Filed under: Uncategorized, Winemaking | Tags: 2016 harvest, Mariah Vineyards, Mendocino Ridge, Pinot Noir, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir
On Thursday we had another Waits-Mast fruit pick, this time some Pinot Noir grapes from Mariah Vineyard in Mendocino Ridge. It was a jam-packed day at the winery (we make our wine at Roar Wines in San Francisco) and a particularly hectic day for our winemaker. She awoke in the wee hours for a grape pick for another winery (complicated by a tree falling in the vineyard too!) and spent the day sorting that fruit and doing other harvest work. She wrapped up in time to brave rush hour traffic, meeting us at our San Francisco facility by about 6pm.
Mariah grapes hanging out in the cold room before sorting on Sept. 15, 2016. Photo: J. Waits
Filed under: Events, Vineyards, Winemaking | Tags: 2016 harvest, Anderson Valley, Nash Mill Vineyard, Oppenlander Vineyard, Pinot Noir, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, WineSong
We are just back from a long weekend in Mendocino/Anderson Valley for several Winesong-related tasting events. It’s also the thick of harvest, which necessitated a few vineyard visits as well as picks at another two. Meanwhile, Brian celebrated a milestone birthday, so we tried to squeeze in some cake amid all of the wine work.
Birthday sign for Brian at the Andiron Inn. Photo: J. Waits
Filed under: Vineyards | Tags: 2016 harvest, Anderson Valley, Pinot Noir, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Wentzel Vineyard
And we’re off…On Labor Day, the 2016 harvest began for Waits-Mast Family Cellars. We brought in our first pinot noir pick from our little section (the Clos) in Wentzel Vineyard in Anderson Valley yesterday. As predicted, we were exactly one week later than our first pick (also from that vineyard) in 2015.
Wentzel Vineyard pinot noir grapes. September, 2016. Photo: J. Waits
Filed under: Vineyards | Tags: 2016 harvest, Anderson Valley, Mendocino Ridge, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir
Fruit at Wentzel Vineyard on August 28, 2016. Photo: J. Waits
Over the weekend we headed north to Mendocino County to see how all of the Waits-Mast pinot noir vineyard sources are doing. Harvest is in full swing for many wineries already and we are getting close to picking our first fruit. We trekked up to Mendocino Ridge first to visit Mariah Vineyard. Fog was rolling in as we arrived at the vineyard on Saturday morning and owners Dan and Vicki Dooling told us that it was the first fog that they’d seen in about two months. We walked the rows with them and based on the color (there were still some green berries), taste of the fruit and sugar measurements (our winemaker Shalini brought along her portable refractometer), the Doolings are estimating that harvest for us is about 2 to 3 weeks away. Continue reading
Filed under: Vineyards | Tags: 2016 harvest, Anderson Valley, Pinot Noir, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Wentzel Vineyard
Wentzel Vineyard in July, 2016. Photo: J. Waits
Harvest is getting closer, so I wanted to wrap up my series of vineyard visits from last month. On July 23, we took a trip through three of the Anderson Valley Vineyards that Waits-Mast sources from. I’ve already covered our visits to Deer Meadows Vineyard and Nash Mill Vineyard and in this post I’ll focus on Wentzel Vineyard.
Filed under: Vineyards | Tags: 2016 harvest, Anderson Valley, Nash Mill Vineyard, Pinot Noir, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir
Nash Mill Vineyard in July, 2016. Photo: J. Waits
We were able to check in with three of our vineyard sources while we were up in Anderson Valley on July 23. After visiting Deer Meadows Vineyard in the morning and a necessary lunch break in Boonville, we headed over to see Nash Mill Vineyard, another of the fruit sources for Waits-Mast Pinot Noir. Continue reading
Filed under: Events, News | Tags: Anderson Valley, Deer Meadows Vineyard, Singapore, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, White House, White House State Dinner
White House preview menu for Singapore State Dinner, August 2016. Photo: Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama
We are beyond thrilled that a Waits-Mast wine is being served at the White House tonight during a state dinner in honor of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The 2012 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir from Deer Meadows Vineyard in Anderson Valley will be paired with the main course of American Wagyu Beef with Marrow Crust, Roasted Yam, Wilted Kale and Heirloom Carrots. Continue reading
Filed under: Vineyards | Tags: 2016 harvest, Anderson Valley, Deer Meadows Vineyard, Pinot Noir, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir
Visiting Deer Meadows Vineyard with Rich Savoy in July, 2016. Photo: J. Waits
A week ago, on July 23, we trekked up to Anderson Valley to take a look at how a few of the Waits-Mast vineyard sources are progressing. Although it was a warm weekend for us fog-loving San Francisco denizens, the heat was not as unbearable as it’s been in much of the country this summer. In fact, it’s been a relatively cool year in Anderson Valley, which means that harvest is likely later than it was in 2015. Continue reading
Filed under: Vineyards, Winemaking | Tags: 2015 harvest, Mariah Vineyards, Pinot Noir, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir
Within 10 days of the start of the Waits-Mast 2015 harvest, we are now 3/5th of the way through our picks. Mariah Vineyards in Mendocino Ridge was harvested on Sunday night and vineyard owner Dan Dooling hand-delivered the beautiful fruit to us in San Francisco yesterday morning before things really heated up in the city.
Pinot Noir grapes from Mariah Vineyards arrives on Sept. 7. Photo: J. Waits
Filed under: Vineyards, Winemaking | Tags: 2015 harvest, Anderson Valley, Deer Meadows Vineyard, Pinot Noir, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Wentzel Vineyard
Rain on a wire at Wentzel Vineyard. Photo: J. Waits
On Saturday, August 29 we got up bright and early and headed over to the Wentzel Vineyard in Anderson Valley for the first Waits-Mast Family Cellars pick of the year. A small amount of rain fell as dawn approached and the sky was still shrouded in fog. The vines glistened with tiny rain drops and just after sunrise, workers were in the fields harvesting grapes.
Just-picked pinot noir grapes at Wentzel Vineyard during 2015 harvest. Photo: J. Waits
We’ve never picked that early from that vineyard and it’s the first time that Waits-Mast has ever harvested in August. Every year our picks seem to be getting earlier and earlier and many of our growers and winemaking friends in California are reporting that the 2015 harvest seems to be about a week earlier than last year.
Wentzel Vineyard on day of harvest 2015. Photo: J. Waits
So far that is ringing true for us, with our Wentzel Vineyard pick this year occurring 5 days earlier than in 2014. For comparison, we picked Wentzel fruit on September 24 in 2012 and on September 8 in 2013.
On Wednesday, our fruit was harvested at Deer Meadows Vineyard (also in Anderson Valley), exactly a week earlier than in 2014. Looking through our records, it’s a bit of a shock to see that back in 2012, we picked Deer Meadows on September 24 and in 2013 we picked on October 10th.
View from Deer Meadows Vineyard less than a week before harvest 2015. Photo: J. Waits
Sometimes vineyards in nearby locations seem to track with each other as far as ripening and pick dates, but, as we saw in 2013, there are oddball years where our expectations about the order that our vineyards will be picked are completely blown by what we actually see and taste on the vines.
At this point in the season, we are in regular contact with our three remaining growers about where things stand with harvest. It’s likely that we will have at least one more harvest this week and will probably be done completely within the next few weeks, perhaps before we would have even started our first pick back in 2012. It’s hard to believe…
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