Late summer dreams…
‘Tis the season when winemakers’ dreams turn to lush ripe berries – and voodoo rituals to prevent anything bad happening to those ripening little babies. So far so good for vintage 2009 here in the northern Willamette Valley. We’ve got a nice long string of sunny days in the mid-80s, cool nights in the low 50s ahead of us, and if this holds up, we could be in good shape. Ask me in about six weeks. Until then, all we can do is wait and watch in admiration as the colors turn from green to red to dark purplish-black…
Pre-thinning clusters at Maresh
The word from our producers in Burgundy is very encouraging – they expect to start in 10-15 days from now, and are very happy with the potential quality at this point. Early season hail storms hit assorted spots all up and down the Côte this season, with Marsannay apparently the most widely affected. (Another reason to be glad we work with no growers in Marsannay…)
Late summer also provides fertile ground for soccer dreams. When one’s team wins the first few games, we of course make the leap to seeing them sail through the season and win all the trophies. Let me enjoy, for the moment anyway, Arsenal’s lovely start this year – undefeated at 3-0, whomping all comers at the rate of 12 goals to 2 over those three outings. They play Celtic again tomorrow to seal their spot in the Champions League, and then face defending champs Manchester United on Saturday (who are off to a shaky start and will likely be out for blood on Saturday – should be a great match…) Also adding to my joy at the moment is the woeful start by Liverpool, who have lost twice already in the league in the first three games. Schadenfreude indeed…
I’m really looking forward to our François Lamarche tasting and sale on Saturday (1-5 here at the tasting room in Carlton – 25% off on all the Lamarche wines!) – a killer line-up of 1er Cru and Grand Cru juice from the best sites in Vosne-Romanée. Please plan to join us and grab some of these goodies before they’re gone for good. And here’s a shot of one of the prime Lamarche parcels of Clos Vougeot…
