Harvest

For Smith-Madrone, it’s been a very strange growing season, going back to March. It’s pretty clear that the crop is much below normal and the amount of shatter is significant. Mother Nature has thrown us a curveball and that’s all there is to it. We’ve brought in our Riesling and will move on to Chardonnay…

For Smith-Madrone, the weather has been very cooperative. The reds are moving along, albeit slowly. We’ve harvested small blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon, showing good flavors, character and maturity. We’ve harvested our small block of Petit Verdot and it was double last year’s light production. The Petit Verdot is a fairly young block at five years…

At Smith-Madrone the whites are in, as has been reported. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc are just being patient little soldiers waiting to be brought into the action. The sugars are pretty stable, as is the weather; we’ve only had a few little heat spikes. The grapes are just enjoying lovely late summer weather…

Here at Smith-Madrone  both the Chardonnay and Riesling have been harvested. The clusters were well-formed; the berries were very uniform and the crop level was fairly standard. The chemistry was also good. We’ve moved now into a nice break with the weather, with a cooldown and slight amount of rain on Monday evening and Tuesday…

At Smith-Madrone we have put our toe in the water for this coming harvest. We harvested a small amount of both Riesling and Chardonnay this past week. The vines seem very happy and are doing well; there’s lots of water from this past winter. There’s no question that this will be a good-sized crop, but…

Last week’s cooler weather was much appreciated on Spring Mountain. The cooler weather allowed the grape flavors to catch up with the sugars and much-needed pressing and cellar work to get done. Harvest is still progressing but at a much slower pace. Tim Mosher at School House has finished harvest. Normally, their Syrah would be…

In general terms, harvest for the Spring Mountain District AVA has been going very well. The chemistry is still holding with good sugars, balanced acidities and lower pHs. Sugars are maybe a tad ahead of the flavors, which is why most are using the cool weather for additional hang times. Both Matt Gardner at Keenan…

Clearly the pace of harvesting white grapes is picking up. Wes Steffens is very pleased with his Chardonnay, which has great chemistry and a larger crop than last year. Pam Bergman is also very pleased with her Chardonnay harvest with a slightly higher yield and wonderful flavors. Smith-Madrone will be finishing our Riesling by week’s…

Harvest has started on Spring Mountain. Matt Gardner at Keenan has almost finished their Chardonnay, and has harvested a small block of Cabernet Sauvignon. Andy Schweiger has harvested his Pinot Noir and a small block of Merlot. John Gantner at School House will harvest his Chardonnay this Wednesday and his Pinot Noir on Thursday. Smith-Madrone…