Harvest Update
By Craig Williams & Damian Parker
“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need.” – The Rolling Stones
October 3, St. Helena. Mick Jagger has aptly summed up the ’07 harvest so far. We wanted more fruit from the vintage but crop levels are significantly off from estimates; the clusters just do not have much weight for reasons that are unclear. The weather this year has been mild and uneventful especially during the critical flowering period in the spring, so perhaps the mild drought we experienced has had something to do with the light crop.
Instead, we’ve received a wonderful spell of warm, sunny weather beginning in the second week of September and propelling the small crop to excellent flavor composition and balance. The fruit for the most part is flawless with thick, unblemished skins.
To date we have harvested about 400 tons beginning with Sauvignon Blanc on August 17th and 21st. Cabernet grapes have been trickling in slowly, mostly from young vines and low yielding blocks. The production crew, consisting of interns and permanent staff, still has tons of nervous energy as they have only just started to gear up for the harvest.
Craig Williams is JPV’s Director of Winemaking & Damian Parker is Vice President
of Production |
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