Vineyard Updates

Below you will find the vineyard updates that we receive from Crushpad. These reports come in somewhat randomly to us via email and are also posted to our "dashboard" page on the Crushnet site. We'll try and update this page as regularly as possible throughout the growing season. Its pretty cool to watch the progress of the vineyards as harvest time approaches even though we are thousands of miles away. This is especially true knowing that somewhere out among all those vines our tiny allocation of grapes are basking in the sun, waiting to be handpicked, crushed, and turned into delicious wine!

2007 Alder Springs Chardonnay

Harvest Dates

Harvest Tonnage 5.5
Est Harvest Begin 10/02/2007
Est Harvest End 10/09/2007
Confirmed Pick Date

Vinyeard Status
Date Brix pH TA Comments
09/01/2007 23.0 We are pulling in the first bit of chardonnay from Alder Springs on Monday morning from the Emerald Pool block. There are several blocks across the vineyard and they ripen at different times. So if you're at a Labor Day BBQ then you can come in for the next pick. If you're wondering what to do on Monday, come on in!
08/31/2007 22.0 Chardonnay in the Emerald Pool block is moving along quickly, although the cooler portions of the vineyard still have some ways to go. We're probably going to pull in a couple tons on Mon/Tue next week, but will also have a couple more chard picks later in September. Probably won't know exactly what day we're picking until the day before.
08/21/2007 Alder Springs chardonnay is about 25% veraison now. It varies from block to block (we get fruit from all over the vineyard), but it's still a relatively late ripener compared to other chards. The growing year has been fantastic with relatively cool temperatures and very little precipitation. This has created more concentrated berries and smaller clusters and will likely create the most concentrated wines of our history.

We're probably looking at somewhere around the end of September or early October for chard.
09/14/2007 21.2 3.30 This is an average number from several different blocks on Tuesday. Sugars took a small step backwards after the heat wave and we're going to slowly plod along for a week or two with small harvests coming here and there. Very different from the typical big bang picks we do at most vineyards.
09/17/2007 23.2 A little bit more chardonnay is dribbling in from Alder Springs... just one ton or two barrels to press tomorrow AM. We expect to get more fruit over the next couple of weeks.
09/24/2007 OK, just spoke with Stu and we're probably looking at next week for the next pick of chardonnay. We're getting about one brix per week now.

2007 Hein Family Vineyards Pinot Noir

Harvest Dates
Harvest Tonnage 7.0
Est Harvest Begin 09/25/2007
Est Harvest End 09/25/2007
Confirmed Pick Date 09/25/2007

Vinyeard Status
Date Brix pH TA Comments
09/13/2007 24.1 3.35 7.1 This is the average of the three blocks. The 777 is at 24.4 brix, the Pommard at 23.8 and the 115 at 23.2. The weather has cooled off substantially (it was 70F yesterday at noon), so we've got probably another week on the 777 and more on the others.
09/08/2007 23.1 (PLEASE NOTE REVISED END DATE, IT'S SEPTEMBER AND NOT OCTOBER) The 115 block was measured at 23.2 and the 777 and Pommard came in at 23.0. Will head back up by Monday to get samples and do a complete analysis and get a better hand on harvest date(s).
08/24/2007 (Posted originally on 8/18/07): The warm weather the past week has allowed Hein to reach full veraison. The vineyard has a healthy canopy and the fruiting zone has been opened up by leaf removal to provide maximum sun exposure. There is some variance in cluster size within the different clones, but in general it is a small berry year. Harvest is still weeks away but the end of Sept. seems appropriate.

Note that there are three different clones from Hein: 115, Pommard and 777. As you move down in elevation, they ripen in that order, although often the 115 and Pommard will be ready at the same time. The 777 usually trails by 7-10 days.
09/22/2007 24.8 3.28 7.3 This is the average of the Pommard and 115 that will be picked Tuesday and we'll pick the 777 in a few more days (777 is 25.2 brix but acids are really still quite high).