November 3, 2004
The Day That The Rains CameThe torrential rains we had in mid October would have been disastrous if harvest had been later, Bob Lindquist of Qupe told me.
Rhone varietals are the latest to ripen, typically, and so the fruit is always vulnerable to possible rain, but as Bob told me, “We have a cool climate in Santa Barbara County and seldom does it rain before November.”
“This was one of the biggest rainstorms I can remember at this point in the season. There would have been many a vintage in mid October where we would have been in terrible shape,” Bob added.
He told me they had harvested everything except for 1.5 tons of mourvedre out of Hearthstone Vineyard, next to Tablas Creek, west side Paso Robles. The Friday before the rains he picked the last of Clone 99 syrah, always the last to ripen out of Bien Nacido Vineyards and also the Bien Nacido Vineyards Roussanne, the same day. “The fruit was where I wanted it to be, and we didn’t pick it because we anticipated rain,” he told me.
Bob Lindquist’s appraisal of the 2004 harvest: “In terms of quality, it was better than average. The harvest was too early and too warm to be great. But some of the syrahs may be some of the best I’ve made because of small crops, giving intense flavors. Most of the syrah I work with ripened after the heat wave.”
For pinot noir producers, harvest was more difficult. Unlike syrah, pinot noir is an early ripening grape. During the heat wave, some pinot noir was coming in at an over ripe 30 brix, much higher than what winemakers are looking for!
This Year’s Harvest Festival - Bounty of the County
Norman Yost of Flying Goat Cellars told me he thought it went really well. Norm was involved with it in early August, and told me, “I have to say, Stephen Bedford, Katie O’Hara and Karen Steinwachs did a really good job in getting winery staff people involved in pulling it off. A lot of people jumped in and the event was really successful.”
“This festival we got quality food from a number of vendors and catering companies-sort of like it was in the old days. And we brought other folks from the agricultural sector back into the fold, also like it used to be,” Norm said.
Norm tells me he heard 850 tickets were sold-very impressive-and all done in six weeks.
Bon appetit!
Times wine columnist, Bob Senn, lives in the Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium.
