Madness. But in a Good Way.

Now that the weather has begun to warm up (and dry out!), I can truly start to think that there may be an actual harvest in the Livermore Valley this year. It's a crazy business...full of trepidation, full of hope, by turns fatalistic then wildly optimistic...and that's just the emotional topsy/turvy of one weather report, of one day barrel surfing.

While this madness is part of every blend I make, it is especially virulent with our best wine...Lineage. I've done it to myself, no one else to blame. I've wanted to - and believed we could compete on quality with any Bordeaux blend producer in the world - and when you go about saying this kind of stuff, you got to be able to back it up. There go the nerves again. 

I'd be lying if I said I didn't like this perverted cha-cha. Though so much rides on each decision I make in the vineyard (each percent of THIS added and THAT taken away, mock blend #1 versus mock blend #20), I tend to look at the hairline fissures of insanity that result as badges of honor. If you're going to spend as much time doing something, you might as well make an impact. As Bruce would say "walk tall, or - baby - don't walk at all."


So each day that goes by is another chance for the world to end. It is also another opportunity for the truth and beauty of this wine to shine through. I'll take my chances. 

The 2009 Culling Begins

Ahead of our October component tasting, the process of giving a coherent shape to a collection of hundreds of barrels of 2009 Bordeaux varieties started in earnest this week.

Even at this early stage, I get a sense that Merlot is going to play a much more important role in the final blend than it did in the first two vintages of Lineage. The 2009 vintage was just wonderful, the wine (from Block 9 at Ghielmetti Vineyard) has a great density of black cherry notes and really interesting tannin expression to it.
Befitting a world-class wine with structure and ageability, Cabernet Sauvignon will play the dominant role. Both Clone 30 from Ghielmetti and Clone 8 from the Folkendt Vineyard are showing really well at this time.
We picked Clone 30 twice in 2009, and the differences in density and flavor components are very noticeable in the two wines. The late-pick lot shows great tannin structure all the way through the wine, semi-sweet chocolate and espresso notes, and a wonderful fullness to the mid-palate.

The Folkendt wine (this wine has a great story in that this was the first vineyard we ever used for Steven Kent though our last harvest there, until the past year, was in 2001) is gigantic. Vaguely reminiscent of Clone 191 in its monolithic hugeness, this Cab is all black fruit and tannin...from entry to long finish. 

The process of putting Lineage together starts with Cabernet. The First Step is to determine which Cabernets have the potential to make up the base of the wine. The Second Step is then to pick which specific barrels harmonize the most beautifully. Once that is done, the next steps involve layering in the best barrels of the other varieties. As of this week, I am through Step 2 and moving ahead on Step 3. Next week, I'll let you know where things stand after working through the many mock blends that lay ahead.