Harvest recap thread-2012

Now that harvest is in full bloom and hopefully will be winding down in the next several weeks, can I have the thoughts of the winemakers and owners as to the quality and quantity of the fruit already in?

Thanks

Only thing in for me is Sauvignon Blanc.
A whole lot of fruit out there still hanging.
Best, Jim

Like Jim, harvest / crush has barely begun for me. Some Paso Syrah in for Eno Wines, and one lot each of Fiano and Pinot Noir for Harrington Wines. Much more to come. I can’t speak for all the wineries out there, but crush is still in its early stages for pretty much everyone I know - it certainly won’t be winding down for me in the next several weeks. So it’s a bit premature to make any generalizations about this vintage.

Vintage of the century!!!

Just like every year!

Just getting started in Santa Clara Valley. Fruit looking good, its been a warmer spring and cooler summer than last year. Less heat stress and better ripening. Targeting harvest about 1 week earlier than 11 based on Brix tracking

Brought in my Gewurztraminer a few weeks back and am currently waiting on my Viognier from White Hawk and my Grenache Blanc from Camp 4. All of my reds are at least 2 to 3 weeks out or longer. Yep, rhone varieties just take that long in general . . .

Cheers

Andrew, I have been reading reports from a number of growers in the 2012 West Coast Weather Blog on this same Cellar Rats page. I have also been following the Rhys harvest reports via twitter on Rhys website. Accordingly to the Rhys posts, accross the board, this is likely the best year for quantity ever at Rhys, which often produces lower quantity given their number of higher elevation vinyards. But high quality for Rhys is 2-2.5 tpa, which is still pretty low generally. I think the Rhys team has high expectations for the vintage, but better to let them update when they know more.

Generally, it looks like a very good year/great year for pinot and chard up and down the CA coast - and much of it is now in the cellar! Expectations are also fairly high in Napa, Sonoma, and other areas for Cab, but there is still much Cab hanging on the vine, and it may be several more weeks before we know the full story. One thing that has helped the vintage is the lack of any sustained heat spike in September/October, which has allowed growers to let the fruit hang and develop. In sum, this could be a tremendous year in CA.

We’ve got The Weather Thread, this thread, and a harvest photos thread, all containing overlapping info. Happens every year, but I find it dilutes the richness and completeness of the discussion.

Not sure about this. The heat spike at the start of this month had an impact. Definitely a very good year, but tremendous?

So now is it time to recap?

Been a pretty awesome year for Napa.

We experienced super high yields of very high quality grapes. The color and aromas this year are outrageously good. That isn’t to say this vintage hasn’t been challenging.
I’ve got a couple of sweet lots still:

At crush:

Fermentation Profiles Flatlining:

And Lab report @ flatline:

Scary high alchs and residual sugars. Fortunately VAs are relatively in-check.

Sent a portion of these 2 lots to Conetech for alcohol adjustment, and trying out some encapsulated yeasts. They’re finally moving again, slowly but surely.

Sidebar, why are producers so hush-hush about this sort of winemaking practice? EVERYONE’s doing it, I saw the queue of producers there. I must be naive, but I’d rather make a killer wine out of grapes that were painstakingly grown all year and do a little de-alc rather than dilute amazing juice down with a firehouse pre-fermentation.

Nothing like the “art” of winemaking.

Hmmm…well, maybe “everyone” you know is doing it, though I’m quite sure that none of the producers I know well are de-alcing - no need for it. Certainly not at the wineries I work with. Perhaps it’s more common in Napa? I’m not as familiar with Napa producers but then I know a few there whom I’m pretty sure are not doing that either.

You can probably answer that yourself. Are you planning to describe how you made this wine in your marketing materials? And you have more choices that just de-alcing or water back, you could have picked earlier. I get that you probably want to make a huge wine and there does seem to be a big market for that despite the talk of lower alcohol level. I am curious though, do you plan to add acid/drop pH or just going to live with the high pH?

I’m not doing it.

And, though I’m not a winemaker as Roy Piper is fond of pointing out, I don’t know why anyone would. Just pick the damn things before they reach the stage of “ripeness” where they remind one of an over-soft plum, a banana that’s turned black or a table grape that’s been sitting in the fruit basket for two weeks.

Bob, nicely stated! Now are one of you big shots on the west coast going to start a weather/vintage thread for 2013? I am anxious to hear how the weather has been lately after the December rains?