Harvest Update 2.0

After patiently waiting nearly all of September, the commencement of harvest finally arrived on Wednesday of last week. Sauvignon Blanc picking and pressing is in full swing and I am thrilled to report that the quality looks very good this year. As most of you know, shatter was a big factor in the size of the crop this vintage and Sauvignon Blanc was particularly hard hit. Early estimates pegged the damage at fifty percent reduction, but after harvesting the first two blocks it looks like the crop load was affected to a slightly lesser degree.

One of the challenges that we have encountered this year has been to bring the canopy and crop load into balance. Sauvignon Blanc has a naturally vigorous vegetative growth habit and when combined with the deep heavy soils where the vines are planted, the crop size can be prolific. Because of the shatter the natural balance between leaf surface area and crop load was thrown askew. Too many leaves and not enough fruit causes sugars to accumulate quicker than flavors. To mitigate this we hedged the vines early and often to remove actively growing shoot tips and control the overall number of leaves.
The cool growing season delayed the commencement of harvest by twenty six days. However, this late season heat spell kicked the pace of ripening up a few notches and Sauvignon Blanc throughout the valley is being picked at a furious pace to keep sugars and flavors in an appropriate range. Round Pond’s trellis set-up has allowed us to weather this heat with minimal detrimental impact to the fruit. The fruiting zone is well protected by the canopy so that sunburn does not occur. The flavor intensity in the fruit is exceptional and the multiple picks should allow for a very expressive and complex wine. I am hoping to wrap things up early this week for the Estate Sauvignon Blanc; the Reserve fruit should come in shortly there after.

Until the next installment...


Brian Brown
Winemaker
Round Pond Estate

Pre-Harvest Report from the Winemaker

This is a letter we received from our winemaker this morning to help us all to understand "where we are" with harvest:

Dear Team Round Pond,

On what is the last week before we get this party started, I think it’s appropriate to give a recap on where we are and how we got here.

This year’s catch phrase: "Cooler than normal temperatures"

In the spring, if we experience cool weather, the vines will remain dormant and bud break will be delayed. This is in itself is challenging, because like a thoroughbred getting out of the gates a furlong or two behind, it can be difficult to make up lost ground. Thus the 2011 vintage began...

Cooler temperature will also draw rain clouds in from the ocean. If, at this time, the vines are in cap drop, the effect from both the cool weather and the rain will interfere with the ability of the vine to pollinate. This is commonly referred to as shatter. On the Estate we experienced shatter in interesting patterns. Old vines were affected more than young. Some varieties were affected more than others. Some clones were affected more than others. Soil variability had little effect and rootstock was seen as being neutral. This was obviously a scion reaction to an atmospheric condition.

The cooler than normal weather persisted the entire growing season, which did not help us catch up in the ripening department. An interesting phenomenon of note is that we have not experienced a single heat spike the entire growing season. An occurrence that is unprecedented according to the old timers. Marching into September, we are tracking about three weeks behind schedule and it appears that my prediction of a record-breaking heat index for this month will not come to pass…

Now that everyone is sufficiently depressed I’d like to state that not all is doom and gloom. Not even close.

As cool and late as this vintage may be, this is the third year in a row Mother Nature has dealt us this same hand. The winegrowing team learned much in 2009 and gained on that knowledge in 2010. We have reacted quickly and sufficiently to guarantee the growth of the most exceptional crop this Estate can produce. I look forward to what this vintage still holds in store and will update you at the major milestones. You won’t have to wait long… Sauvignon Blanc is coming in next week.

Humbly Yours,

Brian Brown
Winemaker
Round Pond Estate

We're ready... are you??

There is a familiar buzz here at Round Pond. It's like you can feel it in the air... Harvest is just around the corner, and boy are we ready for it! This season, we have an entirely new cellar crew that is working with winemaker Brian Brown. Our 4 new "crushers" come from all different backgrounds in wine, from locally born and raised in wine, a Masters degree in enology, and a few international harvests between them. We feel so fortunate to have such a stellar team in place for this year, and we can't wait to see them in action!

Although we are still a couple weeks out from picking our first grapes, Sauvignon Blanc, we are finding ways to kill some time around the winery. Meticulous checking of all the equipment, extensive cleaning of each tank, and a few BBQ's on the crushpad to soak in the late Summer sun. For Labor Day weekend, we have invited our wine club members to come celebrate with us in our Winery Sensory Garden that is bursting at the seams. Our chef Eric Maczko will be grilling his famous lamb kabobs and creating special garden treats using the bounty from our garden that we have been blessed with this season. All the bites will of course highlight our Estate wines and use our olive oils for a smooth finish. We love any chance we get to share with others. The winery will also be hosting a "Day in the Life" on October 15th if you are looking for a way to get hands-on with harvest. Check out a little video we put together to give you a glimpse at this one of a kind opportunity. Happy Harvest to all and we hope you will come say hi to our crew this season. Cheers!