2009 Harvest Update: At Lieb Family Cellars, a Lot Less Merlot

By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief
Photos courtesy of Lieb Family Cellars

A quick harvest update from Lieb Family Cellars marketing director, Melissa Schwartz:

"We brought in 3 tons of merlot on Tuessday, November 3 around 3:30 p.m. The fruit came in at 21.5 brix. We had previously harvested 10 tons for white merlot and rosé on October 5 at 20 brix.

In total we harvested 13 tons of merlot, down from 30 tons last year. Although, after the white merlot harvest we did drop fruit to try and help quality."

I'm sure that Lieb Cellars isn't the only winery to bring in a lot less fruit this year, because of all the fruit-set problems early in the season.