Most Challenging Vintage In 50 Years?

2010 could be the most challenging vintage of the last 50 years here in Northern California Wine Country.

The grapes and grape growers are struggling. This is the coldest summer in memory. We’ve had late bloom and cold stretches before but nothing as sustainably cold as this.

It’s cold here for August and it was cold here for June and July. Friends of mine here on the Extreme Sonoma Coast have actually turned on their heat the last couple of weeks. The Wall Street Journal published an article on August 7th saying it’s the coldest summer along the West Coast in decades.

Lots of spring rain, late bloom and cold combine to remind us that wine is more than scores. It’s an agricultural crop. Winemakers produce wine from grapes but without cooperation from Mother Nature, we’re screwed!

Harvest is expected two to three weeks late in most parts of Sonoma County which means sparkling wine grapes will begin to get picked at the middle of September at the earliest. Crush for other varietals is predicted to begin in early October in the Russian River, Dry Creek Valley, Carneros, Alexander Valley, Rockpile, Chalk Hill, Sonoma Mountain, and Sonoma Valley. Not true on the Extreme Sonoma Coast.

I’ve been talking with lots of viticulturists, winemakers, and Nick Frey, President of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission and they’re very concerned about the grapes – worried about it raining before it’s ready to harvest. Lots of rain can really cause rot and mold in the vineyards.

I visited Balistreri Vineyard last week. The vineyard is located between Freestone and Bodega out here on the Extreme Sonoma Coast. One of the coldest vineyards in the U.S. where Pinot Noir is produced, we’re used to late harvests. Sonoma Coast Vineyards has produced a Balistreri Vineyard designate Pinot Noir since 2004.

The grape clusters are teeny and green and exceptionally hard – like little stones. This is one of the larger clusters, a full 3 1/4 inches in length.

The joke has always been…if we get the grapes in before our Thanksgiving turkey is on the table, it’s a good year.

Veraison at Balistreri usually occurs in early to mid-September and harvest 50-70 days later when the flavors have developed and the grape seeds are brown so they have less bitter tannins.

This year, we may be Harvesting with Santa

And he was heard to exclaim as he rode out of sight, “Ho! Ho! Pinot!”
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Love wine? Get your hands dirty!

Love wine?

Want to know more about it?

Like a challenge?

Short on time?

Wine Boot Camp® is for you!

Wine Boot Camp® is a one-day reconnaissance mission working in the vineryard and the winery. Your day includes visits to two fantastic Sonoma County wineries. Experience and find out how to identify aromas in wine. Learn the secrets of food and wine pairing. Work in the vineyard and blend your own wine. Continental breakfast, gourmet lunch and dinner paired with spectacular wines all while you bask in the glories of beautiful Sonoma Wine Country.

Wine Boot Camp® is an intensive, highly enjoyable  12-hour program. Not a series  of dry presentations with an oenophile lecturing in front of a blackboard…Wine Boot Camp recruits work hands-on in the vineyard and the winery.
Watch the Ag Traveler Wine Boot Camp video.

The September 18th Wine Boot Camp® in Sonoma County will be incredibly fascinating for at least three reasons.

  • The weather is creating a number of challenges for growers. Read a current article in the The Press Democrat. Owned by The New York Times Company, The Press Democrat is a daily newspaper published in the heart of Sonoma County Wine Country in Santa Rosa, California.
  • Our vineyard mission site is none other than Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards & Winery. Our recruits will intimately experience this ruggedly beautiful 1,477 acre estate. The 350 acres of vineyards is a patchwork of 60 different small vineyards, each dedicated to producing distinctive wines of elegance and power.The vineyards are surrounded by heritage oak woodlands and natural riparian streams.Viticulturist Mark Lingenfelder will lead the troops on a vineyard mission working hands-on, bringing their energy to the 2010 vintage.The wines at Chalk Hill are estate bottled and AMAZING!
  • Then on to Michel Schlumberger, our winery mission site.Wow!Michel-Schlumberger has an excellent and well deserved reputation for producing fabulous Bordeaux varieties from the Western Edge of Dry Creek Valley.Michel Schlumberger has long believed in blending their Bordeaux varietals for complexity.
    What better winery for our winery and blending experience? Michel Schlumberger’s red wines have harnessed the ripe, raw power of the new world with the elegant reins of the old. The Merlot consistently shows well-knit aromatics and richly structured flavors-unusual characteristics for what is known in California as a soft, entry-level wine. Their Cabernet Sauvignon is prized for its classic Claret balance, depth of fruit, and nuance.Wines of finesse…it’s what I love in my glass and Michel Schlumberger winemaker, Mike Brunson will guide you through the winemaking process, sharing his secrets along the way.

If you love wine, ever wanted to plant a vineyard, own a winery, or be a winemaker you don’t want to miss being part of the 2010 vintage.

Sign up for Wine Boot Camp® or send your favorite wine geek to Camp. Only 10 more recruits may join us.

Enlist!

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What does weather have to do with Cabernet?

Weather
Whether the weather be fine
Or whether the weather be not
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot
We’ll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.

As you’re all aware wine grapes, and therefore wine,  are much dependent on the weather. Too much rain, too little rain, rain too soon, heat, cold, frost…all have an impact on the quality of the grapes from year to year (vintage to vintage).

Depending on where the vineyards are, grapegrowers and winemakers are dealing with too much heat or not enough heat. Most winemakers here in Northern California are predicting a late harvest - two or even three weeks later than usual but most are not terribly forthcoming on what is happening in the vineyard.

Look out! Fred Peterson is stepping up and stepping out. Fred, a long time friend, is one of the most knowledgeable people I know when it comes to vineyards (especially Sonoma County vineyards) and he’s an awesome winemaker too.

Here’s what Fred has to say about 2010.
“Watch what you pray for… your prayers may be answered.” 

After two straight years of below average rainfall and talk of drought, the late winter and spring rains more than made up the rainfall deficit.

That was the good news.  Read the rest here…

As for the Cabernet Shootout, due to weather conditions, we’ve extended our deadline for the receipt of wines. We’ve heard from many of you who have been reticent to ship your wines in the incredible heat that has been plaguing the East and South. We will now be accepting wines for submission until July 23rd. Our incredible panel would love to taste your wines.

P.S. The very cool wine weathervane pictured above can be purchased through Sterling Wine Online

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Franc? Franc? Where are you?

The Cabernet Shootout begins tomorrow with our first tasting of 32 amazing wines.  My taste buds are ready!

Wineries may submit Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Blends to be judges in this unique competition.

Producers from all over the world are submitting their best wines Cabernet Sauvignons and Cabernet Blends to us. But only a few wineries have sent their Cabernet Francs.

If you make an incredible Cabernet Franc, we’d love to taste it!

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The Cabernet Shootout…A Work in Progress

The most amazing Cabernets are showing up at my door daily. The UPS, Fedex and GSO delivery folks stagger up the steps carrying the wines for the Cabernet Shootout. My family room is piled high with the delivery boxes. Each wine submitted by the wineries is catalogued, sorted, and prepared for the Cabernet Shootout prelims and finals.

We’ve received wines from 30 different appellations worldwide and we’ll still be accepting submissions for another week…Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Blends. Yum!

The quality and notoriety of the wineries who are submitting wines is exciting. Top wineries who have not sent us wines before are sending us wines, and they’re sending us their best! We are honored and very respectful of the wines we receive. Our 40+ panelists are going to be so pleased with the excellent wines that they will be tasting.

Our tasting process is unique within competitions in that it employs the following procedures:

  • All wines are tasted blind. (How could you ever do it differently?)
  • All wines are tasted without reference to producer, appellation or price.
  • Each wine is judged and reviewed on its own merit.
  • All wines are tasted by at least two tasting panels before the finals.
  • A maximum of 32 wines is tasted per day – four flights of eight wines each. We have arrived at this formula and find that in this format, each wine can be tasted with clarity and concentration without palate fatigue.
  • The wines are rated using a 100 point scale. Copious notes are required and the notes and the ratings must have continuity or the scores are not recorded.
  • Scores and comments are recorded and reported by gender at the end of the Cabernet Shootout process.
  • For the Finals, the wines receiving the highest scores at the end of the prelims process will be placed into flights and evaluated by our team of judges at the finals. Judges, again, will only be asked to taste 32 wines.
  • Although we would prefer not to use a point system to rate the wines, we have not come up with an alternative method that allows us to select the top wines that are tasted by our final panel and those that will be tasted by consumers at a very exciting consumer event this fall, in Chicago. (More to come on this soon.)

Follow our Cabernet adventure as we taste old friends and discover lots of new ones.

If you’re a winery and wish to submit your Cab Sauv, Cab Franc or Cab blend register for the Cabernet Shootout – there’s still time.

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