Only one block of Pinot noir remains to pick, and it will come in Tuesday.
Ridgecrest
fruit looks great, in both the "soft, sad, almost-falling-off-
the-stems" physiological sense and in the numbers, with 24+ sugars,
3.20 pH and 8 g/L acid.
For
the luckily uninitiated, those numbers are PERFECT
for us.
The initial three lots of Pinot noir, which were harvested almost two
weeks ago, have been "barreled down"--going into a selection
of new, almost new, almost old, and old barrels from different French
coopers and forests.
We
use approximately 40% new oak and select comparison
trials to show us how each fermentation lot works with
various barrels. In the winter and spring you'll find
us with thief in hand in the cellar assessing matches
in an effort to continually improve, based on differences
in grapes, winemaking, and barrels.
 Monday
will bring the final harvest sequence for Chardonnay
and Pinot Blanc at Stoller Vineyard, and Chardonnay
at Corral Creek Vineyard (the first harvest off Dijon-grafted
108 clone vines from 1997).
We
are letting a major block of Pinot gris hang to overripeness,
on both Corral Creek and Ridgecrest, in an attempt
to make a VT. That's vendage tardive in French,
reflective of huge late harvest ripeness from a great
year.
Currently
sugars are 25-26 brix. We'll
keep you abreast as we decide on how ripe and how long
it can go.
Gotta
go destem some experimental fruit, which I'll tell
you about tomorrow.
Harry
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