Where has the Summer gone? I feel as though I have just finished bottling the spring wines and now it is almost time for the next vintage to begin.
Before thing get too crazy here at SHV I thought I would post a quick update about the vineyards and new wine releases.
The winter of 2009-2010 was yet again a cold one and, coupled with the early freeze of the Thanksgiving weekend of last fall, many vineyards in the south Okanagan have had extensive damage to the buds on the vines and, in some cases, complete death of the vines. I would love to be able to say that we were unscathed by this at Stag’s Hollow but I have to say that we have seen some minor bud damage in the upper vineyard and substantial bud and cane damage in the lower vineyard block. When I compare this damage to some of the vineyard sites along the lower Black Sage Road area which are now barren looking with few if any vines pushing leaves, I have to think that we got off pretty easy.
Overall, this will mean little to our total production volumes, but it will mean that there will be a lower than normal yield on our Pinot Noir and sadly, there will only be a very small production of our Tempranillo this vintage. A cool wet spring and an abnormal June-uary brought a late fruit bloom and set in our home vineyard which placed the growing season behind schedule by at least a week. While no one was ‘freaking out’ with worry about it, there definitely was an air of caution in the wind. Mother Nature turned the weather around in July and early August with record breaking heat and a touch of much needed rain the second week of August. Veraision began on August 16th (compared to last year which started on August 12th) and our already low fruit cropping levels will most likely need very little green thinning this season.
Outside of the home vineyard at Stag’s Hollow, our Estate controlled vineyard sites near Osoyoos and Penticton are looking very handsom indeed! The Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier are well into their ripening phase and have been leaf and fruit thinned as needed. The Syrah and Grenache is also well into veraision and yield levels are balanced through out the vineyards. In addition, the new plantings of Merlot, Semillon and Muscat are all thriving as a result of the cool, wet spring weather. All three of these vineyard sites were basically unaffected by the cold of this past winter. It just goes to show the vast importance of site selection when establishing a vineyard.
Typically, we require around 12 days of 20 C + weather in September (last year we had 28 days over 20 C!) in order for complete ripening in the vineyards and as long as we get it, I would expect vintage to begin on or around the week of September 21st.
In the winery, our 2009 Con-Fusion Blend has been bottled and released and is now available via VQA / LRS s and on our winery website . The 2009 Con-Fusion is an aromatic white wine that is a blend of Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Viognier, and Muscat. It is the perfect wine to enjoy on the patio!
In addition, we have also just release our 2008 Chardonnay, 2008 SHV Pinot Noir, and 2007 SHV Merlot , and 2007 Heritage Block . All of these new releases are VQA wines.
If you live in Vancouver, I will be pouring samples of all of these new releases at Taylorwood Wines (1185 Mainland Street - in the heart of Yaletown) on Thursday, August 26th from 4:30-6:30 p.m. I would love it if you would stop by for a visit.
Hold the bottle up to the light; you will see your dreams are always at the bottom. - Rob Hutchison.
Dwight
