no Summer”. Cool, damp conditions added to the normal mildew pressure, so gotta keep the canopy open!

Cluster thinning at veraison (when the grapes change color) is quite common (we have our winemaker on video kind of thinking aloud as he thins):

The “summer of no summer” came to an abrupt end in mid September, when we had a severe, 3-day heat wave!  The vines weren’t acclimated to the heat and all that shoot and leaf thinning left the clusters rather exposed. Result: dehydration!

So, more cluster thinning:

And, again more heat a few weeks ago!  More thinning:

So, the 2010 vintage may not be plentiful, but we’ve saved all the good ones for you!

This is one of the most challenging harvests ever, according to a number of growers. After a very cool summer and long ripening season the outlook for quality, for those who have taken the trouble to thin, should be very high. We expect to wrap up the 2010 harvest tomorrow with estate Petit Verdot and the rest of the estate Cabernet. Cheers!

The Incredible Shrinking Vintage is a post from Goosecross Cellars. Copyright © 2011 Goosecross Cellars, All Rights Reserved.

Sit back and enjoy a glass of wine while I tell you about this, seemingly, text-book growing season that threw us a curve ball at the end.

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NVWR® 95 – Harvest Recap 2009 is a post from Goosecross Cellars. Copyright © 2011 Goosecross Cellars, All Rights Reserved.

Spring

The vines came out of their winter sleep just about on time, in the third week of March, and we were off to a beautiful start. The weather was gorgeous – late March and early April brought us daytime temperatures in the 70s with lows in the 40s at night. The word frost was barely part of our vocabulary last spring, which was a delightful contrast to the spring of 2008. These mild conditions seemed to set the tone for the whole season – it was very comfortable for both the vines and the people!

By April, Geoff Gorsuch, our Winemaker, began the usual shoot thinning, essentially correcting the pruning work he did in the winter. The winter pruning is an attempt to determine the number of shoots and clusters that will appear in the spring but, as Geoff says, the vines don’t read the textbook and some thinning is inevitable to prevent crowding and over-cropping. See our video of springtime shoot thinning

That initial thinning was just the beginning. The vines seemed to thrive on the mild growing conditions and between the beautiful weather and a good soaking of rain in early May they grew like gangbusters. Geoff couldn’t remember a season when he’s done so much shoot thinning.

It’s important to keep the vines balanced – carrying the right number of shoots and potential crop for the site and spacing – and also to keep the ratio of leafy growth to clusters in line. Otherwise we risk vegetal characteristics in the wine. The thinning also increases ventilation which helps keep mildew in check.

The vines flowered around middle of May, right on time again, and the weather continued to cooperate nicely. Too much heat can burn the flowers and heavy rain may knock them off, resulting in crop loss, or “shatter”. We lucked out and Geoff saw fairly uniform fruit set and nicely formed clusters.

When pollination is complete, it’s time to make cluster counts and this was the first indication that we’d have a nice, average-sized crop. Geoff did a little cluster thinning at that point to ensure good flavor intensity down the road – quantity and quality don’t necessarily go together in the world of wine.

Exceptionally mild weather continued through June and July, punctuated by a couple of heat waves. By the time the grapes here at the winery began to change color, the third week of July, many of the local growers reported being significantly behind schedule, most likely due to the cool conditions. An early or late harvest is neither good nor bad – it depends upon what happens between fruit set and harvest. The grapes need enough time to develop flavor maturity, which is why you hear talk of “hangtime” on the early years. On the late years we worry about running into rain.

Summer

The color change, when the grapes turn from green to yellow-green or purple, is such a significant event there’s a name for it: veraison (see video). It signals that the shoots have stopped growing and the vine’s energy has shifted into fruit ripening. At this point, Geoff did more shoot and leaf thinning. If there’s too much leafy growth, aside from encouraging vegetal character the grapes may get sweet faster than the flavors mature.

Veraison is also a good time to re-evaluate the crop load. Geoff walks the vineyard repeatedly to see if the clusters are coloring up nicely. Dropping unripe fruit on the ground isn’t something he likes to do, but if some of the clusters are lagging behind, they’ll add green, unripe flavor to the wine. So – off they come – it’s called a “green harvest” (see video). He also needs to make sure that the vines aren’t carrying more fruit than they can ripen with a high degree of flavor intensity – sometimes thinning is the answer.

Once the fruit is nicely colored up, it’s time to begin field sampling (see video), which is gathering grape samples for tasting and analysis (see video). Geoff knows the end point he wants to reach in terms of numbers and, more importantly, flavors for each variety and site. The sugar level or brix, is important because it determines the alcohol. The acidity gives the wine freshness and makes it food friendly. The pH is related to the health and stability of the wine. Flavor is the over-riding consideration, so he samples with increasing frequency until he finally decides it’s time to harvest!

When the numbers fall nicely into place at the same time the flavors are at peak it’s called a good year! Most winemakers will tell you that the most important decision they make on an annual basis is when to pick each section of grapes because that’s their best chance to make beautifully balanced wine that’s packed with flavor.

Harvest

The sparkling wine producers began bringing in their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay the third week of August. A few Sauvignon Blanc vineyards came in about that time, too.

The Chenin Blanc was the first to arrive on our crush pad, over Labor Day weekend, nearly two weeks later than the start date for 2008 (see video of crushing). Surprisingly, the Estate Merlot was ready on the 7th. We think of Merlot as a mid-season variety. Perhaps it was because of the light crop in that part of the vineyard. The very sparse crop from Howell Mountain was next and we were off to the races!

September was the warmest month of the season, by far. If you check our harvest calendar, you’ll see that the fruit was coming in fast and furious at the end of September and the beginning of October. It meant very long hours for Geoff and his crew.

As local growers and winemakers began to talk about the vintage the most common themes were good flavor maturity at relatively low brix (sugar levels) – that’s no surprise given the cool weather – and very good news in terms of balance. Most winemakers seemed to agree that the reds had excellent color – a good indicator for flavor intensity. Opinions were all over the board regarding yields, so it appeared to be a question of location. The yields in our home vineyard, here in Yountville, were quite good while the crop up at Howell Mountain resembled that of 2008 – very sparse.

The upside of the rapid-fire pace is that Geoff and his fatigued crush crew could begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The advantage we didn’t anticipate was that almost all of our grapes were harvested in advance of a major, winter-style rainstorm on October 13th. We measured over three inches in 24 hours here in Yountville!

A little sprinkle doesn’t much matter but this kind of rain is a real worry – it brings down the sugar and can cause dilution and rot!

The good news for local growers was that Cabernet Sauvignon was the main grape still hanging. It’s fairly rot resistant, thanks to its thick skin and loose cluster formation. After rain we pray for wind to dry things out and with Cab, there’s a good chance it will all turn out fine. Many growers and winemakers thinned leaves to improve ventilation.

The only variety we had yet to harvest, at that point, was the Carneros Syrah – fortunately another tough-skinned grape. Geoff gave it a few days hoping things would dry out and, with some trepidation, went down to check things out. Much to his relief, it looked clean and the sugar was on a par with 2008. With more rain predicted in another few days he went ahead and brought it in the next day at 24% sugar – just about perfect – and the color was remarkably deep! It turned out to be a good call because we got another good soaking the next day. And, so ended the Goosecross harvest on October 18th.

For the Napa Valley as a whole, a number of growers had grapes out until the end of October but, with more rain predicted for the first week of November, there was a rush to finish harvesting by Halloween. There was some warm, windy weather along the way, which is ideal for drying things out and bringing up the sugar. But, the linchpin for any review of the 2009 harvest will center on what was harvest before, vs. after, the rainstorm.

Our first releases from the 2009 vintage will be the fruity whites: Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Chenin Blanc. They’re best when they’re young and we’ll bottle them in December, anticipating a springtime release.

After a beautiful growing season of mild, sunny days and cool, foggy nights, we were reminded not to count our chickens before they’re hatched! Geoff is grateful to have escaped the rain-related challenges, for the most part, and pleased with the flavor concentration and excellent balance of the 2009 vintage as he moves into getting the new wines barrelled up and blended. Now, on to 2010!

Goosecross: 2009 Vintage Recap is a post from Goosecross Cellars. Copyright © 2011 Goosecross Cellars, All Rights Reserved.

A mere four days after that post we got three+ inches of torrential rainfall in 24 hours here in Yountville. My rain gage at home in St. Helena showed over five inches. SHOCKING!  WE DON’T ALLOW RAIN DURING HARVEST!!

What’s the beef? A little sprinkle is nothing to worry about. But, big-time rain causes rot and dilution – some varieties are more susceptible than others.

Lucky for us, a couple of days before the rain hit we got our three rows of Petit Verdot in looking very nice, thank you very much. That just left the Syrah.

After the rain stopped, Geoff gave it a few days, then went down to the Carneros , where our Syrah is grown, with trepidation. He saw some sad looking Chardonnay and Zin there but,fortunately, the Syrah looked clean and the sugar was just where it was for last year’s crush. So, not wishing to push his luck, we brought it in the next day. Thus, our harvest ended. Next day? More heavy rain. Good call, Geoff!!

As for our Napa Valley neighbors, things could be a lot worse. If you could choose which grape get hits by the rain it would be good-old Cabernet Sauvignon, which is about the only thing still hanging. It’s tough skinned, like the Syrah, and forms a loose cluster. The air circulation helps prevent rot. Plus, last weekend was very warm and somewhat windy, which really helps dry things out. Folks are harvesting at a frentic pace to finish up in case Mother Nature gets peevish again.

From valley-wide reports, just about everything will be in by Halloween. The most common response to rain damage is to be extremely careful about sorting the fruit when it gets to the winery. Most winemakers are quite optimistic about quality, in spite of the rain.

The theme for this harvest, aside from the game-changing rain, is that flavor maturity has been quite good at lower sugar levels, which translates to slightly lower alcohols. We’re absolutely OK with that!

So, all that’s left is to finish pressing, get the wines barreled up and call it a vintage. Cheers!

Goosecross: Harvest Ends with a Bang! is a post from Goosecross Cellars. Copyright © 2011 Goosecross Cellars, All Rights Reserved.

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Goosecross: Crushing Cabernet Franc is a post from Goosecross Cellars. Copyright © 2011 Goosecross Cellars, All Rights Reserved.