Forrest and I tasted through the 2013 vintage last night. I must say that from such a difficult vintage, it looks like the wines are going to be beautiful and complex. -We were able to make a little more than 2 barrels worth (120 gallons) of what is shaping up to be a stellar Riesling. The grapes for this wine were harvested at two different times, a few weeks apart. The grapes that were harvested earlier provide a wonderful light pear fruit with very bright acids. The grapes that were harvested later are giving us round apricot and ripe melon accompanied by softer acids. The blending of these two barrels to create Xylem Wines 2013 Riesling is one that we cant wait to do. -The Chardonnay? Well, shes a sly little vixen, that grape. The Chardonnay came in a little earlier than what we would optimally pick, but Mother Nature doesnt seem to care what we farmers want sometimes. The fruit was very closed down through its initial fermentation stages in neutral French oak. It had me a bit concerned. Then, all of a sudden (as changes are apt to happen suddenly in early wine stages), the juicy peach and slight lemon notes decided that they would make their presence known. The acids are beginning to soften, as it has begun its next fermentation stage: malolactic fermentation. This is a process by which a specific strain of bacterium has been introduced into the wine and the bacteria then convert malic acid (think Grannny Smith apples) into lactic acid (think milk products). This type of fermentation has gotten a bad rap from those who know just enough to make themselves dangerous (thats a rant into which I shall not venture at this point). There are many factors that play a part in how creamy and buttery a Chardonnay will come across due to malolactic fermentation. If done with grapes in a certain acid range, the wine will not come off as soft, but rich and vibrant, while still having beautifully sharp and resonant acids. Chardonnay is one of my loves and I cant wait to see what journey we go on with this one. Im blabbing on. Ill let you know about the other wines later, as you probably dont want to sit here right now and read an article on our 2013 harvest; plus, Ive got other stuff to get going this morning.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 14:44:45 +0000
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