The Final Days of Harvest
Jean-Luc Pommard, our green mascot, stands proud near our crush pad - he's happy to have shared his Pinot Noir grapes with ses amis here at Sokol Blosser!
Fermentation for all of our Pinot Noir is complete and now the fermenters are sealed for an 18-24 day post-fermentation maceration to extract color, complexity and tannins (please read our blog for an in-depth description about this extremely important component of our winemaking practices). Russ, our winemaker, tastes from each fermenter daily, checking on the progress until the desired soft, supple and silky tannins form. While it’s too early to tell at this early stage in the game, Russ describes the young Pinot Noir as having a lot of potential. And, after an incredibly small 2005 vintage, it’s nice to see the winery full of Pinot Noir fermenters!
The last two blocks of grapes remaining will be harvested on Thursday (Muller Thurgau for Evolution) and Friday (White Riesling for Dessert Wine).
Now that the hard work of bearing fruit is done, our vines are shutting down for the winter. Instead of seeing a sea of green, when we look out at the vineyards, we see a sea of brownish-orange and leaves falling to the ground. We’re spreading compost that we made last year from local organic straw, organic cow and horse manure, grape pomace from the harvest of 2005, and organic rock phosphate in the vineyards. After aging for a year, the compost is now “ripe” and ready to fertilize the vines and build soil health.