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New Release
2006
Zinfandel

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The weather throughout most of May was strange to say the least. A week long heat spike followed by several windy days has set up ideal conditions for shatter, especially in grape varieties that flower early such as Malbec and Merlot. Eric reports that Merlot appears to be the only grape that’s taken a bit of hit in this regard. It doesn’t affect quality at all, we’ll just have a smaller, higher quality crop yield. We got a good water base going in the vineyard earlier than usual this year which helped offset any negative impact the heat spike would have otherwise had and now with the ground being nice and warm the growing season is in full swing with perhaps an early harvest on the horizon.

In mid June, fruit set or grape cluster formation has occurred vineyard wide. Grapevines are self-pollinating which means that after the vine shoots flower, the wind takes care of the rest and fruit set occurs. The next growing season milestone is veraison which signals, by the grapes changing color, that the berries are beginning to ripen.

These days, Eric and our two-full time vineyard guys, Frank and Joaquin, are strategically irrigating all vineyard blocks except for Zinfandel and Petite Sirah which are dry-farmed. They're also leafing, meaning they are removing leaves on the morning, or east side, of the vineyard rows to encourage even ripening with the afternoon, or west side, of the vine rows that experience longer, hotter sun exposure. This way the grape variety ripens and is harvested at the same. It's all about balance. Leaf removal also encourages optimal air flow through the canopy which prevents mildew form occurring while still providing enough shade for the grapes not to sunburn or ripen unevenly. Again, just like life, it's all about balance.


In the winery, Phillip's on a pretty hectic bottling scheduling trying to get all the 2006 wines from barrel to bottle before harvest. Leading up to this, countless mornings have been spent conducting cork trials which are designed to test for TCA (cork taint) so that any affected corks can be eliminated from the bottling process. Arguably not very romantic, picture Phillip in the lab smelling alcohol soaked corks, 150 at a time, and a tougher start on the days when there are 300 cork trials to get through. Quality control Titus style, working hard for the good life, would rattle most people; but, Phillip knows minimizing the number of bottles affected by TCA takes true dedication and the outcome is worth it.