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Diary of a Mad Harvest by
Tim Grubb for westcoastwine.net Early fall mornings about 150 years ago you might have found Don Pacifico Ontiveros out watching the sunrise over his vast Rancho that stretched across the empty hillsides and river valleys of what has become California’s Central Coast. Nine generations later, James Ontiveros wakes up at sunrise this same time of year and looks out over a very different Rancho Ontiveros - one that's boiling over with wine grapes ready for harvest.
In addition to farming his "Rancho Ontiveros" vineyard, James is the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Bien Nacido Vineyard and its related operations. With a grasp on the growing season all along the Central Coast, James is optimistic overall and told me that "everything came along perfect this year, the heat just sped everything up." James' entire crop that goes to the Loring Wine Company and Waltzing Bear Wines (as well as his own label) will be picked clean by mid-September.
The high temperatures on the Central Coast this year even reached the usually chilly Pinot outposts in the Santa Rita Hills. Mark Cargassachi, who helps out his brother Peter when he's not busy as the Enologist at Fess Parker Winery, told me that the temperatures at his family's Cargassachi vineyard on Sweeney Road skirted 100 degrees just a few days before harvest began. The Cargasacchi vineyard on Jalama Road, just a few short miles from the ocean, may have been a bit cooler in recent weeks but its crop still came in far ahead of schedule (with a concentrated yield of less than a ton per/acre).
The rush to get fruit off the vine and into the winery hasn't been focused on any particular varietal this year - whether it's syrah or sauvignon blanc it's all coming in. Joey Tensley of Tensley Wines and Carina Cellars brought in the first of his Syrah from the eastern Santa Ynez Valley and from the Colson Canyon Vineyard in the Santa Maria area into a very crowded winery over the 9th and 10th of September. These picks were weeks ahead of past vintages, but the quality was still up to Joey's uncompromising standards.
According to Rio Rieswig, owner of the 15 acre Colson Canyon vineyard, several of his producers have delayed their Syrah picks a bit because "everyone has Pinot in their fermenters." In more traditional years, vintners can usually count on their early ripening varietals such as Pinot to be done with fermentation and into the barrel before other late ripening Rhone and Bordeaux varietals are ready for harvest. No such luck this year. Despite the fire-drills and other madness that has been caused by a very early harvest, many vintners are pleased with the overall quality of the fruit being rushed into their facilities. Jeff Fink of Tantara Winery makes highly-regarded Pinot from a dozen vineyards on the Central Coast and told me that despite the high sugar levels he has seen consistent quality from all of the appellations he works with, including the choice AVAs of the Santa Maria Valley, the Santa Rita Hills, and the Santa Lucia Highlands.
The vintners who produce wines from sites all over the state have been hit hardest by the mad rush to pick before sugar levels get out of control. In a span of just a few weeks, Brian Loring of the Loring Wine Company was hit with fruit from vineyards ranging from the Green Valley of Sonoma all the way down to the Santa Rita Hills. In times like these, crafty vintners like Brian always figure out a way to get by - like working 22 hours a day and triple stacking their fermenters.
While many think this year's California harvest will simply dump gasoline on the already heated debate of whether new world wines have become too rich and extracted for their own good, we'll have to wait a few months and let our palates make the final decision on this crazy year.
Cheers - Tim
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