Filed under: New releases | Tags: 2016 harvest, Mariah Vineyards, Mendocino Ridge, Sauvignon Blanc, Waits-Mast Family Cellars
We’ve always said that Waits-Mast Family Cellars ONLY produces pinot noir, but that’s not entirely true. We love white wines and have been toying with the idea of expanding our repertoire for awhile, even dabbling in micro batches. Those non-pinot noir forays in 2009 and 2014 led to two interesting wines that were crafted for us by other talented winemakers.
Waits-Mast bottling, February 2017. Photo: J. Waits
Long-time followers may recall a limited run of a 2009 Waits-Mast sparkling wine from Split Rock vineyard in the Sonoma Coast. Comprised of 100% chardonnay, we only made 6 cases of the wine and released it back in 2011.
Filed under: New releases, Vineyards | Tags: 2014 harvest, 2014 Pinot Noir, 2016 harvest, Mariah Vineyards, Mendocino Ridge, Pinot Noir, Rose, Waits-Mast Pinot Noir
In honor of our Waits-Mast Family Cellars late spring release (the 2016 Waits-Mast Rosé of Pinot Noir and the 2014 Waits-Mast Pinot Noir, Mariah Vineyard), it’s a good time to reflect back on the early days of these wines.
The rosé is a mere babe, crafted from a blend of luscious pinot noir juices harvested last August and September from some of our favorite Mendocino County vineyards. Nash Mill Vineyard, Mariah Vineyard and Oppenlander Vineyard make up the blend, which is being released just in time for this week’s heat spell. We only made 20 cases of this wine, so enjoy it while you can.
2016 Waits-Mast Rose of Pinot Noir just off the bottling line, February, 2017. Photo: J. Waits
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: 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
ValleyFogBlog 