Saturday, October 10, 2015

Harvest 2015 is complete!

Harvest 2015 in Vinoland is done (and it was the earliest harvest ever). Hooray!  Whereas the size of Vinoland's Syrah crop was about normal, the Cabernet Sauvignon (CS) crop was, perhaps, 25% down.  The CS harvest numbers are; 24.0 °B, a pH of 3.82 and a TA of 5.15 (a little low).
I had actually decided upon the harvest date a few weeks back due more to logistics than anything else.  Vinomaker was concerned that the fruit would not be ready, but, by the way in which harvest had been progressing valley wide, I really felt that harvest wouldn't be late in Vinoland.
Besides it being the earliest harvest in Vinoland it was also the fastest pick - which meant that the harvest lunch/afterglow got going a little sooner than expected; wine, food and more wine abounded.
A surprisingly enjoyable wine at lunch, brought along by Mrs. St. Helena Sot who had been given the bottle by the proprietor of the winery, was a Fantesca, 2012 Chardonnay (Russian River Valley AVA).  Yes, a Chardonnay! An absolutely beautiful wine, made by Heidi Barrett (whoo hoo! for women winemakers), this Chardonnay was balanced, delicately fruity and was possessed of an ethereal quality that was simply too hard to describe. A fun quote, from Margaret Thatcher, printed on the cork (Fantesca Fortune Corkies) just added to my enjoyment.
Harvest 2015 is done, just ask this woman.

3 comments:

New Hampshire Wineman said...

I'll second that "whoo hoo!", and it sure would be wonderful to get a bottle of that ether-for-real Fantesca Chardonnay!
Sounds like a party! Good for you!

Thomas said...

Where's Thud when you need him?

I expected him to post: If you want something done, ask a woman, if you can get a word in to ask.

Vinogirl said...

NHW: Have you seen how much the Fantesca retails for? That's why I was drinking Mrs. St. Helena Sot's free bottle. Harvest lunch is always enjoyable.

Tomasso: Thud, (with just one son), is outnumbered by women in his household - he has to be careful about anything he says!