John on Wine: Myriad musings
Grape harvest throughout Mendocino County has begun, and will continue variety by variety, and appellation by appellation, through the month and possibly into October.
Last week, Sarah Reith wrote a terrific piece for this newspaper about this year’s harvest being earlier than ordinary, with grape grower Bill Pauli quoted as saying, “everything is earlier than normal…where we normally would start in the first week of September,” speaking of harvesting champagne grapes, “we’re finishing up [mid August].”
Reith also reported a 9 percent to 20 percent decrease in tonnage this year, due to low pollination. Devon Jones, executive director at the Mendocino County Farm Bureau, shared with Reith that in most years there is “a little bit of a break between white and red,” but this year, some growers “have to pick everything at once.”
My boss, Guinness McFadden, confirmed this as well, “on Thursday August 13th we picked our first grapes of the 2015 vintage, Chardonnay for a future Sparkling Brut. This is the earliest we’ve ever picked in my 45 years here. Everything seems to be ripening at once, so we’ll be pretty busy frantically trying to get each variety into fermenters at the optimum ripeness. It’s a challenge every year but this year will be even more so.”
Compact harvest seasons can lead to difficulties, as more growers are dependent on a limited seasonal harvest crew at the same time, and more trucks are showing up at wineries in a shorter time window. Smaller harvests are a bitter disappointment for growers, who make more money when they have more fruit to sell, but often lead to delight for wine consumers, as each of the fewer grapes on a vine receive more vitality and flavor than in plentiful years.
My two favorite times of the year are spring and fall. Spring, for the abundance of color, the visual delight that a vineyard presents; green vine shoots, yellow mustard between the rows, blue skies, white puffy clouds, and perhaps white or pink fruit tree blossoms nearby. Fall, for the rich scents, the aromatic delight that a winery presents; driving at midnight, windows down, breathing in the scents of freshly pressed juice during crush. I love living and working in the wine industry, acutely aware of the climate, and how weather can affect the wines that will come from each new vintage’s wine grapes.
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Last week, I urged any vineyard or winery owners who were reading my column to visit MendoWine.com and then call executive director Aubrey Rawlins of Mendocino WineGrowers Inc, to join the group. My message about the value of cooperative marketing to improve the reputation of Mendocino County wines and increase the prices our growers see for their grapes was timely, but asking that folks call Aubrey was less timely.
I found out several days later that Aubrey and MWI had an amicable parting, with Aubrey pursuing opportunities in San Francisco, and MWI looking for a new executive director. Mendocino WineGrowers Inc. should have a wealth of qualified candidates apply for the position, as the best candidate chosen from many can help increase funding for the organization and meet the needs of the board and the member wineries and vineyards they represent.
If you think you have the skill set to achieve cooperation from rugged individualists, Mendocino Winegrowers Inc. wants your cover letter and resume. Visit MendoWine.com to find out more about the organization, and then send your cover letter and resume by email to info@mendowine.com soon. The larger the applicant pool, the better for the Mendocino wine industry as a whole.
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This weekend is Winesong, the wine immersive charity event benefiting the Mendocino Coast Hospital Foundation. Visit Winesong.org for more info and to get last-minute tickets, if any are still available; $150 tickets for Saturday include full access to the wine and food tasting from 11-2 and live/silent auction after, commemorative Winesong tasting glass and tray, and festival seating at the live auction. $250 reserve tickets get all of the above, plus Reserve Seating under the Live Auction Tent, catered gourmet lunch, commemorative Winesong tote, and 2015 Artist of the Year note cards.
On Friday evening, I get to pour the Mendocino County Fair Best of Show White Wine, the McFadden Sparkling Brut, at a pre-event VIP reception at a residence just north of the Mendocino Village, and the next day I get to pour a larger selection of medal winners from the Mendo Wine Comp, including McFadden’s Double Gold Pinot Noir and Gold Sauvignon Blanc. There will be 100 wineries, each pouring wines they are equally proud of, which means an incredible wine tasting opportunity, and a great chance to help raise funds for a very worthy cause. I hope to see you there.
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This Saturday is also the evening for Testa’s sold out Blending Party in Calpella. I’m going, and will again get to join some judges much better than me, and I hope to see you there too.
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