It's springtime at the winery, and business as usual in the cellar.
If you've been following the blog, diligently I am sure, you saw in mid-February we were racking the 2008 wines; it's been nearly three months and the wines have been sleeping soundly and aging quite nicely, it would seem, in their casks.
While the cellar and lab staff tend to the wines back at the winery, our fearless leader, VP Winemaker Darren Procsal, and company, PR Director Tony Lombardi, hit the road to show off some current release wine and give a sneak peek at what we've been up to these past few months.
This past Monday the guys could be found at the San Francisco Bently Reserve for California Cabernet Society's Spring Barrel Tasting. They were on hand pouring the 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet, along with a 2008 barrel sample, for a capacity crowd of trade, media and consumers. The wines received numerous compliments from On/Off premise Sommeliers and wine buyers on the quality and value of our current vintage. And as if that wasn't enough to make us all proud, Drinkhacker.com blogged about the event and rates the Atlas Peak 2008 barrel sample of a single Cabernet Sauvignon block from Stagecoach Vineyard an A-.
Read the full recap at:
http://www.drinkhacker.com/2009/05/05/tasting-report-2008-california-cabernet-sauvignon-barrel-samples/
So, in short, I'd like to thank all the people who made this possible, good work team Atlas Peak!
I suggest we celebrate with a glass of Cabernet!
Cheers,
Anna Clifford
Assistant Winemaker
Atlas Peak
PS. To see more about this event and the organization that sponsored it, visit: http://www.californiacabernetsociety.com/.
Showing posts with label Stagecoach Vineyard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stagecoach Vineyard. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Atlas Peak Harvest Kicks Into Gear
Atlas Peak Harvest Kicks into Gear
I have spent the last couple of days walking vineyards and trying to figure out what to harvest and were we go next.
There is very little in the wine business that is ordinary. So the only tool that you have to help make your picking decisions is to walk the vineyards. Of course we also track such things as the Brix (percent sugar), and the acidity of the grapes (pH, and titratable acidity), because these are great indicators of ripeness. We walk a fine line between ripeness and maturity, and in the end tasting the grapes helps me make the final picking decision.
This week I have had a camera crew following me around, attempting to capture the daily life of a winemaker. It is amazing how these guys can walk backwards, given all the steep slopes and rocks along the way.
I thought that we might get to Malbec and Cabernet Franc this week. I had both of these vineyards scheduled for picking but then pulled them both off the schedule yesterday after walking the vineyard for what I thought would be one last time, I believe that the vines still have more to give and we can get more flavors out of the grapes. The vines look healthy and I think we should roll the dice. The mornings have been very cool and the days in the mid 80’s; just perfect weather for Bordeaux varietals to ripen to optimum maturity.
We are slowly kicking into high gear with more Cabernet Sauvignon coming in today. We will be bringing in 11 to 12 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stagecoach Vineyard, high up on Atlas Peak. These wonderful grapes come from Block B1, also known as the Oakville Heights block.
We will also be harvesting another 3 to 4 tons from the Atlas Peak block 65. This will be the third time we have harvested grapes from this block. This is a variable block, that has both thin and deep soils. The vines planted on the deeper soils are greener and exhibit herbal flavors I want to stay away from, while the vines on the thinner soils are filled with blueberry and blackberry flavors, complimented with good texture from developed tannins.
We will top that tank off with 6 to 7 tons of Cabernet from Block 63, where we picked 10 tons on Tuesday. We will do this because if we go any further in block 63 we will start heading down the slope of the block and the grapes are greener and less ripe. A few more days on the vines will do these grapes some good. Up in the mountains ... it's all about patience!
I have spent the last couple of days walking vineyards and trying to figure out what to harvest and were we go next.
There is very little in the wine business that is ordinary. So the only tool that you have to help make your picking decisions is to walk the vineyards. Of course we also track such things as the Brix (percent sugar), and the acidity of the grapes (pH, and titratable acidity), because these are great indicators of ripeness. We walk a fine line between ripeness and maturity, and in the end tasting the grapes helps me make the final picking decision.
This week I have had a camera crew following me around, attempting to capture the daily life of a winemaker. It is amazing how these guys can walk backwards, given all the steep slopes and rocks along the way.
I thought that we might get to Malbec and Cabernet Franc this week. I had both of these vineyards scheduled for picking but then pulled them both off the schedule yesterday after walking the vineyard for what I thought would be one last time, I believe that the vines still have more to give and we can get more flavors out of the grapes. The vines look healthy and I think we should roll the dice. The mornings have been very cool and the days in the mid 80’s; just perfect weather for Bordeaux varietals to ripen to optimum maturity.
We are slowly kicking into high gear with more Cabernet Sauvignon coming in today. We will be bringing in 11 to 12 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stagecoach Vineyard, high up on Atlas Peak. These wonderful grapes come from Block B1, also known as the Oakville Heights block.
We will also be harvesting another 3 to 4 tons from the Atlas Peak block 65. This will be the third time we have harvested grapes from this block. This is a variable block, that has both thin and deep soils. The vines planted on the deeper soils are greener and exhibit herbal flavors I want to stay away from, while the vines on the thinner soils are filled with blueberry and blackberry flavors, complimented with good texture from developed tannins.
We will top that tank off with 6 to 7 tons of Cabernet from Block 63, where we picked 10 tons on Tuesday. We will do this because if we go any further in block 63 we will start heading down the slope of the block and the grapes are greener and less ripe. A few more days on the vines will do these grapes some good. Up in the mountains ... it's all about patience!
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