Hey folks! Really sorry I’ve been blog-free for a few weeks. As you can imagine it’s been a bit crazy with Crush in full swing the past month. But I’m back and I’m very, very pleased to announce that Harvest 2009 is officially over at Michel-Schlumberger — the last grapes were picked on Sunday, just before the dreaded typhoon storm hit Sonoma County on Monday night and dumped several inches of rain on us.
WOW, what a year! Seriously folks, I’ve worked in the vineyard and cellar of M-S for 13 years and I’ve never seen happier vines or tasted better juice. At the risk of jinxing the vintage I have to say that these will be among the finest wines ever produced by Mike Brunson (please don’t tell him I said that). I’ll elaborate on this in future posts but right now my brain is foggy and creativity is running low. What? I’m going to take the easy way out this week out and post some random camera phone shots of 2009 Crush. Check it out:
O.K., you probably can't actually see them but this shot is from the crush pad, minutes away from the end of Harvest 2009, as the pickers work their way through Bloque Loco (cabernet sauvignon).
Basura bucket.
Fermenting must in small bins. These are punched down several times each day by hand.
Brunson shows his son Zach the finer points of making wine.
Ever wonder what it looks like to clean the inside of a 12 ton press in the dark?
Intern Oren punches down some cab in an open top fermenter. Notice how the picture quality is all fuzzy -- that's what happens to your cell phone camera after you shoot pics in a dark, wet press.
This post is dedicated to Oren's dog, Gisele... A very good dog.
