2011 Harvest has come and gone

Submitted by Idle Cellars on Wed, 12/07/2011 - 14:03

As the picking part of harvest is done
we always take some time to reflect on the growing season. With late
rains into June and early storms in October this was one of our most
challenging years in the vineyard. We were only able to harvest 3
out of our 5 varietals as our Windsor Oaks Sangiovese and Los
Chamazal Merlot never ripened. This left us with Sauvignon Musque,
(A Sauvignon Blanc clone), Grenache and Petit Sirah. The Sauvignon
Musque was picked right at the right levels, with strong grapefruit
aromas throughout fermentation. It crisped up well fermenting in a
chilled steel tank.

We harvested the Petit Sirah next.
The brixs were lower than we usual like, but we're excited to make a
lower alcohol red wine this year. The Petit Sirah is sill very
strong flavored with deep fruit aromas. It's currently going through
malolactic fermentation. This was our largest lot of fruit this
year. We have 8 barrels which equates to 200 cases of wine.

The last varietal is the Grenache
which looks, tastes and smelles amazing. It was some of the best
looking fruit we saw this year on any vineyard. Kick Ranch does a
great job of protecting their vines and pays very close attention to
what's going on. We harvested the fruit at 24.5 brix, in early
October. It fermented smoothly and is in barrel going through
malolactic fermentation. It's going to be a light fruit filled wine
with alcohol in the mid 14's.

This year we were on top of our
winemaking. We helped out at every pick, punched down every bin and
made sure to do additions at the perfect time. All or our
fermentations were smooth and smelled like bubbling grape smoothies.
All of our wines are made while having fun (in a serious kind of
way), we make sure to take our time and do it right. Our red wines
from this year won't be ready to drink till 2013, but we'll be
sipping on the Sauvignon Musque next Spring. Thank you to all our
people who came up for a harvest visit this year. We love to have
company and enjoy sharing our lifestyle of winemaking with everyone.
Enjoy your Idle Moment.