Winegrower's Log 2009

 

November 2, 2009  On Friday, we officially brought the harvest season to a close with our annual harvest bbq.  This was a time to celebrate all of the hard work that our vineyard team and cellar workers contributed to make the 2009 harvest such a success.  We enjoyed a great carne asada bbq, a raffle and a little friendly soccer at Marianne’s Park, a special little area we’ve developed adjacent to Rosemary’s Vineyard.  It was another beautiful fall day which made for a relaxing afternoon after an exciting harvest season. Here’s a brief recap of the 2009 harvest.  After a perfect summer of extremely temperate weather, we harvested a bit of pinot noir from Rosemary’s Vineyard on August 13.  The grapes looked and tasted great, but we felt that they needed a bit more time on the vine, so we decided to wait before harvesting more.  We were hit by a weeklong heat wave beginning August 27, which finished the ripening and really concentrated the flavors.  We harvested pinot noir until every fermenter in the winery was full (some to the point of overflowing).  The chardonnay harvest began September 8 in Rosemary’s Vineyard, which coincided with the peak week of theh pinot harvest.   Normally, we complete most of the pinot noir harvest before we really get into chardonnay, but the heat wave brought everything on together.  The vineyard team and cellar crew made a big push at the end to complete the harvest before the rain storm of October 13-14, when it rained 3 ½ inches in the Arroyo Grande Valley and more than 5 inches in parts of the Edna Valley.  We still had some grapes to pick in Paso Robles, but they weathered the storm just fine, and benefited from more warm weather at the end of October. My general sense of the 2009 harvest is that we had a generous crop (our best since 2005) with good clean flavors.  Mildew and botrytis were not a factor.  The wines are developing nicely in the cellar, and although it’s too soon to draw any conclusions about the flavors of the vintage, the fermentations have been clean and well mannered.  All in all, it was a great harvest.  I commend Winemaker Leslie Mead, Vineyard Manager Kevin Wilkinson, and their crews for making it run so smoothly!  ~ BT September 2, 2009 Harvest has begun!  Even though we picked a few grapes on August 13 and 25, harvest didn’t really start here at Talley Vineyards until the last day of August.  The three day heat wave we experienced on August 27-29 increased our sugars dramatically, so Vineyard Manager Kevin Wilkinson responded by getting our crews started at 3AM Monday morning and harvesting pinot noir from Rosemary’s Vineyard and the West Rincon Vineyard.  Though logistically more difficult, night harvesting enhances quality for a number of reasons.  The grapes arrive to the winery early in the morning and very cool.  This allows the winery crew to begin processing the grapes first thing in the morning.  Sorting and destemming of the grapes works better because the berries are firm and come off the grape stems more readily.  Because all of our pinot noir undergoes a three to five day pre fermentation cold soak, which enhances color, flavor and aroma, it is critical that the fruit is cool when it goes into the fermenter (warm fruit can start fermenting immediately). So far, harvest 2009 looks like a wonderful combination of an abundant crop with excellent flavors.  By the end of the day today, after only four days of harvest, we will have harvested almost as much pinot noir as we did for the entire 2008 season.  The juice samples are dark in color, and the flavors are ripe, though the acidity is a bit higher than ideal.  This acidity will soften as the grapes remain on the vine. Speaking of ripe flavors and good color, yesterday we released the 2007 Pinot Noirs.  Winemaker Leslie Mead believes this to be the best vintage she’s worked with at Talley Vineyards, and I would go even further:  these are perhaps the best pinot noirs we’ve ever produced in our 23 year history.  To order these wines, go to the Purchase Wine tab or call 805 489-0446 ext. 20.  They are also available for tasting in our tasting room.  ~ BT July 23, 2009  Veraison is now underway throughout our chardonnay and pinot noir in the Arroyo Grande and Edna Valleys (see photo of East Rincon pinot noir, left).  Rosemary’s Vineyard Block 8, with its southern exposure and close spacing, is the furthest along with just about 100% of the clusters now fully black in color. The pinot noir sections at the top of the West Rincon Vineyard are just behind.  Vineyard Manager Kevin Wilkinson predicts that harvest will begin sometime during the week of August 24. Our growing season has been just about perfect this year with foggy mornings and daily high temperatures in the mid 70s.  In Arroyo Grande, we’ve been spared the excessive heat that others have felt over the past couple of weeks, and this has allowed our crop to develop under ideal conditions with very little stress on the vines.  We had some unseasonable rain in June that gave us enough moisture for some late season tillage to open the soil and expose the vine roots to more air.  The crop size looks to be slightly above average, which is a relief after the short years of 2007 and 2008.  Though it’s hard to make any definitive statements about quality until we get the grapes into the winery, things look good with a nice balance between crop level and canopy, very little mildew and no noticeable botrytis. In the winery, Leslie is making sure that everything is in order for harvest, and preparing for our biggest bottling of the year, the Estate Chardonnay.  We've just completed the selections for the Oliver's, Rincon, and Rosemary's Chardonnays and will turn our attention to the single vineyard pinot noirs next week.  The 2008s really look good, but I have to admit that it's the coming harvest that truly excites me. I go into every harvest with the same goal and expectation: that we'll make the best wines we've ever produced.  ~ BT

May 22, 2009  We are just beginning to critically evaluate the chardonnays and pinot noirs from the 2008 vintage. This is a key step in our winegrowing process because we blind taste every lot from each vineyard block to assess the quality. We determine if any of the wines have defects or flaws that require remediation. If we’ve conducted a trial in the vineyard or winery, this is a way to check in and see how it’s doing. We discuss whether to modify farming or winemaking techniques during the current season. These tastings also guide our blending decisions for the single vineyard and estate wines.

We conducted the first of these tastings,focusing on Rincon Vineyard inot Noir, on Friday May 22. We tasted a total of 22 lots and found all to be of good to exceptional quality. As usual, the standouts came from the very top of the West Rincon Vineyard, though we had a wonderful surprise when a brand new block, an own rooted section lower down the hill in the West Rincon Vineyard planted with our Rosemary’s Vineyard clonal selection, was a unanimous favorite. Based on this tasting, we have high hopes for the 2008 vintage! ~BT

 
 

May 18, 2009
We’re entering our typical summer weather pattern of foggy mornings followed by gently breezy and sunny but cool afternoons. We are in the midst of bloom—the critical time when the berries flower and are pollinated. The accompany photos show the clusters during bloom and just after bloom, during the period we call set.

Growing conditions have been ideal and all indications lead me to believe that our 2009 crop might be the largest in several years. These are the reasons why: the vines are growing vigorously because they have much stored energy due to small crops for the past few years. We had a cold winter, which delayed budbreak so that the vines could grow under warmer and more favorable conditions, especially over the past couple of weeks during bloom. Finally, cluster counts are higher and cluster sizes appear to be larger than normal. We will start leaf removal tomorrow to open the canopy and expose the clusters to more air and sunlight, and then we’ll really be able to see what we’ve got.

 

In the winery, preparations are occurring for the bottling of the 2006 Bishop’s Peak Syrah and the 2007 Talley Vineyards Edna Valley Pinot Noir. In addition, we are racking all of the 2008 Bishop’s Peak red wines and beginning our annual assessment of the quality of the Talley Vineyards chardonnays and pinot noirs. All indications are good for quality in 2008 with the pinot noirs showing lots of density and good concentration. I look forward to tasting them more critically with our winemaking team over the next few weeks.

Finally, June 1 marks the release of the first single vineyard wines from the 2007 vintage, the Rincon and Rosemary’s Vineyard Chardonnays. The wines really capture the essence of a strong vintage with wonderful complexity, firm acidity and great concentration.  ~BT

March 17, 2009 
We’re just days away from the first day of spring and things are beautiful here in the Arroyo Grande Valley. Though we’re still about 7 inches below our average annual rainfall (we’ve received 12 inches, and our average is 19), it has rained enough to make the hills green and our covercrops lush. Vines are starting to push and the wildflowers are in full bloom.

In the vineyard, we’re mostly focused on mowing our covercrops and protecting the tender young shoots from frost. We have budbreak in most areas, but the shoots generally less than 1 inch long now. The forecast is for warmer weather next week, so they should really take off after that.

In the winery, we’re preparing to bottle a number of wines over the next few weeks. Today, we focus on our 2008 whites—Bishop’s Peak Pinot Gris and Grenache Rose as well as Talley Vineyards Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. Later we roll into the 2007s still in barrel—Estate and Edna Valley pinot noirs, the single vineyard chardonnays and finally, the single vineyard pinot noirs. We’re excited about the lushness and concentration of the 2007 vintage, and most of the wines bottled this spring will be released in the fall.

 

I have been spending more time traveling, talking about our wines and learning about what’s happening in the marketplace. Things are tough for many in the wine business now, especially restaurateurs. It’s a time when everyone is looking very carefully at the business to make sure they’re providing the very best quality and service. This has always been my goal, and these challenging times only reinforce the importance of our mission.

Finally, if you enjoyed our pruning videos (see link, above), we’ll have a new set in the next few weeks focusing on shoot thinning and bottling. ~BT

Just as change is sweeping the country with the inauguration of our new President, we too are making some changes here at Talley Vineyards. I am pleased to announce a cool new feature with the Winegrowers Log — videos showing what’s happening at the winery and in our vineyards throughout the season (see link at the top of the Winegrower's Log).

Our first two videos feature Vineyard Manager Kevin Wilkinson and me discussing and demonstrating our pruning techniques for chardonnay and pinot noir vines.

 

Moving on to other Winegrower's Log business, the weather this January has been remarkable around the country. While parts of the Midwest have experienced some of the coldest days on record, we saw record high temperatures throughout coastal California. We had a number of days in the low 80s in Arroyo Grande, and while this feels very good to everyone who lives here, it has sent the wrong signal to our grapevines—namely that it’s time to wake up after winter dormancy. Consequently, our pruners are working very quickly to stay ahead of the vines and get everything pruned before the buds start pushing new growth, most likely early next month.

Things are much less hectic in the production department. A few of our slowest fermentations are still plugging along, but we’re now mostly focused on getting everything ready for our spring bottling schedule, which will start in mid-February. At that time, we’ll bottle Bishop’s Peak Pinot Gris, Talley Vineyards Riesling and Bishop’s Peak Rosé. In mid March, we turn our attention to the 2007 single vineyard chardonnays from Oliver’s Vineyard, the Rincon Vineyard and Rosemary’s Vineyard. On the sales side, we are just now releasing our 2007 Estate Chardonnay. Our signature wine really captures the essence of the wonderful 2007 vintage—great depth of flavor, intense minerality and impeccable balance. I can’t wait to bottle the rest of the wines in our lineup. ~BT