March 10
Spring is here! Though the mornings are still very chilly, we’ve had a sudden increase in temperature in Northern California. Consequently, the early bloomers such as the daffodils and the cherry trees are in full, crazed bloom. This is the time when winemakers are itching to get into the vineyards again, to gage when bud break will appear.
Our Soda Canyon Ranch Vineyard Manager Dave Shein and his crew have just finished pruning. He reports that they are ‘geared up for the frost season; checking frost alarms & frost protection systems. In the well drained areas, where they can enter with a tractor, they are shredding the brush that was pruned off and mowing the weeds in the vine rows.’ Back at the winery, there is also a buzz of spring activity.
March is the month when we bottle our Sauvignon Blanc so that they are fresh and crisp when they are consumed over the next twelve months. Once our cellar crew, lead by Andy Beltran, blended the wine, it was chilled for several days to enhance cold stability. This way, if you put the wine in the fridge to chill it just before drinking, it won’t have any tartrates falling out. Tartrates are tartaric acid crystals that fall out of solution or ‘precipitate’ at colder temperature due to their molecular weight. They are nothing to be worried about but we like to take care of this for our customers.
So, the Sauvignon Blanc will be bottled this month and released on May 1st. Meanwhile, the 2006 Merlot is being blended for bottling in April and the 2007 has gone down to rest. The Pinot is still resting quietly thought it too might begin to “buge” or stir as the French say, as the outside temperatures rise.
~Daniel Baron