As most of you know, by making Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Napa we occupy a unique space in the wine landscape.  We have heard for years that we “can’t” make the wine we do here in Napa because it is too “hot.”  We know that this is not the case and each year we strive to make balanced, ripe wines that drink well on release but also are structured to improve in the bottle.  However, if there ever was a year to make the case for growing Pinot and Chardonnay in Napa then this was it!  We are excited by the wines that are resting in barrel and trust you will be too when they make their way to release in a couple of years.

The year got off to a cold, wet start after a healthy amount of rainfall in November and December 2010.  This pattern of cool wet weather continued with rainfall into mid-June.  Flowering was delayed by two weeks due to the cold weather and then coincided with more rain which disrupted fruit set.  These poor conditions caused widespread shatter and very open clusters, especially on the Pinot noir which is usually tight clustered.  In hindsight the poor set probably saved the vintage as the very low yields combated the cooler than normal growing season allowing the vines to ripen the fruit fully while maintaining great concentration.

This cool pattern continued through the summer season in California while the rest of the country suffered record heat.  Veraison was very slow and finished late in early August.  Very few heat spikes occurred at any point this year, which forced us to open the grape canopies more than usual to ensure adequate sunlight and air movement around the grape clusters.  We started picking our first Pinot fruit from our youngest block planted in 2005 on the 6th of September but then waited another six days to pick again.  The beauty of the vintage was being able to patiently wait for the flavors we were looking for without the pressure of excessive heat.  Incredibly we picked our last Pinot on the 26th at 24 Brix!