New York Cork Report

The Best Wine Comes From... a Vintage Like 2010?

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor

"The best wine comes from a warm vintage in a cool climate."

That's something Fox Run Vineyards winemaker Peter Bell is fond of saying. It has practically become a regional mantra. And if Bell is right, then one would expect 2010 to produce stellar wines.

But the Finger Lakes is not Bordeaux, and there is no early rush to judgment on the red wines from a vintage like 2010. That will come with time. Riesling, however, will start hitting the market in mere weeks.

And of course, no wine is more vital to Finger Lakes success than riesling.

So what to make of 2010 riesling?

More than most vintages, this will also require a little more time. That's because 2010 was not a warm vintage, but a hot one, relatively speaking, and a long one, but not a dry one. Some winemakers tell me they chose to add acid; others are adamant that acid additions were unnecessary.

We'll take Bell's advice and give the 2010 rieslings more time to evolve. "I'm optimistic, if guardedly so," Bell said. Tank samples show a variety of styles of Fox Run's 2010 rieslings, and some are more forward than others."We'll have a much better idea in June, I would think," Bell continued. "The potential is very high, but I prefer not to speak in absolutes. We'll see."

Some consumers are already asking if 2010 will resemble 2007, another long and hot year. The answer will vary from site to site, but in general, there will be significant differences. Drought marked 2007, which has produced more petrol character in the region's rieslings, even at a young age. That's less likely in 2010.

Video: Making Ice Wine at Standing Stone Vineyards

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor

There are a handful of ways to make ice (and ice-style) wine, but to make it great, you've got to start with high-quality fruit. I'm reminded of that every time I taste a Standing Stone example. There are four, all priced at $24.99 per bottle: vidal, riesling, gewurtraminer and chardonnay.

The Standing Stone Vineyards 2008 Riesling Ice was the NYCR Finger Lakes Dessert Wine of the Year. Like its siblings, the Riesling Ice is rich and pure, always clean and focused. And winemaker/owner Marti Macinski, along with her husband Tom, are committed to getting their ice wines to customers at affordable prices.

"We know that $25 is not cheap, but it's nowhere near the price of some other dessert wines on the market," Marti told me on a recent visit. "That's extremely important to us. At $50 or $60 a bottle, the world drops off. We want our customers to be able to afford our wines for more than just a special occasion." 

And yet drinking a Standing Stone ice wine just might create a special occasion. The Macinskis choose to pick the fruit and then store the grapes in commercial freezers for several months. In the video above, you'll see the action on press day -- and you'll hear exactly how much sugar remains after this process. 

In the video they're pressing Vidal, which nearly snuck in to the NYCR Wines of the Year flight. Each Standing Stone dessert wine is distinctive, appealing to many tastes. That's another part of the plan for the Macinskis, who bring a thoughtful approach to all aspects of their operation (especially when to spend money, and when to seek cost-effective solutions, as you'll see in the video).

2010 Harvest Update: Cabernet Franc at Bedell Cellars

Sorting cabernet franc at Bedell Cellars

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

It's frustrating when life gets in the way of my wine writing, but it does happen as much as I try to minimize it.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I shot out to Bedell Cellars after work to catch up with winemaker Rich Olsen-Harbich. I'm not sure if it was his new digs at Bedell or the quality of the fruit coming in, but the broad, near-permanent smile on his face told me all that I needed to know.

He's happy. And everyone around him was too.

"We haven't seen cabernet franc under 25 brix!" he declared when I got there, knowing that I would ask about the franc.

They had picked the franc earlier that day, in fact, and I'd gone out with the intention of sorting with them, but that idea quickly morphed into me tasting everything that was already in the winery.

We tasted everything from Rich's white field blend to merlot undergoing carbonic maceration to chardonnay resting in oak barrels, to merlot juice after nothing more than a two-day cold soak. As you can see, that juice was as dark as some finished wines already.

That's 2010 on Long Island. Intense.

Later, when I asked him to describe the uniqueness of 2010, Olsen-Harbich told me that "The reds showed high brix by mid-September. If you were picking on sugar levels you probably harvested too early. The density and character of the fruit needed to catch up to the sugar levels which it eventually did – the first time I ever experienced this on Long Island. But a great problem to have!"

He added via email this week, "We have tank after tank of dark, rich powerful red wines with wonderful aroma and concentration. Blending is really going to be fun this year with a lot of choices available."

I asked him what varieties, if any, he was most excited about this year. "They are all pretty exciting," he said, "But since we don’t see it very often, its always nice to have totally ripe cabernet sauvignon."

That's when you know it's a special year on Long Island -- when winemakers are talking about their cabernet.

2010 Harvest Update: First Organic/Biodynamic Season Winds Down at Shinn Estate Vineyards

The last grapes coming in at Shinn Estate Vineyards

On Sunday, Barbara Shinn and the harvest crew at Shinn Estaste Vineyards harvested their cabernet sauvignon yesterday, wrapping up the harvest of 2010.

According to co-owner David Page the photo at right is Barbara and team as they "give thanks to the astral forces that have provided us with a healthy and dynamic harvest. The star shape formed by the hands that stewarded our vineyard to fruition is a symbol that represents our planet Earth's star, our Sun."

This was the first organic and biodynamic harvest ever on the East Coast, an accomplishment that is deserving of respect -- no matter what your thoughts are on individual organic or biodynamic treatments.

"We will be certified by Demeter in 2012. Thanks Carlos, Guadalupe, Israel and Jose," Page said in an email yesterday morning.

2010 Harvest Update: Riesling, Cabernet Franc and "Wonderful Botrytis" at Heron Hill Winery

Today's report comes from Heron Hill Winery's owner John Ingle, via marketing director Kitty Oliver:

"He (John) has finished harvesting the cab franc and riesling from Ingle Vineyard. He netted off seven rows of riesling to save for icewine. He brought the last of the cab franc today, 5 tons. Half from Ingle Vineyard and half from the vineyards at the Bristol tasting room -- 2 acres at each location. 

John's very excited because the vineyard adjacent to his Ingle Vineyard -- Jim Hicks' vineyards -- has about four tons of riesling that we're going to harvest. The grapes went from green to brown from all the rain and in John's own words, 'We have a wonderful infection of Botrytis!'

He's planning on making a TBA with it, possible harvest next week depending on the weather. He'll be harvesting that into buckets, he said that the water basically evaporates the skin, so when it's harvested it starts juicing immediately -- a delicate process. Although there's about 4 tons now, he expects to get about 1 ton."

2010 Harvest Update: Traminette at Palaia Vineyards

Jan Palaggi of Palaia Vineyards in the Hudson Valley sent us a harvest update earlier this week:

"We picked out Traminette on October 2. It was fantastic this year with 23 brix, PH 3.57 and TA 7.7

The grapes were beautiful -- especially in the block where we pulled leaves before we netted them which allowed air in as well as sunshine. The brix were higher in this block as well which means we will be doing this to all the vines next season. 

What a great year we’ve had in the vineyard with plenty of sunshine and low humidity. We harvested 3681 lbs of Traminette which was not bad at all. The flavor of the juice is the really vital part of the year though, and this year it is just amazing…truly a banner year.

This weekend we are harvesting our Lemberger as well as the Cabernet Franc grapes. Time to get everything off and buttoned up for the year. They are ready, and so am I."

2010 Harvest Update: Nautique-Bound Cabernet Franc at Peconic Bay Winery

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

Peconic Bay Winery hand-harvested cabernet franc at 21.4 brix on Friday for their Nautique rose, with a plan to let the rest of their cabernet franc hang for at least another week.

General Manager Jim Silver reported at the time that "Yesterday and today’s weather has been perfect to clean and dry the grapes coming in.  The bunches were beat up just a little due to the rain, but as our winemaker Greg Gove, says, 'You can’t undo a season like this, with a little spot of rain.'" 

They picked some of their merlot from their Oregon Road vineyards over the weekend -- in the neighborhood of 10 tons -- but malbec, petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon still have quite a couple more weeks to go.

2010 Harvest Update: Co-Fermentation and Field Blending at Bedell Cellars

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

When Rich Olsen-Harbich left Raphael to take his creativity and native-yeast fermentations to Bedell Cellars, there was no doubt that the wines there would change.

At the mid-way point of his first harvest at Bedell, it seems as though the changes might be more significant than most thought.

Olsen-Harbich told me via email "I’m doing all kinds of exciting and innovative wines at Bedell this year -- from using only indigenous yeast, stone-barrel fermentations, to other types of co-ferments involving various lots of red fruit as well as red and white fruit together."

One such co-ferment kicked off last week with a blend of riesling, chardonnay, viognier and Gewürztraminer. Though not strictly a field blend because the viognier comes from a neighboring block, the other components grow together in a 4.5-acre vineyard planted in 1980, founder and founding winemaker Kip Bedell's first planting - a planting Olsen-Harbich feels is "really just hitting its stride."

The viognier was planted 1995 -- the very first Viognier planted on Long Island.

The various varieties were all crushed together and allowed to infuse on the skins for 24 hours because, as Olsen-Harbich explains it "The riesling and gewurtz I feel, have a tremendous amount of aroma and flavor in the skins so I wanted to extract that. As you can see it made a really lovely looking fruit salad!"

The juice was then pressed off and fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel with indigenous yeast.

When I asked Olsen-Harbich what inspired him to do this co-feremented almost-field blend, he told me "Michael Lynne hired me to be a creative force in the winery -- to fully pursue my style and push it further, folding it into the existing philosophy of developing the most aromatic and complex blends on Long Island. As a lover of modern art, Michael understands that you have to sometimes think openly and take chances in order to explore new areas of creativity. Dave and Donna have provided me with absolutely beautiful fruit and now it’s up to me to put the colors on the canvas."

The resulting wine may end up in the winery's TasteWhite bottling but that's not set in stone. "This has no set destination as of yet but once our wines are finished fermenting we’ll have all of our colors ready to begin the painting," Olsen-Harbich said.

2010 Harvest Update: Loving Pinot and Handling Low Acid at Ravines Wine Cellars

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor

Photo: Ravines winemaker Morten Hallgren shows off the free run pinot noir, which has not yet gone through malolactic fermentation

For perhaps the first time ever, Ravines Wine Cellars winemaker Morten Hallgren is preparing to add acid to one of his wines.

"This is highly unusual," he tells me on a crisp October day.

The variety in question is the hybrid Cayuga, which Hallgren uses in small amounts to blend with Vignoles to create his Keuka Village White (the only wine in the Ravines portfolio that is not 100% vinifera). 

Hallgren has carefully followed the flavor development in the various vineyards from which he sources grapes. This year the near-record heat has brought very high sugar levels, but flavors were not developing at the same pace. As a result, Hallgren has decided to pick most varieties at higher brix levels than normal, allowing the flavors to fully develop.

"It will mean slightly higher alcohol levels," he concedes, before adding, "and it's worth it this year, because the flavors have turned out beautifully."

In fact, the flavors are so intense that Hallgren decided to give his pinot rose only about 24 hours of skin contact. "It was amazing to see that much intensity, that fast," he explains. "Anything more than about 24 hours would have been over the top."

Riesling will be coming in soon, and grower Sam Argetsinger is pleased with the acid levels in his grapes. But gewurztraminer, which will also be picked for Ravines soon, will almost certainly need more acid in the winery. "You don't like to do it, but gewurztraminer can be tricky, and picking too early could have compromised the flavors," Hallgren says.

He is particularly excited about the pinot noir, and a sample showed precocious aromatics -- the kind more often associated with mature, bottled wine. "At this point I'm just looking for an aromatic presence and I want to be sure the tannins are soft and integrated," Hallgren says. Ask him if that's happening in the 2010 pinot and you don't need an answer. You can see it in his eyes as they light up.

In several weeks the cabernet franc, often the muscle of the Ravines Meritage, will arrive. The 2010 version will be wildly different from the 2009, which in turn shows a different kind of character than the 2008. And so on. "Americans are more accustomed to drinking wines from California and South America, and each year is pretty similar," the winemaker laments. "If you drink French wine, you know that vintage variation is common and is something interesting. I hope our customers feel that way, too."

2010 Harvest Update: Singing In the Rain at White Springs Winery

 
By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor

One day of rain can't ruin a year-long growing party, right? 

Despite the stellar conditions that have run from March to the fall, last Thursday's rains (up to four inches in parts of the Finger Lakes) threatened to soak the party. But at White Springs Winery on Seneca Lake, winemaker Derek Wilber explained why the rain is not likely to be enough to cause real trouble.

"The real nightmare scenario is heavy rain followed by real warm temperatures," Wilber said at the end of a long harvest day in the winery. "Tropical storms can be damaging, because they dump a lot of water and then it gets very steamy." He explained that the grapes can take on the moisture and various problems can follow, including rot and dilution. 

But last Thursday's rains were followed by cool, crisp weather. "It was just about ideal, given the rain," Wilber said. "Cool nights, dry days, not much higher than 60 degrees." 

It also helps that this growing season has seen long stretches of dry weather. And many wineries have already brought in more than half of their grapes for the 2010 vintage.

Wilber, a veritable encyclopedia of winemaking, says the difference between 2009 and 2010 has been severe -- but not the most severe he has seen in the Finger Lakes. "We saw huge swings from '87 to '88, from '92 to '93, and even from 2000 to 2001." 

So which variety stands out as the prize of the vintage? It's too early to tell, but it's never too early for Wilber to talk about his beloved sauvignon blanc, which he views as an underrated performer.

In another month he can talk about the full lineup, but he has learned never to get too far ahead during harvest.

2010 Harvest Update: Niagara USA Early Harvest Report

By Bryan Calandrelli, Regional Editor

Niagara Wine Country USA is in the middle of its most significant -- and exciting -- harvest to date. Never before has their been this many vineyards producing vinifera, hybrid and native grapes for wine.

My first glimpse of this year’s crush was at Schulze Vineyards & Winery, where owner Martin Schulze was in the middle of crushing cabernet franc grown by one of the region’s newest vinifera growers, his longtime friend Kimball Paterson. Schulze usually produces a nouveau-style cabernet franc along with his reserve dry, so it should be fascinating to taste his estate-grown lakeshore grapes (which are still hanging) along side this year’s Niagara Escarpment-grown cabernet franc. Schulze also harvested its vidal a few weeks ago for their estate sparkling wine, the only method champenoise wine made in the region.

Freedom Run Winery finished its pinot noir harvest last weekend with brix levels well above typical levels. The estate’s Stonehaus Vineyard pinot noir came in at 24 brix with a pH around 3.30. Talking to Freedom Run’s cellar master (and lover of red Burgundy) Kurt Guba, I got the impression that he is more excited about the triage batch that came in around 22 brix.

Chateau Niagara, one of the newest wineries in the region, brought in its chardonnay, merlot, riesling and pinot noir over the last two weeks. Other than some complaints of raccoon and other animal damage to their crop, owners Jim and Kathy Baker seemed thrilled to get their first estate-grown reds in production.

With what I believe to be the most diverse planting in terms of varieties, Leonard Oakes’s 2010 harvest is in full swing as well.

Although I don’t know the details of what and when, I know winemaker Jonathan Oakes (pictured at right) has been hard at work crushing grapes from his estate vineyard. Lending his experience this year at Schulze Vineyards, Jonathan is one of the busiest guys in the region.

Speaking of busy, Arrowhead Spring has been hard at work crushing some of the 50 tons they expect to process this season. They started with eight tons of Niagara Escarpment pinot noir purchased from Leland’s Vineyard, a vineyard that was originally intended to supplement Warm Lake Estate’s production.

Last weekend Arrowhead pulled their estate chardonnay and they plan on picking their merlot by the end of this week. They will also add Finger Lakes grapes to their production this year with some gewürztraminer, pinot noir, merlot and cabernet franc on the way.

Randy Biehl of Eveningside Vineyards described this growing season as “the vintage of the decade” to me last weekend. He has yet to pull any of his estate-grown chardonnay, cabernet franc or riesling but is eyeing this week for the chardonnay.

It’s great to see so many growers having a successful early season, especially after a challenging 2009 vintage. It’s also a good sign that there’s no shortage of wineries to buy up local grapes from new growers in the region. And ultimately it’s great that demand is so high that Niagara wineries still have to source from Ontario and the Finger Lakes to keep up with their customers thirst for locally made wine.

2010 Harvest Update: Sawmill Creek Vineyard Gewurztraminer for Red Newt Cellars

Video courtesy of Red Newt Cellars

2010 Harvest Update: Multiple Passes Gives Options, Higher Quality at Hermann J. Wiemer

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor

Photo: Owners Fred and Maressa Merwarth work the sorting line on the last pass of gewurztraminer

Don't pick everything at the same time.

It's a simple enough idea, and the reasoning is clear: By picking multiple times - or making multiple passes - Finger Lakes producers will have varying levels of sugar and acid to work with when they put together their wines.

It's a model that is common in Europe, but less common in New York state. Many producers will make a decision: "Time to bring in the riesling." But at Hermann J. Wiemer on Seneca Lake, multiple passes give winemaker Fred Merwarth plenty of options.

For example, Wiemer began bringing in gewurztraminer several weeks ago. "It was early, but we wanted that crisp acidity to be there, no matter what happened in late September," Merwarth explained. "So we made an initial pass, then another picking maybe a week later, and the last one today." He was talking about the third and final gewurztraminer picking that came in this past Sunday, when I joined the harvest crew for a day of sorting.

That final pass at gewurztraminer brought in grapes that were extremely concentrated, sweet, and soft for gewurztraminer (lacking acidity). "We wouldn't be too happy if this was our only picking to make gewurztraminer," Merwarth said. "But with the way we do it, it's great. It's another component to create a balanced gewurztraminer."

When Merwarth makes the 2010 Gewurztraminer, he'll use parts of all three pickings. Some years he uses more of the early pass, some years it's nearly an even blend, and some years he'll favor the last pass. The remaining unused gewurztraminer will go into the Hermann J. Wiemer Frost Cuvee, the estate's value wine and a popular restaurant by-the-glass selection.

"The Frost Cuvee is not a fallback wine or a lesser wine," says Oskar Bynke, manager of marketing. "It's the story of those components that were not needed to create the other blends. We're always excited to see what it becomes, because every year it's something different."

On Sunday crews brought in the first pass of Wiemer riesling, which was vibrant and low in pH, just as Merwarth likes the first picking to be. Monday crews brought in the rest of the pinot noir and then planned to evaluate the weather the rest of this week before evaluating the next passes to be made.

Perhaps more important than anything, the crew at Hermann J. Wiemer hand sorts every picking of grapes that comes in during harvest. That leads to some extremely late nights, but they find the difference in quality to be striking.

"We were up until 6:30 in the morning two nights in a row," a weary but spirited Maressa Merwarth explained. "We've been up late before, but two nights in a row might be a record."

There have been lots of records set in 2010. It appears that's not finished yet.

Heavy Rains Threaten Long Island Wine Country

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

A month ago, Hurricane Earl threatened East End vineyards with its high winds and rain -- only to pass off to the east and have little impact on developing grapes.

Now, an un-named line of storms is threatening to drop several inches of rain on local vineyards and bring wind gusts of up to 60 mph.

Most of the white wine and sparkling wine grapes have been picked. As have most of the grapes intended for rose production, so those wines won't be affected by this storm system, but 2010 red wines could be. That portion of harvest was really just getting under way, and will now pause as wineries keep one eye on their vines and the other on weather reports.

There's no doubt that they will also be thinking a bit 2005 when 20 inches of rain flooded some vineyards over the course of a week. 2005 was a great summer for growing and ripening grapes. 2010 has been even better, but storms like this serve as reminders that a vintage can't be deemed great until all of the fruit is in the winery.

So far, the East End hasn't received much rain according to the growers I've heard from this morning. Rich Pisacano of Wolffer Estate and Roanoke Vineyards reported "Less than 1/4 inch" earlier this morning and I just received an email from The Old Field Vineyards' Roz Baiz reporting only "trace amounts" of rain.

That's obviously good news -- as is the fact that more than a quarter of the string of storms has come and gone. Local wineries aren't out of the woods yet though. "If this trend continues we just may dodge another bullet," said David Page from Shinn Estate Vineyards, adding "That is not a prediction. Call it a prayer. Farming is faith based."

Just how much rain a vineyard can absorb before it becomes a problem varies from site to site as well, with Page telling me via email that "volume will become important after the first 2-3 inches." Baiz thinks her vineyard can handle more "The soils are veyr dry. we can probably handle another 4-6" without having flooding issues. The water table is down 26-30" due to the summer's drought."  

Rain is only one of the threats this storm poses. High winds can cause the netting placed over vines to keep birds and other wildlife from eating the ripe berries to scrape or even cut the clusters. Combine that damage with wet, warm conditions and disease pressure builds.

Noting the impact that temperature can have during these types of storms, Paumanok Vineyards' Charles Massoud explains "The bigger problem is temperature. Rain seeps into the subsoil quickly especially after the prolonged dought. However the warmer it is, the more active the photosynthesis, the more the vine perspires, the more water is pulled from the soil and could potentially endanger the fruit."

Luckily, cooler temperatures slow all that down. Today's cloud cover and tomorrow's predicted high of 69 degrees should show photosynthesis enough to mitigate berry damage.

With her bayside vineyards site, Baiz has one other concern -- salt. Big enough winds coming from the right direction can bring saltwater spray from the bay, which would scald the canopy and ruin the grapes.  

Saturday morning will be a busy -- and important -- one. That's when vineyard managers and winemakers will really be able to assess any damage. Positive thinking abounds -- becuase it has to -- with Rich Olsen-Harbich, winemaker at Bedell Cellars saying "The canopy and the fruit are in perfect shape so they will weather this small event just fine."

Let's hope that he's right.

Note: As updates and further reports come in, I'll add them to the comments.

 

2010 Harvest Update: Chardonnay and Tocai at Channing Daughters Winery

Video courtesy of Edible Manhattan

2010 Harvest Update: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at Kings Garden Vineyards

Corinne and Mike Oleksyn, owners of Kings Garden Vineyards, report that they've picked the chardonnay and pinot noir from their estate vineyards.

Both grapes were harvested on September 18, with the chardonnay coming in at 2.5-3 tons per acre, 22 degrees brix, 7 g/L of TA and pH of 3.2. The pinot crop was much lighter at 1.5 tons/acre. Brix was at 22, TA at 6 g/L and pH of 3.4

In explaining how they decide when to pick the pinot, Corinne says "We don't like to let our pinot noir get above 22 or 23 brix. It just raises the pH and with a high pH, you could have an unstable wine. We like the acid low and the pH around 3.2-3.5 range. Anything higher and its dangerous territory. Also, we like the brix at 22/23 for an alcohol at around 12/13%."

They were planning to pick their syrah this week, but "September weather hasn't been our friend and has slowed things down a bit," she says, adding "I am guessing that we will pick our Syrah closer to the end of next week -- October 1st. But still earlier than ever before."

 

2010 Harvest Update: Sauvignon Blanc at Shinn Estate Vineyards

By Lenn Thompson

Over the last two weeks, Shinn Estate Vineyards has done something that no one else has on Long Island -- harvest their first 100% organically grown grapes -- their first year working towards organic certification.

Pictured at right is co-owner and vineyard manager Barbara Shinn holding a lug of just-picked sauvignon blanc for a wine they call "Haven."

According to her husband, David Page, the grapes were "Field blended with 15% semillon, and are now on extended skin contact in refrigerated press. They will get pressed after 48-72 hours. Brix is 23.6. pH is 3.35. 2.81 tons picked from 9 tenths of an acre. The wine will be wild fermented in 50% new french oak and 50% one year old french oak. We expect to prodcuce about 125 cases."

Haven is named for the soil type in the vineyard, by the way.

Congratulations to the team at Shinn. Growing grapes organically in a climate like Long Island's is no easy task.

In addition to her work in the vineyard, Barabara has someone found time to write a series of posts for Organic Wine Journal about the challenges and triumphs of growing grapes organically on the North Fork. It's definitely worth checking out.

2010 Harvet Update: Chardonnay at Oak Summit Vineyard

Photo Courtesy of Hudson Valley Wine Country

Oak Summit Vineyard, producer of what I consider the best pinot noir in the Hudson Rivery Valley AVA, also grows chardonnay and cabernet franc in their little vineyard.

Over the weekend, they harvested the chardonnay -- which they sell it Millbrook Winery -- picking 1.5 acres by hand at 23.5 degrees brix, TA at 8 g/L and a pH of 3.25.

 

 

2010 Harvest Update: Pinot Noir at Jamesport Vineyards

Jake Perdie reports that Jamesport Vineyards harvested 4 tons of pinot noir from owner Ron Goerler's "Early Rising Farm" on Cox Lane yesterday morning.

Those vines are 22 years old and the fruit came in at 24.5 brix with TA of 7.5 g/l and pH of 3.6

"Ron was concerned with the rain yesterday and was anxious to get it in yesterday before the storm. More importantly the ph and TA is in balance!" said Perdie in an email earlier today.

 

2010 Harvest Update: Sauvignon Blanc at Croteaux Vineyards

Photo courtesy of Michael Croteau

Michael Croteau, co-owner of Croteaux Vineyards, Long Island's only rose-only winery, picked sauvignon blanc last week. Yes... sauvignon blanc for a rose producer. He reports via email that:

"We picked Sauvignon Blanc on Sept 8th. This is the first year we haven't sold this fruit and will make our own wine with it. We will be doing something really interesting with this, in keeping with our "Rosé Only" identity. Stay tuned!"

The fruit came in at 4.2 tons per acre with 22.4 Brix, 2.88 pH and TA of 11.4 g/l.

2010 Harvest Update: Sauvignon Blanc at Paumanok Vineyards

Photo courtesy of Paumanok Vineyards

Late last week, Paumanok Vineyards harvested sauvignon blanc from their newer block. It came in at 22.6 Brix, 3.24 pH and 6.3 TA.

2010 Harvest Update: Glacier RidgeVineyards Pinot Noir for Red Newt Cellars

Video courtesy of Red Newt Cellars

2010 Harvest Update: Cayuga Harvest at Bashakill Vineyards

Paul Deninno of BashaKill Vineyards sent an email this morning reporting that:

"We pulled 4000 lbs. of Cayuga on Monday off 200 vines! This is going to be our Estate White Tail. It is 100% organically grown and I'm thinking of going sulfite free on this one. Usually I just put in about 30 ppm and have always been nervous about going totally sulfite free. Grapes looked so good I think I might go for it."

2010 Harvest Update: "Where the Wild Things Are" at Bedell Cellars

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

Today's harvest update is a little bit different, but comes from long-time NYCR reader and former contributor Rich Olsen-Harbich, now the winemaker at Bedell Cellars:

"With the 2010 vintage -- the 30th anniversary of Bedell Cellars -- we have begun a brand a new tradition, one which brings us together in ways that only the North Fork can.

Last Friday, as the remnants of Hurricane Earl swirled out to sea, our Bedell family gathered together for a small ceremony to begin the starter fermentation yeast culture for the 2010 vintage. Everyone at Bedell brought a natural object from the North Fork that was near and dear to them. Some people brought grapes from the vineyard, others brought oyster and scallop shells from the beach. Some brought flowers from their garden or wild fruits like beach plums and rose hips, collected from North Fork beaches. Ninah and Michael Lynne contributed an apple from their garden.

With rain and wind swirling around us (in a counter-clockwise direction) we gathered around a small 6gallon glass carboy of freshly pressed chardonnay juice and, after a short speech by yours truly, we each placed our small offering into the jug. Once everything was added, we topped it off with splashes of water from three important bodies of water: the Long Island Sound, Peconic Bay and Cayuga Lake (since three of Bedell’s employees went to Cornell, which overlooks Cayuga). Once completed, the carboy was sealed with a beet grown in our own Bedell employee communal garden. The beet fit perfectly on top and still allowed for C02 to escape when fermentation began.

After three days the culture started to ferment and the aromas are spectacular: lavender, herbs, apples and fresh bread are all evident as the indigenous yeasts begin to grow. Soon we will start adding this yeast culture to all of our wines as we begin the very special journey of the 2010 harvest."

2010 Harvest Update: Concord Harvest at Heron Hill Winery

The folks at Keuka Lake's Heron Hill Winery have picked 2.5 acres of seedless Concord grapes -- not for wine, but for juice that will be sold in the tasting room. Perfect for the kids.

Look for more updates from Heron Hill in coming weeks as they begin harvesting their vinifera fruit.