Chardonnay & Pinot Noir Have Arrived!
Myles' Cellar Update 9/9/2025:
With the last week of August providing warm days and cool nights, our Estate Chardonnay came into just the right amount of ripeness the first week of September, arriving in beautiful condition with a lovely showing of aromatic precursors for the finished wine and as quickly as we began, we finished harvesting our Chardonnay, last week!
Our Chardonnay plantings on the Estate are split into many smaller blocks, which enables us to pick each Chardonnay block separately. By picking each block separately, we can target the optimal level of ripeness for each section and keep them as separate as possible through fermentation and aging, so that we can continue to learn how our vineyard grows Chardonnay and the many differences between all of the blocks. In addition to the learning process along the way, keeping the Chardonnays separate gives us the maximum number of blending options when we begin assemblage of the final wines.
Our Pinot Noir pick also started the first week of September! First up, we brought in four tons of Dijon Clone 667 and 777 from the Flanerie Vineyard in the Ribbon Ridge AVA that will become its own blend. We also picked two of the quickest to ripen Pinot Noir blocks from the Estate and have captured an exciting moment of ripeness where they are showing impressive intensity and liveliness at the same time. After several spells of warm and dry weather through August into early September, we finally got a rain event and a cool down, so we did not harvest any Pinot Noir last week. The vines took this as a chance to pause, catch their breath, and then carry on with ripening their fruit. This week, we picked the majority of our Estate's Pinot Noir fruit, with the final pick scheduled for this coming Monday, the 22nd.
Throughout harvest so far, the team has found a fun and sometimes goofy cohesiveness. I have noticed wonderful camaraderie and a willingness to lend a hand whenever is necessary. As much as harvest is about the fruit and making wine, the people who make the wine are incredibly important. Having a lively crew who is having fun with the process makes it better for us all and makes better wine!
Cheers!
Myles
Sep 19, 2025 at 5:00 PM
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Be the first to comment on this post2025 Harvest Begins!
8/31/2025 - The past week in the cellar:
Harvest has begun! Last week, we started with sparkling base wine picks from our Estate's Chardonnay Blocks 13 and 4. The fruit was in beautiful condition and tasted wonderful! Our sparkling base was whole cluster pressed with minimal skin contact and sent off to neutral barrels to ferment.
We also picked our still Rosé of Pinot Noir last week from Block 7, which is all Pommard clone. It was also in wonderful condition and tasted to have the precursors for delicious fruity and floral notes in the final wine! It has been whole cluster pressed to tank where it is undergoing fermentation in mostly stainless steel tanks.
Along with processing those grapes we have been cleaning and preparing all week for more picking which began today with the first of our still Chardonnay fruit. Surveying the vineyard for optimal ripeness for our Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Nebbiolo will be a major focus in the days (and weeks) to come!
Cheers!
Myles
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