Very Cool Spring and Summer Means Later Start to Crush in Region's Vineyards; Winegrowers Anticipate Lighter Yields, High Quality in the Santa Lucia Highlands
MONTEREY, Calif., Sept. 19, 2011 — The 2011 wine grape harvest in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation is still a week or two from getting underway. This year's cool, wet spring and summer on the Central Coast have made for a challenging year. But the same conditions that have delayed the start of Crush are making for a potentially very high-quality wine grape crop. Some of California's finest vineyards call the Highlands home: 2,800 acres of Pinot Noir and 2,100 acres of Chardonnay are planted there.
At the Pisoni Vineyard, winemaker Jeff Pisoni is eyeing a slow start to the Pinot Noir harvest in the SLH: "While we are receiving some welcome warm weather, temperatures have not spiked. This is fabulous for the fruit, though the waiting game of a potential great vintage breeds many anxious vintners. We should start harvesting in another week or so."
Jeff comments that "as farmers and vintners, we are always excited for harvest, in 2011 even more so: cool weather and slow ripening, small berries, lighter yields, balanced vine growth. We can't ask for anything more."
Rich Smith at Paraiso Vineyards is getting ready for his 35th harvest in the SLH: "We hope to begin picking our estate Pinot Noir the first week of October. The spring was cold, the bloom-time was cold, and the growing season was cold. It will be a late harvest of a small crop of small berries that will likely exhibit very intense Pinot Noir characters. Given adequate heat over the next couple weeks to finish up ripening, it should be a stellar year, quality-wise."
Rich continues: "One of the unique aspects of our very cool climate here is that 'bloom-time' temperatures in the spring are on the verge of being inadequate – the result is that we often have very modest success in the bloom process, giving us a lot of single-seeded berries. Single-seeded berries are small, with low yields and a very high ratio of skin to juice – equating to focused, extracted Pinot Noir flavors."
Steve Pessagno of Pessagno Vineyards has seen his share of up-and-down weather in the Highlands over the years. "Cooler this year than last year and last year's cold weather hadn't been seen in 40 years. Crop level is below average for the area by probably 20 percent. Both growers and winemakers will have to be very patient and nurse their vines to the finish line. Vine by vine, we are still trimming and dropping fruit; I'd rather go with a much smaller crop than compromise on our typically luscious Pinot character. Quality in 2011 is potentially very good. I like a challenge – ask me again in December how good the vintage is."
Neighboring vintner Mark Manzoni agrees: "Right now, we're creeping to ripeness. We only recently finished veraison. My best guess is that we'll be picking Pinot Noir the first week of October and Syrah a couple weeks after that. As long as we don't get any atypical fall rains, it'll be one of the longest growing seasons on record. Combined with the light crop load, it should give us a really wonderful vintage year – there just won't be much of it."
Perhaps Dan Lee, owner of Morgan Winery and the organically farmed Double L Vineyard in the northern end of the Highlands, sums up best the hopes and jitters every winegrower is feeling: "It's late, it's small, and I pray that it's good …"
The Santa Lucia Highlands is one of the crown jewels of California viticulture, growing and producing some of the state's best cool climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Syrah. The appellation encompasses 46 estates, with 5,900 acres of prime vineyards; the area's unique character was recognized with official A.V.A. status in 1991.
The Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans are a formal association of vineyards and vintners that grow grapes here or use this region's fruit to craft their wines. The group's online home is http://www.santaluciahighlands.com
Contact:
Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans:
Dave Muret, Email, 408.205.1516
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