grape harvest 2008

Visiting Michel Schlumberger during early November is one of the best times to really see the seasonal change in our vineyards.  It also is prime time to cozy up to a tasting of Reserve Cabernet.  There’s something about this shift in season that really brings out the best qualities in red wine. Don’t get me wrong, if you bring the mussles, I’ll bring the viognier.  But Fall really is the perfect season for full bodied, complex red that we specialize in.  When you’re here, an explosion of fall’s best yellows, oranges, and reds will greet you.  Walking the vineyards each day, I see our lower ranch blocks literally evolving on a daily basis as the leaves begin to change colors and fall from the vines.  It’s hard to believe that harvest ended just a couple of weeks ago. Today was the first noticable change in temperature. I wonder when the block of old vine merlot on the west side of the lake will drop its leaves?  It’s the greenest still.

Yes!  The 2008 harvest is finished!  We brought in the last of our Cabernet Sauvignon Thursday.  The vineyard crew was very excited knowing that they had finished bringing in the grapes that they had worked on all year.  

It’s a great feeling.  

As we do every year, we had our Harvest Party the following day.  So, on Friday we did our punchdowns/pumpovers, barreled down one lot of Carmenere and pressed one load of Merlot and off we went to Javier Acevedo Sr.’s house for a evening of unbelievable food, fun, camaraderie and of course a bit of futbol.  

Oh yeah, we also drank some beers.  

Just shortly after we had finished our early dinner (right around the time retired folks normally eat) we had a surprise visitor. Ziggy the Wine Galshowed up with four tequilas and lead us a through a quick (but effective) tequila tasting.  We tasted one silver, two reposados and one anejo.  Each tequila had a distinct flavor and sense of place.  The silver was way too quaffable (reads dangerous).  The reposados were interesting with one tasting a bit like cheese rind (in a good way).  And the anejo was as beautifully structured and elegant as a nice cognac (yum).  As quickly as she showed up, Ziggy (and her one woman “entourage” Susanna) had left the building and we continued with our party.  As we do at all these harvest celebrations, we reminisced about the years challenges.  Like the time Juan slipped on the wet permanent cover crop (tumbling down the hillside).  Or the day that the cellar crew actually beat the vineyard crew in soccer (once in a lifetime).  Or the beauty of all the fruit that is now in the cellar.  And of course all the other happenings from the vintage that I dare not go into here on this blog.  It’s a great way to spend an afternoon and evening.  We played some pool, listened to some music that made us dance, hugged each other and drank some more beers.  It’s days like these that make us all appreciate what we have here at Michel-Schlumberger…one big family. 

Tony W 'Punching Down'

Back in the day, I used to work in the cellar here at Michel Schlumberger and during this time of year, I always get a hankering for the days of yore when I would be hauling hose, sanitizing, punching down, pumping over with the rest of the crew. Part of the joy of making wine is the camaraderie of working long hours with folks you know are working just as hard. Leading a group of bikers (spokes not motors) yesterday from New York,  I was explaining the formation of the “cap” and I saw a confused look or two.  So I brought the group over to a bin of fermenting syrah, showed them the top where the skins had formed ”the cap” and then plunged my hand through to the juice and we watched as bubbles of CO2 came to the surface. They were surprised but also immediately got the point!  That’s one of the great things about coming to the winery during harvest is that all of the things we talk about year round are right there.

Come on up to Michel-Schlumberger and join us with the hand’s on experience- then sit back and enjoy a glass.  Nice.

Now that the fog has rolled into Dry Creek Valley, the grapes are finally getting the hang time that they will surely benefit from.    With these cool, wet (we call it frizzle…fog+ drizzle= frizzle) days and nights, the ripening process has slowed considerably and flavors, acids and tannins all seem to be coming together perfectly. 

We picked some clone six cabernet sauvignon off the Bradford Mountain Ranch on Saturday and it came in with beautiful flavors and aromas (not to mention color).   The sugar was right where you’d like to see it and the skins were thinner and more delicate than the block adjacent to it. 

Ah, the physiology of vines, the subtleties of clonal selections and the effects of mother nature.  Cabernet seems to benefit from a little moisture on the skins.  It wasn’t until this marine layer rolled in that we began to see a change in the skins of most of the bordeaux varietals (we grow cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, malbec, petit verdot and carmenere).  Up until a week ago, the skins were tough (a response to the extreme heat?) and the seeds were still attached to the pulp.  Now that we have some cool nights, the grapes are moving towards the latter stages of ripening which includes the maturation of tannins in the skins.  It’s a delicate walk here.  You want to have nice ripe tannins, but you certainly don’t want pHat, flabby tannins either.  One way to achieve this is to taste in the vineyard everyday to get a good idea of the status of each block.   So far the season has been kind and with this cool weather slated for the next few days, it looks like we’ll continue to reap the benefits of mother nature’s air conditioning.  I like the fog.

Mike Brunson Harvest Update

James Taylor is singing ‘The frost is on the pumpkin & the hay is in the barn’ as I write this and it really puts me in the mood for
Fall.  It hasn’t really hit wine country yet, and most likely won’t for several weeks, but singing this little diddy always get me in the mood for harvest…and harvest is here and going strong.  

Crush at Michel-Schlumberger also signals the start our annual Harvest Luncheon Series — one of the greatest experiences & traditions in wine country. 

At 11:00 a.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through October 11, guests arrive for a behind the scenes tour of the Estate.  Crush is in full tilt, so as part of the experience, guest often get to taste grapes fresh off the vine just before they begin their transformational journey into wine, or grab a splash of free-run juice just squeezed and headed for the barrels.  It is sublime.

After taking in the cornucopia of fruit smells fermenting in the cellar and maybe even joining in on a punch-down of fermenting Syrah, Cabernet or Malbec, the guests meander out to the tables set up under the 400+ year old oak tree protecting the organic vegetable & herb garden.  With glass in hand, we all sit down to a magnificent meal prepared by a host of local Sonoma chefs & paired with plenty of fine Michel-Schlumberger wines born in the vineyards just a few yards away from the table.  Hearty fare, engaging conversation, camaraderie, and great wines all in the middle of harvest nestled in one of the most beautiful locations in all wine country - what’s not to like!  Everything is fresh, everything is local — it is the essence of all things good about life in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley.

These luncheons sell out very, very fast — mainly to those who have experienced these feasts in the past and come back year after year after year.  This year, make the Michel-Schlumberger Harvest Luncheon your tradition and experience food & wine nirvana for yourself.  Call us at 1-800-447-3060 or click on the highlighted text - Harvest Luncheon - for reservations.  Just $65 per person - bring your friends, a hearty appetite, and your favorite stories to share.

It’s very, very quiet.  That’s strange because all week long, from before dawn till past dark, the air has been filled with the usual din of harvest: tractors rumbling in from the vineyard, laden with bins of grapes; the clanging of stainless steel tanks being cleaned and prepped; the roar of the crusher/de-stemmer; scratchy music blasting from the juice-soaked boom box – Ween, Johnny Cash, Calexico, Chris Harford, Funkadelic; the laughter of interns pummeling each other with grapes.

But as I write it is Saturday (tho’ today is Wednesday!)  - we’re not picking today and Brunson is out in the vineyard…I’m the only one in the cellar and, well, it’s quiet.

My primary task today is doing the punch-downs.  Right now we’ve got 3 small open top fermenting tanks filled with very lightly crushed pinot noir grapes, and 6 even smaller “T-bins” filled with zinfandel.  Right after crushing, the must (crushed fruit) in the bins looks like thick, dark blackberry jam – and smells like it, too.  Once the juice begins fermenting the must begins to stratify – the seeds sink to the bottom and the grape skins float to the top to form a semi-solid cap.  Since nearly all of the color, tannin and flavor of a finished wine comes from the skin of the grape it’s very important to keep the juice in contact with the skins.  The punch-down device is a long stainless steel rod with a handle on one end and a horizontal perforated plate on the other (picture an over-sized potato masher).  We use this device to mix the fermenting must.  A good punch-down is vigorous enough to break up the cap and get some much appreciated oxygen to the yeast, but not so violent as to crush the seeds at the bottom of the bins which would potentially release harsh “green” tannins.

The T-bins are easy enough (they’re only about 3 feet wide and high) but the open tops involve some real exercise.  A redwood board lies across the top of the tank, which sits about 5 feet high.  The trick is to put all your weight on the handle of the device and try to slowly punch a hole in the cap.  Once a hole is formed you work along its edges, gradually increasing the size of the hole until the entire cap is submerged and mixed.  The reward for a good, vigorous punch-down is the aroma – a huge waft of fizzy, spicy, yeasty, wild berry erupts from the must when the fermenting juice is splashed around.

I like the quiet cellar.  After all the buzz of the past few days it’s nice to relax the pace a bit and really “commune” with the fermenting juice.  But the syrah is getting close so this peace and quiet is short lived…

I smell busy around the corner.

Yes. Today is the first day in about a year that I’ve smelled red fermentation here in the cellar of Michel-Schlumberger. It’s true that we harvested those grapes about a week ago and the musts are just now really starting to flex their fermentation muscles. After 3-5 days soaking in their cozy little open top bins, they now have had their rendevous with natural (resident) yeast and are in the process of conversion (sugar-alcohol). This produces a beautiful smell that can display some of the characteristics that you’ll see later in the wines life. We have a pinot noir that smells just like fresh crushed strawberries and the zinfandel is showing more cinnamon and spice than I can ever remember. It’s a fantastic process to participate in.

Speaking of participation. It’s about time we give credit where credit is due. Our crew here at Michel-Schlumberger is one of the best around (if you want to argue this, you might want to do your homework first). In the next few weeks, I’ll be individually highlighting all of these folks and how they got into the wine industry. I’m fortunate to have such a great team as it makes my job not only more efficient, but also makes it very fun as all of these folks are my dear friends as well. Things are pretty sweet (pun intended) here at Michel-Schlumberger and they’re about to get even sweeter. Yes.