Another Crazy Harvest Coming to an End!
Extra, Extra read all about it: “Niels Udsen, owner of Castoro Cellars, says the 2011 Harvest will be over this coming Thursday!” After 30 years of working the grape harvest in Paso Robles, he just may know what he is talking about (maybe). As I spoke with Niels this morning he told me in his 30 years working the harvest in Paso, this year was,”the most bizarre of them all.” “We started out this year with a late frost in April followed by an early frost in the fall, coupled with earlier than normal rains and very mild temperatures. The result of these patterns has been one of the smallest harvests ever in the Paso Robles appellation.” This is pretty crazy stuff if you ask me, but it’s not all bad and fortunately for us, our veteran crew is as capable as any in dealing with the challenges we are facing.
As of now, all we have left on the vine is a little bit of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. With a forecast of rain later in the week, we are ready to pick the last of our fruit and shift our focus out at the winery. As I mentioned, this year has not been all bad, the quality of the fruit has been phenomenal and in the end that is what truly matters. Despite low yields, our fruit this year has given us great color and great sugar content, both very important in the wine making process. As Niels put it, “People always talk about “great” years in wine, but I truly feel this year will go down as one of the best we have ever had in terms of quality.” In other words, this vintage is going to be good and it’s going to go fast! I personally couldn’t be more excited to try the 2011 wines when they are released, because diversity as we experienced this year is what keeps wine unique, exciting and endlessly enjoyable.
As we wrap up our 2011 harvest, we thank you all for keeping us going over the years and we look forward to sharing yet another vintage with you all. The wines this year will be worth holding to and will carry a story with them about a year that was like no other!
Til next time!
Cheers,
Luke
