October 24, 2005
Well, everything is now in barrel and vintage 2005 has been put to bed. It’s one of the best feelings there is, to see a year’s worth of effort in the vineyards and winery now safely completed – finally a chance to breathe a sigh or two of relief.
It’s been a difficult fall this year, between my mother’s illness and death, the hurricane in New Orleans that caused Martha’s family to scatter across the country, endless pre-construction meetings for our new winery, Martha’s new job (she’s now the Marketing Director for the Portland Childrens Museum), closing on our new 2nd home in Carlton, and, of course, harvest! Mercifully harvest and winemaking was the least stressful of all this year.
All of our fruit was picked at a lovely peak of flavor, with excellent pH and acid balance as well, and all of the vinifications went beautifully. My early favorites in barrel are the Ribbon Ridge lots and Shea Block 21, but as always many twists and turns will happen along the way. It will be interesting to track the development of these wines. I’ll keep you updated here as things progress…
