Camereon Bendetsen on the harvest
Saturday September 6th marked the beginning of the 2008 Santa Barbara Winery urban harvest. The inaugural fruit came from the Grassini Vineyard located in the Happy Canyon area in the eastern most section of Santa Ynez. This soon to be appellation is on average ten degrees warmer than the rest of the Santa Ynez Valley.
The warm weather, coupled with little ocean influence makes the vineyards of Happy Canyon ideal for growing Bordeaux varietals like Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec. The Fruit came down on a flatbed goose-neck trailer in eight food grade picking bins pulled by a one-ton diesel truck down the 101 south. The 154 can be a bit treacherous with a large payload and spilling grapes on the freeway is not an option.
Typically, eight picking bins will yield approximately four tons. This year however, we received 2.75 tons. The small yield was primarily due to an uncharacteristic frost at the beginning of fruit set. The tonnage per acre worked out to about 1.5 tons/acre, which is very low especially for a vineyard planted with 6′x3′ spacing. The upside to a low yield is high quality.
When the vineyard is packed full of grapes uniform ripening throughout the vines can become compromised. This compromise is due to layers of grapes shading the rest of the vine. Consequently, low yields will ensure that all fruit clusters are exposed to the proper amount of sunlight essential for ripening and the Grassini Sauvignon Blanc was no exception.
With a few shifts of the forklift, the gapes rode up the sorting belt and into our press. The urban harvest had begun. The Brix came in at 24.9 with a 3.3 pH; perfect for the non-grassy, slightly tropical Sauvignon Blanc that assistant winemaker Ryan Ralston strives to create. Head Winemaker, Bruce McGuire felt that the Grassini Sauvignon Blanc will play an essential role in the overall flavor profile and balance of the 2008 Santa Barbara Winery Sauvignon Blanc and will continue to be a vineyard that will play a key role for years to come.
Camereon Bendetsen, Cellar Production Technician, Santa Barbara Winery.
How long will the juice cold settle?
2 days is enough time to let the solids drop out of solution.