“I have never seen anything like this…” I heard this sentiment expressed by more growers and winemakers during the 2011 harvest than ever before in my 25 years of doing this. I said it myself any number of times. It’s not that any one thing about this vintage stood out on its own as unusual [...]
Archive for the ‘Winery’ Category
Harvest 2010 — Initial Debrief
I’ve gone on and on here about how this was such a tough vintage. I saw some really awful vineyard problems (luckily, few in our vineyard), heard some unprecedented horror stories from growers and winemakers, and tasted some pretty sketchy wines (thankfully, none of them in our winery). When the 2010 Grape Crush Report comes [...]
Harvest 2010: Not Done Yet
It is November 3rd and I still have Mourvedre, Grenache and Counoise on the vine at our Annadel Estate Vineyard. This is now officially the latest harvest I have done in 24 years. The Mourvedre is as ready as it is going to get — the seeds are ripe enough and flavors are good with [...]
Valentines & VinOlivo
I hope you and yours had a nice Valentine’s Day (and President’s Day holiday). Our kids did — they love the candy, and for being so young they are surprisingly moved and excited by cards from mom and dad. Said dad has been better but he’s still recovering from a touch of stomach flu, which [...]
Winter Work
It’s the dead of winter here in Sonoma, which usually means overcast with temperatures in the 40′s to 50′s Fahrenheit — which it is today (with a tip of the chapeau to my friends in the Northeast, frolicking in another 18″ of new snow). We have had a relatively wet season so far; not yet [...]
Catching Up – Vintage 2009
It has been since May that I posted. I had a half-dozen posts in draft when I sat down to re-acquaint myself with this blog today, and I realized that I just was not going to ever finish most of them. Today I polished and published a couple of them, dated from their original conceptions [...]
2008 – The Year In Review
We had a pleasant (if a little lean) Christmas here chez Kelly and hope yours was one of hope, cheer and good health. As the year draws to a close it’s time for me to look back over the highs and lows for Westwood in 2008, and forward to 2009.
Harvest 2008 Debrief – The Winery
I was originally going to do the vineyard and winery in one LOOOONG post. What a snore that would have been. In this post, lessons learned in the winery in 2008:
Last Press Of 2008
So we pressed off our last lot yesterday, the Mourvedre, after 16 days cuvaison.
Feeling Thankful, And A Bit Smug
It is raining here today. A lot. This is the first big rainstorm of the season after two weak shots that dropped half an inch each Thursday and Friday. I’m thankful we got the last of our grapes in on Wednesday — and to be honest, just a bit smug and self-satisfied. Nobody’s perfect.
