If we thought 2005 was an unusual harvest, then what to think of 2006? After being inundated with rain over New Year and well into spring, the vines responded with exceptional growth, resulting in healthy canopies. This good fortune was added upon when we experienced the most exceptional weather during flowering that I have ever seen in my winemaking career. This flowering produced a large fruit set of beautifully formed grape bunches. As we know, however, nature’s bounty does not necessarily translate to wine quality and with this in mind, we put the largest amount of fruit on the ground in the history of El Molino!

Harvest started September 6th and lasted until October 4th as we worked our way through the different clones in successive triages in predominantly mild weather. Even after we chose to leave only the most perfect clusters on the vine, we still recorded our largest grape harvest and are very satisfied with the quality we achieved. We also experienced an exceptionally intense heat wave just prior to veraison that retarded berry growth and resulted in a higher skin-to-juice ratio. The result is a fruit intensity and acid balance that have really impressed us this year.

We again incorporated a high proportion of whole cluster fruit in our Pinot fermentations this year as we did in 2005. The 2005 vintage has matured in barrel and our expectations have been surpassed as the added structure and aromatic complexity brought to the wine from the whole-cluster ferments is nothing short of fantastic. In an attempt to replicate the success of 2005, we have hovered around the 85% whole-cluster mark and are very happy with what we have in barrel. Whereas 2005 emphasized red cherry, strawberry and raspberry, the 2006 vintage is showing black cherry, blueberry and plum notes with opaque deep purple color and refreshing acids. We now wait until spring for the malolactic to finish before we re-evaluate our work.

Lily has again taken the lead with the Chardonnay and, in my opinion, absolutely nailed her picking dates. Furthermore, she has tweaked the pressing regime to reduce solids which has resulted in an incredibly fine, complex Chardonnay with beautifully long, lingering finishes. The fermentations are just bubbling to their end as I write this and sulfur will be added in the next week or two. I am sure this will be one of the longest-lived Chardonnays we have ever produced.