Avenue Vine

By AVAs (American Viticulture Areas), from north to south, the reports are as follows:

Calistoga (Pending) — Paul Smith, owner, OnThEdge Winery, “Many growers are finished while local wineries report around 80 percent complete. Most, though not all of the fruit still hanging is Cabernet Sauvignon as wineries clear tanks, gain time on the vine and watch the weather. Shorter days and colder nights are shutting the vines down and predicted warm late week weather should bring most remaining fruit into the wineries.”

Diamond Mountain — Dawnine Dyer, Dyer Vineyards, “We’re still waiting for the majority of the Cabernet and, with the light showers on Monday, it looks like we’ll wait a little longer. The canopies are holding fairly well, but autumn is definitely here; days are shorter, nights are colder and photosynthesis is slowing down. Seasonably warm weather is predicted for the foreseeable future, which is good news.”

Howell Mountain — Pat Stotesbery, Ladera Vineyards, “While Beatty ranch, at the extreme, has yet to pick Cabernet, most have begun and everyone expects to pick Cabernet this week and in earnest by week’s end. Varietals other than Cabernet are mostly complete. Grapes still look good but yellow leaves are becoming more evident and heat is the watchword this week.”

Chiles Valley District — Volker Eisele, Volker Eisele Family Estate, “Last week was cool but with a lot of sunshine and as a result there was some movement in the sugars and in the flavors. Monday under cloudy skies, many vintners and growers are resuming this drawn out harvest. Rustridge, Dalraddy, Green and Red, and Brown Estate are all picking Zinfandel. We were picking again Tuesday but Cabernet Sauvignon sugars vary between 24 Brix and 26 Brix with pH’s around 3.5 to 3.7. It is remarkable how flavor profiles have developed during this cool period.”

Spring Mountain — Charles Smith, Smith-Madrone, “Sunday and Monday were so damp and foggy on Spring Mountain that the drizzle amounted to a light rain. Consequently, any plans for picking early in the week came to naught. There continues to be a substantial quantity of grapes remaining, largely Cabernet Sauvignon, of course. If the forecasts for sunny, warmer weather hold good, we should see a resumption of harvest by the coming weekend, if not before.”

St. Helena — Mark Porembski, winemaker, Anomaly Vineyards, “Grapes continue to roll up and down the valley, but the usual mad rush of crush seems to have been transformed this season into a metered, steady harvest. With many vineyards in St. Helena still hanging their red grapes, fingers are crossed that the weather will hold until November. This week’s warming trend and sunshine should help push the Cabernet Sauvignon to ripeness.”

Rutherford — Jeffrey Stambor, director of winemaking, Beaulieu Vineyards, “We are picking Cabernet at a very even pace this week as flavor/tannin development has caught up with sugar levels. The berry skins are softening, the seeds are turning brown and hard, and the juice is sweet rather than tart. All of the other varieties have been completed so there is plenty of room at the winery and we can react to any eventuality. The even pace should continue unless there is a dramatic change in the weather.”

Oakville — Pat Garvey, vineyard manager, Flora Springs Winery, “Our winemaker, Ken Deis, and I were comparing this year’s harvest to 1991 and the comparisons are similar. There was almost no frost and temperatures in both years were cool with the exception of this year’s late July heat wave. Yet full red grape harvests for both years really didn’t begin until October. Also, 1991 produced a 97 in the Wine Spectator for Flora Springs Reserve Cabernet.”

Yountville — Mitch Cosentino, winemaker, Cosentino Winery, “Small lots of Cabernet are being picked and should continue into the next couple of days. With the cooling trend giving way to some warmer temperatures, we hope that the weekend warmth will help things along. We expect for harvest to continue for the next two weeks.”

Stags Leap District — Elizabeth Vianna, winemaker, Chimney Rock Winery, “There’s no doubt this is a ‘high stress’ harvest. Stacy Clark at Pine Ridge and I commiserated a bit on how much fruit is still out there. At Chimney Rock, we harvested Cabernet Franc last week and we’ll start on our hillside Cabernet Sauvignon this week. Jon Emmerich at Silverado reports he has brought in some early Cab from the SLD. Jon also says he is pleased with the first Merlot pressed thus far.”

Mt. Veeder — Brian Nuss, Vinoce Vineyards, “We still have most of our grapes on the vines — so much for having them in by November. The lower vineyard should be picked out by the next report. Upper elevations still hanging fruit looks good. Saw some grape action on Wall Road Monday.”

Oak Knoll District — Steve Capovilla, Robert Biale Vineyards, “David Becker from Princessa Vineyard reports on Monday he took a sampling and found the following: Brix 23.4 and pH, 3.40. A year ago on Oct. 16, 2005, the Brix was measured at 24.3 and pH was at 3.39. Last year we picked on Oct. 23. Stan Boyd from Boyd Family Vineyard reports the first Merlot is in and is stunning in the tank. Malbec was harvested on Tuesday, the Syrah and balance of the Merlot will benefit from the projected warm weather.”

Los Carneros — Lee Hudson, Hudson Vineyards, “The 2006 Chardonnays are in the barn. Merlot and Syrah is coming in with the most flavorful crops in years.” but there’s still grapes on the vines and many are suffering from ramped botrytis–millions of dollars may be lost!

Wild Horse Valley — John Newmeyer, Heron Lake Vineyard, “Everything is pretty much in now — we stretched the ‘hang time’ on the old-vine Chardonnay as much as we dared, until the risks finally outweighed any potential further gain in ripe-fruit flavors. There’s a small second crop (less than 0.1 ton/acre) on the Pinot Noir that may be worth gleaning this weekend. We’re coasting to a nice ending, in the soft golden upland October.”

Source: “Harvest report: Week 8,” David Stoneberg, St. Helena Star, October 19, 2006

(UPDATED: 10.21.06-05:18 PST)