Tablas Creek Vineyard Blog

End of Harvest 2006

Well, 315 tons and 50 days after our first grapes came in, we've finally finished Harvest 2006.  Three weeks ago, if you'd told us that we'd look back on the 2006 harvest with excitement, we'd have thought you were crazy. The first half of October was cool and cloudy, and rained a couple of times, and with only about 30% of the harvest in, we were worried that this would be the first disappointing harvest since 2001.  However, the last three weeks turned the vintage from a potential disappointment to one of the best we've seen.  Perfect fall weather, with daytime highs in the 70s and 80s, nights in the 30s, and consistent light breezes gave us the opportunity to leave grapes on the vine until the last moment.  At right, Robert Haas holds the last bunch of Harvest 2006: a Mourvedre bunch from the section of head-pruned vines next to the winery.

Pressing Off Mourvedre

As we bring the grapes from the last few sections of the vineyard into the cellar, we make space in our tanks by pressing off some lots that were more precocious.  With the beautiful weather we've been having, this sometimes makes for some nice scenes.  The shot below is of the juics from a press load of Mourvedre, lit by sun streaming through the open winery door.

Autumn at Tablas Creek

Well, fall is here.  We're into a cycle of weather where we come near a frost at night (we've actually dropped below freezing a couple of times) and then rise up into the 70s and 80s during the day.  It's Paso Robles at its most spectacular.

One result is that we're having perfect conditions to finish harvest with (we expect the last grapes to come in today).  The second result is that the grape leaves have exploded into gorgeous fall colors.  Some more photos, courtesy of Meghan Dunn:

October 20th: Picking Away!

This week has been as productive as we had hoped, and we have brought in over 100 tons of grapes.  The weather has been perfect, with days in the upper 80s, clear skies, and a good breeze.  We've brought in the Grenache and Grenache Blanc, and most of the rest of our Roussanne and Marsanne. 

With good weather forecast into next week, we're going to wait on the Mourvedre (a sample bunch is pictured above; note the still-green stems and the relatively inflated berries).  We decided that we could pick the Mourvedre if bad weather threatened, but with more sun in store, we feel that it will be even better if we wait. 

So far, so good... excellent depth of flavors, good intensity, smaller berries than 2005, and good concentration at slightly lower sugar levels than past years.  Excellent!

Harvest, Week of October 16th

We took a break from harvesting late last week to let an early band of cool, wet weather pass.  Parts of the Central Coast received significant amounts of rain (even some big thunderstorms) but at Paso Robles we received a more moderate 0.2" over Thursday night and Friday morning.  It cleared up, though staying cool, over the weekend, and we are looking forward to a full week of sun and warm temperatures.  One beneficiary of the rain: our season's first rainbow: 

For this week, we're preparing to harvest (in order) the rest of our Grenache Blanc, Grenche Noir, and Roussanne, and beginning our Mourvedre harvest.  It looks as though two of our smallest-acreage grapes (Picpoul and Counoise) will be the last grapes out this year.

In the cellar, we're pressing off Syrah lots, and moving the wine to barrels to complete its primary fermentation and begin its malolactic.

More later this week...

Harvest, Week of October 9

The cool and wet weather at the end of last week and the beginning of this week has temporarily halted picking. The light rain has washed some of the dirt off the grapes, and we’ll be ready to bring in more grapes as the weather remains dry.  At this point, we have approximately one third of the grapes in the winery.

Meanwhile, in the winery, we have begun pressing the Syrah. After fermenting for about two weeks in open-top tanks, the Syrah is now ready to be pressed. The juice in the tanks is pumped into a tank, and the remaining berries are transferred to the bladder press, where we squeeze out the remaining juice.  The juice will spend the next several months in tanks and barrels, where it will complete primary and secondary fermentation before being blended next spring.

 

Harvest, Week of October 2

This week we began bringing in more of the red varietals, including almost 20 tons of Syrah and a small amount of Grenache. The Syrah is put into open-top tanks to ferment, and as the grape skins float to the top of the tank, we pump the juice over the top of the cap of skins. This process keeps the skins moist, and helps distribute the color and flavor of the skins throughout the juice.

We’ve also picked the white grapes for our vin de paille (“wine of straw”) wines. Select bunches of Roussanne, Viognier and Grenache Blanc grapes have been laid out on straw beds in our greenhouses to dry out. As they turn into raisins, the sugars and juice is concentrated (and the skins turn dark). This is a traditional method for producing sweet wines in climates that are neither susceptible to botrytis nor consistently cold enough to produce ice wine. We’ll probably press the grapes within the next few weeks and age them in barrel, to produce our sweet dessert vin de paille wines.

Roussanne "Bergeron"

We're enjoying probably the last relatively mellow day before harvest starts in earnest.  From sampling we have done, it looks like we're going to see significant amounts of Syrah, Viognier, and Grenache Blanc this week.  Ripening is proceding under ideal conditions: low-90s daytime temperatures, upper-40s nighttime temps, full sun, no humidity, and light Santa Ana winds from the south.

Meanwhile, we're working with our early-season harvest, one component of which is our Roussanne "Bergeron" program:

Each year, we make a little early-picked, cool-microclimate Roussanne in the style in which it's made in the Savoie region in France (where the Roussanne grape is known as "Bergeron").  This citrusy, higher-acid version of Roussanne is great with fresh seafood, oysters on the half-shell, and fresh cheeses.  We have more details in out 2005 Harvest Report.  Above, see the Bergeron in its picking bin, and then a great shot of cleaning the skins, seeds, and stems out of the press after pressing.

The Bergeron is the sort of wine that we make exclusively for our VINsider Wine Club members.  It's typically made in 200-300 case quantities, and isn't something that we would market nationally.  But, we think it's a great  take on the Roussanne grape, and has proven to be exceptionally good with food.  Try it with aged cow's milk cheeses!

A great shot of ripening Mourvedre

You think these grapes aren't sweet?  Yellowjackets and honeybees have a feast on ripe grapes as harvest approaches (Mourvedre in this photo).  Thanks to Chandler Smiley for the picture.

Harvest 2006 Begins!

Harvest 2006 is underway! We began picking this past Thursday (September 14) with Chardonnay grapes for our "Antithesis" Chardonnay. Viognier, traditionally the earliest-ripening Rhone varietal, followed on Friday the 15^th. This week, we brought in our first lots of Roussanne, earmarked for our "Bergeron" wine, on September 19, and we expect to start harvesting Syrah, our earliest-ripening red Rhone varietal, at the beginning of next week. 

The mild weather we’ve had for the past few weeks has slowed ripening, and we can afford to take our time bringing in the grapes, and letting the fruit hang until it’s ready to pick. We’ve seen smaller berries than normal on the clusters we’ve brought in so far, with more concentrated juice – characteristics that other local vineyards are also noticing. Acids, as well, have been healthy, which has been true in the best vintages we've seen recently.  We’re looking forward to another great harvest!

Harvest began about 2 weeks later than normal for us, which was about what we'd been figuring.  After our relatively late spring (we saw flowering about 4 weeks later than usual) our warm summer accelerated the ripening somewhat, but didn't entirely make up for our late start.

If you are interested in reviewing the 2005 Harvest, take a look at the 2005 Tablas Creek Harvest Journal