Harvest 2010 Crush Update

 

Since my Crush 2010 reports on September 23 and October 1, this year's wine grape harvest has progressed very well, with a lot of beautiful fruit, especially Merlot, coming in. On October 18, Trey Busch (Sleight of Hand) commented:

"Harvest is progressing nicely. I have my Red Mtn. Merlot, Cab Sauv and Cab Franc in the door, as well as my Blackrock Merlot and Va Piano Merlot. I have also brought in both of my picks from the Funk Vineyard on the rocks (I picked the same block, 1 week apart to see the difference in ripening). We went native yeast again, and the first lot is already in barrel and mighty tasty. If you are interested, you should come and barrel taste this week or next to get a jump on writing about the great quality of the 2010 vintage. I plan on picking Les Collines Syrah this Thursday, and that will leave me with Lewis Syrah (probably next week), Chelle de Millie Cab Franc (10 days out) and my Phinny Hill Cab which will pick off in 1-2 weeks if the weather holds. It tastes great now but love getting site super ripe!"

(I will be back in Walla Walla next Wednesday, and will make a visit and report on it in an upcoming blog.)

 

With rain forecast for this weekend (Oct. 22-24) the 2010 harvest is winding down. Undoubtedly, some winemakers and growers will give some blocks more hang time. But the end is near. Ashley Trout wrote (October 21) in the Flying Trout/Tero Estates blog:

"This is it. This is the dead center of harvest. And as with the eye of any storm, there is tranquility in the chaos. One finds moments of sleep in wakefulness, of delusion in stress, of zen nothingness in physical exhaustion - there is a beauty in understanding that nature has a way of convincing us to repeat this annually no matter how dirty or sleepy or sore we may finish.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow we will have: finished our first 2010 Windrow Merlot fermentation, pressed it, inoculated it with malolactic bacteria...crushed about 7 tons (for us, a lot) cabernet, malbec, cabernet franc and I think merlot, although at this point I can't think straight, inoculated everything with yeast, soaked our new oak tank, and maintained everything else that goes on here daily.

Harvest for almost all of us may be over by Sunday when it is forecasted to rain a whole lot. This, on top of the sprinkle of frosts we've had throughout the state over the past week may mean...game over."

 

Yes, harvest 2010 is at the endgame stage.

 

The next blog, "Why American Viticultural Areas Matter," will be posted Monday, November 1, the same day that month's Review issue goes on line.