By Brian Barry, Assistant Winemaker
Unless you’ve been on extended vacation on some tropical island, you may have noticed that autumn and spring decided to switch time slots this year. Early bud break combined with wind, rain, snow (yes-snow) and the occasional break of sun have growers and our production staff wondering if maybe 2010 should just be skipped over. Numerous overnight frosts have Bernard (our Winemaker) and Zac (our new Vineyard Manager) pulling all-nighters and apprehensively watching thermometers. Our main method of combating frost threats is to burn hay bales on the perimeter of our vineyard. It’s an organic (yay green!) and inexpensive method. The smoke drifts across the rows and forms a warm blanket while at the same time stirring up slight currents of air. This is just enough to raise the ambient temperature a few degrees. The downside is that you get to sit in the cold darkness with nothing to do but talk to the other person. How archaic! At least Zac and Bernard got some bonding time.
s far as life in the cellar goes, the work continues. With all the whites cold stabilized (if you want a thorough description of the cold stabilizing process, check my previous post) and the Game Bird Blush slated for cold stability next, my efforts turn to the reds and barrel selection. Currently, thirty-four barrels are lined up like a parade, spanning almost the whole length of the cellar. After tasting all thirty-four with Bernard, (which is more tedious than you might think) we make the decision as to which wine each barrel will be a part of. All thirty-four barrels are Cabernet Franc and will end up as either Heron Hill Cabernet Franc, Eclipse Red or if it’s an exceptional example, the Cabernet Franc Reserve. There’s not much to the process after the rigorous task of tasting them. The barrels are emptied into tanks, allowed to re-settle, filtered off the lees in four separate filtrations and then the sulfur levels are checked one last time. Sulfur is added if necessary then the wines get bottled. A few weeks later they’re ready and willing to make an impression on your eager palate. And you, patient reader, are the reason we work so hard to produce top quality wines, so here’s to you and hoping you enjoy every sip. Cheers!
Unless you’ve been on extended vacation on some tropical island, you may have noticed that autumn and spring decided to switch time slots this year. Early bud break combined with wind, rain, snow (yes-snow) and the occasional break of sun have growers and our production staff wondering if maybe 2010 should just be skipped over. Numerous overnight frosts have Bernard (our Winemaker) and Zac (our new Vineyard Manager) pulling all-nighters and apprehensively watching thermometers. Our main method of combating frost threats is to burn hay bales on the perimeter of our vineyard. It’s an organic (yay green!) and inexpensive method. The smoke drifts across the rows and forms a warm blanket while at the same time stirring up slight currents of air. This is just enough to raise the ambient temperature a few degrees. The downside is that you get to sit in the cold darkness with nothing to do but talk to the other person. How archaic! At least Zac and Bernard got some bonding time.
s far as life in the cellar goes, the work continues. With all the whites cold stabilized (if you want a thorough description of the cold stabilizing process, check my previous post) and the Game Bird Blush slated for cold stability next, my efforts turn to the reds and barrel selection. Currently, thirty-four barrels are lined up like a parade, spanning almost the whole length of the cellar. After tasting all thirty-four with Bernard, (which is more tedious than you might think) we make the decision as to which wine each barrel will be a part of. All thirty-four barrels are Cabernet Franc and will end up as either Heron Hill Cabernet Franc, Eclipse Red or if it’s an exceptional example, the Cabernet Franc Reserve. There’s not much to the process after the rigorous task of tasting them. The barrels are emptied into tanks, allowed to re-settle, filtered off the lees in four separate filtrations and then the sulfur levels are checked one last time. Sulfur is added if necessary then the wines get bottled. A few weeks later they’re ready and willing to make an impression on your eager palate. And you, patient reader, are the reason we work so hard to produce top quality wines, so here’s to you and hoping you enjoy every sip. Cheers!
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3 comments:
As of burning hay bales, it's fun but tiring, and we always forgot to bring the hot dogs and the Marshmallows. I hope we are clear from a spring frost now, but you never know. Update on the blending of the 2007 Cabernet franc: we have a winner! There will be a Heron Hill 2007 Cabernet franc. It should be bottled sometime this summer. The 2007 Heron Hill cabernet Franc ("regular") should be bottled next week. The remainder of the barrels will be in the 2007 Eclipse red ( we tried to blend them in the Eclipse white, but it kind of changed the color ;))
Awesome pics!! Bernard and Zac save the day!!!
Great post!!! I hope the Hammondsport fire department realized what you were doing. As far as the Eclipse White, what about an Eclipse Rose!!!
Excellent job, ALL of you
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