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Paul Warson reported a rare treat during the throws of harvest: an early dinner with the family. With Sunday pump overs complete by 2PM, and the day wrapping up at 3PM, there was time for some unexpected rest and relaxation. He and the family headed over to local Santa Barbara favorite (and most kid-friendly spot, always a plus!), The Shoreline Cafe. Even better, check out the oceanfront view. Looks like the perfect spot to take a deep breath and reflect on another fantastic harvest!
Here is another stunning photo in our harvest series from Firestone Winemaker, Paul Warson. Throughout harvest, in the midst of the (happy) mayhem, he and Winemaker Kevin Willenborg have toted mobile phones at their side to capture moments that only they would see...in order to share a bit of the experience with all of us. Here Paul captured sunset at the winery, full moon overhead, and a blue heron scouting dinner. Again, note that this image was taken with his iPhone. Amazing!
Here is a view that only a winemaker could provide, looking straight down into a fermenting vat of juice and grape skins (mmmmm). This is Paul Warson's weekend snapshot of punching down Malbec for a small scale project. His inside scoop? It could end up being a special bottling for the wine club. Stay tuned club members!
Many wineries talk about harvesting grapes at night, but it’s a scene that very few people actually witness…in part because it happens in the middle of the night. We were curious about this mysterious process, so we recently got a chance to talk to Firestone Winemaker, Kevin Willenborg about some of the specifics. He even shared some snapshots from a recent round of night picking at the estate, so here’s your insider sneak peek…
Crews usually start picking at around 3:30am to the light of tractor-mounted flood lights and individual head lamps (like a team of fire flies from a distance). Picking in the dark takes advantage of the cool nighttime temperatures usually hovering at around 55 degrees, then continues toward mid-morning before the day warms up. Crews use one trusty tool to get the job done: vineyard clippers, like spring-loaded, durable, sharp scissors. Right after clipping cluster from vine, the fruit is dropped into small buckets, rushed back down the row and dumped into half-ton bins on a tractor. At that point, sorting begins, under the light of head lamps. The vineyard foreman leads sorting, to pick out any “MOG” (vineyard slang for material other than grapes) left with the clusters. MOG can be anything from stray leaves to unsound fruit that was left behind. After clipping and sorting, the bins are ready to roll back to their final destination: the cellar. They travel very slowly in their half-ton bins, pulled by a tractor back to the winery. First class travel, all the way! The distance is less than three minutes from vineyard block to crushpad...definitely destined for greatness.
We received a question on the blog this week from Amber Share of Native Food & Wine, asking “Did you guys have to deal with heavy rain last week?”
We went straight to the source by asking Firestone Winemaker, Kevin Willenborg, for his take on the weather in recent weeks, and what it means for the grapes.
“We received just under 2 inches of rain from the storm at Firestone Vineyard, which started last Monday night and lasted until Wednesday morning. We didn't receive any more rain throughout the week and the ground and remaining grape clusters have been drying out quite rapidly.
Rain can always be a concern for winemakers and vineyard managers. The question is always whether to pick fruit before or after the rain. Many variables, like the specific conditions and soundness of the grapes, come into play in making that decision.
At Firestone Vineyard, we saw the rain coming and picked grapes that were fully ripened, then left the grapes that weren't until after the rain. Fortunately we knew we had open vine canopies, allowing for better airflow and drying in the fruiting zone once the rain stopped. Also, the grapes remaining on the vine had skins that were in tact and thicker – the more loosely clustered Bordeaux red varieties, which can weather at least a rain storm like this without botrytis (mold) concerns that can be problematic for thinner skinned, more densely clustered varieties. We also knew the weather forecast was for conditions to dry out fairly quickly after the rain.
We haven't had any noticeable rot, and any diluted affects of the water have now respired from the grapes. We will be looking to pick some of the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot starting later this week, and the flavors and tannin textures in the skins are much improved even today than before the rain. They should be optimal by the end of the week. In this case, it was better for us to wait out the rain for better flavors and textures than to pick prior to the rain with unripe flavors and textures. Speaking for our Estate Vineyard, we will have some very concentrated Cabs coming out of this vintage despite the rain!"
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!
Crush is on! Winemaker, Paul Warson, took this photo from the front lines. Mounds of Riesling headed to its aromatic destiny: crush, press, juice, then fermentation. Only, it's definitely not as easy as it sounds...
Winemaker, Kevin Willenborg just sent this harvest action snapshot through. Victor Garibay, our Cellarmaster at Firestone, is lightly dusting the Sauvignon Blanc grapes with CO2, a dry ice that turns quickly to gas to displace oxygen during the crushing process. This helps preserve all those lovely oxygen-sensitive flavor and aroma compounds in Sauvignon Blanc that yield bright tropical fruit tones of passion fruit, guava, and grapefruit. Yum!
