Weather  
Today

Job opening for weather forecaster! Yeah, sure, a deluge of rain.

We busted butt to get most of the fragile grapes in by Sunday, got a one-day postponement of rain so we could finish all grapes except Riesling on Monday and since have seen virtually no rain.

Lots of fog today, a few sprinkles yesterday, but no 2.5 inches of rain.

We're grateful for the great weather we got, but we would have pushed some of the last grapes a few days longer for maximum flavor, given a correct weather forecast.

So far this month we've had 0.97 inches of rain. Great weather for what will be at least a very good vintage. No disease pressure even on the last fruit. Great acidity, despite good ripeness--we should have rich, full wines, with vineyard differences adding to interest.

Harvest  2000  October 19, 2000

On the Downside, Looking Upbeat and Plenty Beat.
We have pressed the last of our white grapes, Chardonnay from Ridgecrest and Corral Creek, and a small block of high elevation Pinot gris at Corral Creek.

Michael Cleaning Pomace From Pinot Fermentor

Also, the last red grapes, Gamay noir from Ridgecrest, went through the destemmer today, after a couple days in refrigeration while we waited for a fermentor to open up.

We are legitimately on the downside of the vintage, having now pressed out four fermentors of Pinot noir, with three more tomorrow--for the first time opening a tank that won't be refilled until next year. These have been in tank since October 7th, with all but the last three or four days in pre-soak. Look great at this stage.

Half the fun of harvest has to do with the people you work with and those who come through (like Ina did a couple weeks ago) for a short period. Here are some shots of helpers and visitors at harvest:

Claire from Wilmington, Delaware
			DC Visitors: Alan, Will and Rich
Jim Johnsrud	Tim and Hannah
Visitors see a unique view of the winemaking process, including the varsity crew logging lots of hours and looking more and more beat.

	We've finally begun giving days off, with Cheryl's coming Friday and my first since sometime in September coming on Monday. Hopefully the days will shorten now, with 6PM end of shift--except for the rotating two who will do a quickly reducing number of nightly punchdowns. Riesling still hangs out. We are considering purchasing a few extra tons of Riesling to extend a great wine from Corral Creek, but we're finicky and need to see where the nearby fruit goes over the next week.
TV Crew with Cheryl
It should be a very good late ripening season, with dampness then sun over the next couple weeks.

Harry