We have finished with the Pinot Noir and now we are beginning to pick the Syrah. The Syrah harvest is going to be down this year but not as much as the Pinot Noir. The clusters are smaller and the berries are smaller — good news for quality. And the fact that we are picking later than normal — longer hang time — also good news for quality.
The second picture shows the vibrating table with screen over which the grapes pass. You can see what falls through. These small shot berries, seeds and other small particles are scooped up and discarded.
The third photo, working the line, is our inestimable public relations maven Koleen Hamblin who has taken under her wing a row of Syrah for which she is personally responsible — pruning, leafing, harvesting — time permitting.
Mountain Drive is a small community in the hills behind Montecito in Santa Barbara. The Mountain Drive Wine Stomp dates back to the early 1950s when Mountain Drive was more isolated. Mountain Drive, begun by free spirits, has evolved and grown but retains its sense of community.
The tradition of the Wine Stomp, which died off in the late 1960s, was revived a few years ago by David Lafond who lives in one of the original houses on Mountain Drive. Every year the whole community, children included, come to the Lafond Vineyard to pick a bin of Syrah. The grapes are taken back to Mountain Drive where they are stomped in the old fashioned way. The resulting wine, we hear, is pretty darn good.
The Stomp is followed by a celebration of harvest — a big feast – and the election a Wine Queen. For more pictures, and there are a great many of them, click album. Photos are by Cara Peace the official chronicler of Mountain Drive events and activities.
For a little more history of Mountain Drive and its connection to Santa Barbara Winery.
Cabernet Sauvignon from the Grassini Vineyard. We selected this vineyard for its location – one of the most easterly and accordingly one of the warmest in the Santa Ynez Valley. The climatic zone is similar to Napa Valley. The vineyard is on a south facing slope with excellent drainage.
Cabernet Sauvignon, unlike Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, requires more warmth to reach its full potential. The berries are very small with a fairly thick skin. This morning they were picked early and arrived cool — ideal for processing.
[On many computers you can double-click the image and get a very good enlargement.]
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A video by David Lafond using a camcorder in one hand and with the other sampling our neighbor Hilltop Vineyard’s Chardonnay, driving his ATV accross the river, extracting the juice, testing and capturing his disappointment — not easy.
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Our Syrah harvest is about to begin. The grapes and the clusters are smaller than usual — great for quality. This is one of the three varieties we chose to feature under our Lafond label, the other two Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, because we felt that our cool climate Syrah was exceptional. It is much more structured than Syrah from warmer areas benifiting not only from more ‘hang time’ but from better acid.
This year’s harvest looks to be a winner with no blocks that can be characterized as inferior. The photo shows a typical vine and the effects of ‘leafing’ to expose the fruit. Some of the fruit was also dropped, before harvest, to balance the foliage with the fruit. Decisions by Winemaker Bruce McGuire that are critical in assuring that the fruit ripens evenly.
2006 Reserve Chardonnay
The Santa Rita Hills of the western Santa Ynez Valley is an area were local geography influences the climate to create conditions unusually well suited for growing world class Chardonnay. We give this wine a “reserve” designation because these grapes are harvested from distinct soil types and Chardonnay clones that yield the greatest flavor concentration and fruit intensity. The resulting wine is full-bodied and richly textured with complexity of flavor further enhanced by barrel fermentation.
Three to five years of bottle aging allows the wine to open up and show off well-integrated flavors. In 2006, Winemaker Bruce McGuire honed in on the Wente Clone blocks from our Lafond Vineyard our neighbor, Hill Top Ranch and the old Sanford and Benedict Vineyard just down Santa Rosa Road. Planted thirty years ago, one of the Lafond lots is 30% of the total blend and contributes aromatics and texture.
The other two vineyards were planted in the 1970’s in sand and gravel. These low vigor lots afford the wine great concentration and fruit. We find this full-bodied style to be an ideal match with hearty, rich foods like salmon, pork roast, and of course, lobster.
1321 cases produced
Suggested Retail 22.00
To order from the web.
Once a day during fermentation the juice is drained from the fermenting tank then lifted and dumped back into the tank. This is to prevent stratification during fermentation and it is done this way, rather than pumping, to prevent damage to the skins and other solids. This is in addition to mechanically punching down, twice a day, to keep the cap moist.
The variety in the photos is Primativo which was picked yesterday.
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