This time of year, I do a lot of driving between the vineyards and the winery. Sometimes it feels like it just becomes routine. Every Saturday morning I’m up early and off to the Russian River to take samples from St. Mark’s Vineyard and every Monday it’s up to Stagecoach Vineyard in Napa. It’s the little things that tend to jolt me back to the reality of how lucky I am. The vineyards are always so peaceful and wonderful places to take a walk in. Last Saturday as I was driving (rushing?) up to St. Mark’s I looked up and saw all these hot air balloons descending into the surrounding vineyards and quickly grabbed my cell phone and snapped off a couple of pictures. Not the best thing to do at 45mph, but it did remind me of the beauty of the moment and I thought it would be a good picture to post on my blog. Well, the quality isn’t that great, but hopefully it conveys the feeling of the moment.
Then, as I was sampling grapes from the vineyard, I came across an abandoned birds nest with a bunch of Syrah grapes nestled nicely in the space where the eggs should be. So here is a picture of that little moment in time.
Last Friday I pressed my first lot of 2008 Syrah (Furlong Estates) into barrel. It’s still fermenting but I like to get the wine into the oak barrels before fermentation has finished. Doing the last bit of fermentation in the barrels helps to integrate the oak into the wine. The wine tastes great, very full and fruit forward.
Today I received another 2 tons of Furlong Syrah and on Saturday we will be picking the St. Mark’s Syrah, followed by the Stagecoach grapes probably towards the end of next week. By the end of next week, all my grapes should be harvested. It looks like it will be close to 10 tons this year!
Then, as I was sampling grapes from the vineyard, I came across an abandoned birds nest with a bunch of Syrah grapes nestled nicely in the space where the eggs should be. So here is a picture of that little moment in time.
Last Friday I pressed my first lot of 2008 Syrah (Furlong Estates) into barrel. It’s still fermenting but I like to get the wine into the oak barrels before fermentation has finished. Doing the last bit of fermentation in the barrels helps to integrate the oak into the wine. The wine tastes great, very full and fruit forward.
Today I received another 2 tons of Furlong Syrah and on Saturday we will be picking the St. Mark’s Syrah, followed by the Stagecoach grapes probably towards the end of next week. By the end of next week, all my grapes should be harvested. It looks like it will be close to 10 tons this year!
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