Thanks to the Sun the Grapes have Come!!
For those of you who have been following my blog over the past few weeks, you have probably noticed how much I have been referring to our weather patterns and how much they impact the grape harvest. This past week we have experienced incredibly warm weather and due to this heat wave we are finally seeing a constant influx of grapes at the winery. This is possibly the latest harvest season we have ever had and we are ecstatic to see that it is finally moving along.
As of now we have processed almost all of our Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, and Muscat Canelli and we should be getting some Chardonnay in this week as well. As usual, the reds are a bit behind the whites but we might be seeing some Syrah in the near future and some Zinfandel and Merlot from our warmer climate vineyards. In our west side vineyards, we picked our Whale Rock Pinot Noir and Chardonnay last week, Pinot Grigio yesterday and if everything goes according to plan we should be picking our Stone’s Throw Viognier tomorrow! In other words, we are finally very busy out at the winery and it is a great feeling (even if we are working in 105 degree heat).
This morning I had the pleasure of chatting with our winemaker Tom Myers to get his input on how the grapes are looking this year. According to Tom, the sugars are looking good and the chemistry is looking great on the grapes we are receiving and testing from our vineyards. Some grapes have come in with higher than desired sugar levels but that is something we can deal with. Overall Tom said in his opinion we are looking at a “good year with exciting quality,” and I really can’t emphasize enough how excited and relieved we are about this at Castoro. If you remember from my blog a few weeks back, we were looking at a very different scenario than we are seeing now. What could potentially have been a detrimental year has turned around and now has the potential of being one of the best.
If you would like to keep up on events and info at Castoro Cellars please check out our website or follow us on facebook and youtube.
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Until next time,
Cheers,
Luke
