Harvest Notes: First Estate Merlot

Winemaker, Kevin Willenborg, sent this snapshot from an early Saturday morning harvest this past weekend. It was quite a celebration: the first of the Estate Merlot for 2009!

Thoughts from Kevin: "Pictured in the photo is Mario Gonzales, Vineyard Foreman at Firestone Vineyard for over 15 years, who led the crew at 3AM this morning. Picking in the dark takes advantage of the cool nighttime temperatures, then continues toward mid-morning before the day warms up. In this photo Mario is leading the picking crews and field sorters in throwing out any unsound grape clusters and MOG (Material Other than Grape, most commonly leaves). The result is cleanly picked fruit with mature ripened clusters that is the origin of a great bottle of red wine. Mario is a seasoned veteran here at Firestone and instills our standards of quality in vineyard."

"Overall, there are very low yields of Merlot this year, but look forward to great concentration of flavors!