Winemaking

2007 vintage

The winter was unusually dry, leading to an early bud break. The growing season was generally even and long, with a few heat spikes in late spring and late summer. Berry size was very small, some looking more like blueberries, with excellent flavor and concentration. Harvest was ideal and unhurried, with high quality across the board. Our only problem was a poor set in the Russian River Valley, resulting in a lot of shot berries. This meant diligent sorting was required to remove the high sugar raisins from reaching the fermentor and spiking sugars as well as adding prune like flavors to the wines. One day, we removed 600 pounds! These efforts were well worth it. Wines from both Carneros and the Russian River are complex, with great balance and well developed tannins and will continue to develop in the coming years.