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."