End of Crush Musings

I can hear our neighbors’ fans going as I pull into the winery before dawn. They are fighting the frost to squeeze another Brix or two out of their vineyard, but I decided to bring our Estate Cabernet Sauvignon in this week, as it hasn’t moved from 22 Brix for the last month. After all, the grapes tasted ripe and there are enough raisins to ensure a decent alcohol percent once it’s dry. This is the most Bordeaux-like season I can remember in the 16 years that I’ve made wine in Paso Robles, and isn’t that what the wine writers want?

Or am I just rationalizing so I can have Thanksgiving weekend off? Harvest season, or what we call ‘crush’ is like hiking up a mountain. The trail starts off easy and level, but gets steeper and more treacherous as you get more and more exhausted: At first, you have all empty tanks to choose from and not much to monitor, but by the end of crush, you are running out of room, trying to restart stuck fermentations and dealing with surprises such as equipment failures.

But when it’s over, it feels great to relax on top and enjoy the view.

Soon it will be time to hit the road and sell wine, which isn’t easy these days. We have experienced a ‘double-bubble’ where not only has the general economy been challenging, but wine sales (and prices) in particular have fallen off a cliff compared to the glory days of the last decade. Even if there is a recovery, I would expect consumers to continue to be more discerning on their wine purchases.

On our westside vineyards, normal yields are three tons per acre or less, so pricewise there is no way we can compete with ‘Two Buck Chuck’ or Yellowtail, but when it comes to QPR (quality-price-ratio) we are unbeatable!

Finally, I’m happy to see the TTB address wine terminology. I’ve already commenting on ‘Old Vine’ which I feel should be legally defined as 100 years old, and ‘Reserve’ which is a little trickier but perhaps there should be a limit of 500 cases. I didn’t comment on ‘Barrel Select’ because that would be unenforceable, or on ‘Old Clone’ because that is so ludicrous that only somebody in Marketing could come up with it. If you would like to put your two cents in by Jan. 3, 2011, here is the link:

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-27737.pdf

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