Harvest 2012 Photos

The 2012 harvest has come to an end…the fruit picked under stellar conditions, the fermentations completed without a hitch and the wine barreled down for the winter.  Nearly everyone is celebrating Northern California’s “epic” harvest, the biggest in years, including us and we’ve shared some photos of here:

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2009 Release

Announcing our New Release now available on our website:

2009 Stomping Girl Pinot Noir, Beresini Vineyard, Carneros

2009 Stomping Girl Pinot Noir, Lauterbach Hill, Russian River Valley

2009 Stomping Girl Pinot Noir, Corona Creek, Sonoma Coast

Thankfully, it is ready just in time for Turkey Day because what goes better with that bird than Pinot Noir?  And we’re not just saying that because we make Pinot–it’s a tried and true, classic combination.  Good old American Pinot with a good old American bird.  So why not give Stomping Girl a try with your turkey this year?

Because we want to offer first dibs to our mailing customers, this wine is not yet available in restaurants or retail stores.  It is only available on our website–which is newly designed, by the way, check it out.

If you want to ensure your wine arrives in time for Thanksgiving, be sure to place your order by November 17.

If you’re local, or will be in town visiting, then order on the website and choose to pick it up at the winery–no shipping charges!

Order a case of one wine or make it fun and mix and match 12 bottles–either way you automatically get 10% off.  No coupon required.

 

2010 Harvest and Crush

 

Aftermath of a Dinner Party

 

Springtime in the vineyards

new vineyard growth

We went up with the kids to the vineyard in the Russian River Valley we source fruit from this weekend.  The young shoots are out in full force, reaching for the sun and tiny clusters of flowers are starting to form.  It was a beautiful day and we are off to a fabulous start for another great harvest from Lauterbach vineyard.

spring in russian river valley vineyard

We have been taking the kids to wineries and vineyards for so many years and it is starting to pay off.  Finally, no complaints, no arguing in the back seat. And they happily trekked after Dad up and down the rows, stopping, inspecting and enjoying themselves.  A picnic and a stop at Powell’s Sweet Shoppe in Windsor on the way home might have helped a bit as well.

 

Barrel Tasting The ’09 Pinots

With pleasure, Uzi and I tasted barrel samples of our 2009 Pinot Noir last weekend.  Uzi was down at the winery topping the barrels so he pulled several samples and thoughtfully called me over to taste with him.

Each time we sample, a different wine seems to be the favorite.  The first time around it was our Corona Creek (Sonoma Coast) samples. Next time we preferred the Beresini (Carneros.)  The third time, we tasted with Steve Beresini (he grows what else?  our Beresini.)  Steve liked them all but in the end he “admitted” that at that moment in time, he preferred the Corona Creek.  This last time that Uzi and I tasted, our Lauterbach (Russian River) seemed to be the winner.  This, I think, reflects three things:  1) the different vineyards expressing unique characteristics; 2) the nature of Pinot Noir and how it changes and evolves in the barrel, in the bottle and in the glass; and 3) that we will end up with three distinct Pinots and definitely something for everyone.

 

Stirring the Lees and Topping Barrels

About a year ago, Uzi wrote about the “chore” of topping off.  Back then we only had 2 half barrels in our home cellar and 4 barrels at the winery to worry about.  This year we have 17 barrels at the winery to stir and top.  While we still don’t see it as a chore, it is a bit more work.  They are stacked two high in the back of the barrel room and special maneuvers are required to properly stir the lees and top off the barrel without overflowing.  But it is still a great opportunity to smell and taste the wine and to, for lack of a better word, touch base with the wine…even while it is resting snugly in the barrel.

So earlier this week at the winery, we sniffed, stirred, topped and tasted all 17 barrels of our 2009 Pinot Noir.  Pinot always seems to be evolving, from the moment of harvest all the way to the last drop in your glass.  But at this point in time, we found that our Carneros Pinot has an incredible nose, our Russian River Pinot already has a luscious mouthfeel and luscious flavors and our Sonoma Coast has nice fruit forward character.  Can’t wait to see what we discover next time…

in the barrel room

 

Russian River Pinot Sort and Destem

 

Keeping Birds Out of the Vineyard

Protective netting around the vines, the sounds of gunshots or recorded sounds of birds of prey are just 3 ways we saw wine grape growers naturally (here are links describing other sustainable farming methods our’s and other vineyards use) protecting their precious crop this time of year.  Birds know when the grapes are ripe and a flock of starlings can clean a large vineyard out in a matter of hours–yikes!  At Lauterbach vineyards, recording devices playing the calls of raptors and starlings in distress are utilized to protect the grapes from birds.   Mr. Lauterbach says they have not had any significant grape loss to birds since they were first installed. The sound boxes, strategically placed around the vineyard, are doing their job quite efficiently. They are hardly noticeable, require very little effort or energy and are pleasing to the ear.  Above you can view a short video (sorry for the amateur nature) of these in Lauterbach vineyard

On a related note, I recently visited the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek with an old friend from high school and our kids.  They have a fabulous collection of live raptors that have been injured in the wild and brought there for rehabilitation and display–these birds are truly incredible to see close up.  It would be great to have live raptors that we could count on to completely protect the vineyards…but, alas, we are happy with the very cool sound boxes in Lauterbach Vineyards that are doing their job.

Live Raptors at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum

 

Brix Levels in the Vineyard

     

Uzi taking Brix measurements in the vineyard

The vineyards in the Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros from which we source fruit look beautiful and the weather has been perfect these last weeks with cool nights and warm days.  Earlier this week we visited each vineyard and brought along our handheld refractometer to measure the Brix levels of the grapes.  The refractometer looks similar to a small telescope.  There is a small glass plate that flips out onto which you place a sample of juice by squishing above it a grape freshly plucked from the vine.  Then you hold it to the sun and the light traveling through the sample in the refractometer is reflected (refracted?) in such a way that a line shadow is formed separating a dark area from a light area.  It is here at the shadow line that the reading is taken.

Our measurements at Lauterbach Vineyard in the Russian River Valley were about 20.5 Brix.  Beresini Vineyard Brix level, in Carneros, is slightly behind at 20.2 Brix.  Corona Creek Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, is farther behind,  as expected, at around 17 Brix.  We shoot to harvest at 24.5 Brix and Lauterbach Vineyard in the RRV will probably be our first grapes to be harvested and brought into the winery in approxiately 2-3 weeks.

RRV grapes at end of August