By the time our viognier inaugurated the harvest toward the end of August, we already knew 2006 could be a great year for our Rhone varietals. We then began to bring in other Estate grapes (syrah, sangiovese, marsanne, roussanne and merlot) through September and October. Next, we moved up the California coast, bringing in beautiful fruit from our long term friends and grapegrowers of our Coastal chardonnay, white riesling and gewuerztraminer grapes. We finally finished crushing on November 2 with the harvesting of the riesling from a very cool climate vineyard just east of Carmel in Monterey county.
Most of these wines are still fermenting, but we already know our sangiovese and merlot are outstanding. Our yields, as expected, are down by about 25% from 2005, a year in which we got a "record high" average of a mere 3.17 tons/acre. Typically, low yields equate to high quality and great concentration of flavors.
Although not accepted as a technical barometer that this could be a wonderful vintage year was the accidental breaking my middle finger of the right hand during the middle of all the winemaking chores of October. The first time this happened to me was back in October of 1979, while making wine at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. Those wines went on to win numerous awards, marking a truly exceptional year in my winemaking career. Let's hope my re-fractured knuckle is a great omen for the wines we make here at Orfila in 2006! Stay tuned............
Although not accepted as a technical barometer that this could be a wonderful vintage year was the accidental breaking my middle finger of the right hand during the middle of all the winemaking chores of October. The first time this happened to me was back in October of 1979, while making wine at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. Those wines went on to win numerous awards...
