Seasons like this will allow the grapes to reach phenolic ripeness before sugars rise and thus provides us with more harmonious, aromatic and balanced juice to ferment.

That being said and with our new high-elevation fruit source in consideration we decided for maximum hang-time to avoid any green notes and also to allow the tannins in the grape skins and seeds to soften.

We harvested and brought the fruit to the winery in small picking logs on October 18th in perfect condition while enjoying day temperatures of 90F.

With extensive handsorting as usual the grapes were transferred to oak barrels for fermentation however unlike 2010 I decided this year to inoculate the must with yeast (in looking back and now tasting the finished wine I think we made a smart decision in doing so).