June 13, 2006
This is it, crunch time! So much to do, so little time. Cabinets and paint are going up as we speak, and the inside of the tasting room is starting to look pretty good. Outside it looks like a war zone, just to give you a heads-up if you’re heading out this weekend…
Kelley and I finished up the blending trials for the 2005s, and the wines are making us pretty happy right now. Here’s a sneak preview – there’ll be about 175 cases of Audrey, all of it from Maresh Vineyard. It was an obvious choice in the cellar this year – nothing else had that delicacy and refinement – a truly graceful wine… We’ll bottle close to 1,000 cases of the ’05 La Paulée, which this year is dominated by our Ribbon Ridge fruit, with healthy doses of some Stoller and Shea blocks as well. Cuvée Martha Pirrie will check in at about 500 cases, with a nicely up-front and juicy blend of Shea and Stoller and a touch of Ribbon Ridge. Bottling is scheduled for the last week of August, and we’ll put the blends together in tank about 3 weeks ahead of that. More from the front lines soon…
