Our long cool summer turned into a long cool autumn, meaning harvest is running about 6 weeks behind schedule, if not more in some places! This is a recipe for a great vintage, as long and slow ripening gives the grapes time to really hit peak maturity and depth of flavor. We’re going to see a lot of great, classical low-alcohol wines this year.

 

Speaking of which, we were up bright and early the Friday before last to pick the two tons of Muscat Canelli we were generously offered by Chuck Wagner. Estate grown by Caymus-Suisun, these grapes were a thing of beauty, and I’m super excited to see how they turn out. Muscat is one of the oldest varietals, if not the oldest varietal, in the world. It was grown by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The Romans called Muscat “Apiare” because it was beloved by the bees – and no wonder, it smells intoxicatingly floral,  all honeysuckle, orange blossom, gardenia, with a midpalate of pears and bergamot. It’s really no wonder why people have carried Muscat across continents and centuries. 

 

While it’s become somewhat obscure and overlooked in modern times, there’s a reason it’s lasted millennia and crossed continents to finally land in California in the mid 19th century, where it was grown in great abundance.  Quite appropriately, given Muscat’s ancient heritage, we ended up hand-pressing these grapes with an old fashioned ratchet basket press after the winery’s big press broke! As labor intensive as that was, I think it’s another sign of how special this wine will be. The vertical press, as basket presses are more formally known, has fallen out of favor because it is less efficient and incredibly labor intensive. But it is still the gold standard for quality, because it is far gentler than a modern press, yielding about 1/3rd less juice, and what it does yield is done without breaking up seeds or skins, which can impart bitter and harsh flavors- something that’s especially important with Muscat, which is especially prone to this problem.

 

After some initial hurdles (like the press breaking!) our muscat is now happily bubbling away in neutral oak barrels, and we expect to bottle it with the Fortuna Redux 2022 and the 2023 Rose this spring.

 

Our Green Valley Zinfandel will be picked tonight, and crushed tomorrow! It’s bringing a few challenges with it – though the long slow ripening period is helping. The vineyard’s age (over 50 years!), its soil and microclimates , and above all, the fact that it’s Zinfandel mean that it is ripening unevenly. This is both the curse and blessing of Zinfandel. It definitely makes targeting sugars a difficult proposition for the winemaker, but if you nail it, you get the best of both worlds – acid, maturity, flavor, sugar: The intensity of some desiccated fruit, without tipping over into jammy cooked flavors; the bright vibrancy of fresh fruit, without any unripe green tannins. Good stuff, if we can manage it! 

 

 I have been heading out twice a week to take samples, but I’m mostly out there to walk the rows and taste the grapes. In a normal year, when the grapes hit 23.5 brix, they’re pretty much done. This year, they can still be low in sugar but at peak maturity, so we’ve had to call our picking day on the basis of flavor, rather than sugars.  Suffice it to say, I’m eating a lot of grapes these days. Tomorrow will be an exciting day!