First Day of Fall, Last Day of Harvest

Wednesday, September 23rd – certainly not a date we would have guessed for the final day of Harvest 2015. But with a few tons of Estate Grenache, Grenache Blanc and Syrah, the last few bins of grapes arrived on our crushpad.

“In total, we brought in slightly less than last year,” says Assistant Winemaker Jesse Fox. But quality more than made up for quantity, with beautiful, tiny berries and lovely flavor.

While harvest has come to a close, the 2015 vintage as a whole has only just begun. Several ferments continue to thrive in tank, and after the sweet juice converts its sugars into alcohol, the wine will be pressed and “barreled down” to age for between eleven and eighteen months.

From all of us at Ram’s Gate Winery, cheers! We can’t wait to share the fruits of this harvest with you.

Harvest 2015 Update

As of this morning, September 10th, we are about 60% through the 2015 harvest, trending about a month ahead of what we’d consider “normal,” and only a few days pacing ahead of the 2014 harvest.

Each day of the last week has been filled, quite literally, with harvested grape clusters, including an all-night pick of the Ram’s Gate Estate starting at 10:00 pm Tuesday night, concluding early the next morning.

Night harvests are a common occurrence in Wine Country, as the cool grapes remain stable while they wait their turn to be sorted and pressed. Last week, we brought in the remainder of the Estate Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc in addition to Sauvignon Blanc and Grenache Blanc.

This week, a few big days of harvest brought in almost all of our single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs, finishing with Gap’s Crown Pinot Noir and Durell Chardonnay.

“By the end of next week, we’ll be harvesting Syrah,” says Assistant Winemaker Jesse Fox, “followed by Cabernet Sauvignon.”

We could be finished with the 2015 harvest well before October 1st, but we’ll keep you posted!

Cheers,
Ram’s Gate Winery

Pinot Two Ways

Yesterday, we harvested Estate Pinot Blanc…

Estate Pinot Blanc on the sorting table

as well as a few rows of Estate Pinot Noir — about four tons total.

It’s certainly not typical for us to harvest these two kinds of Pinot on the same day. “Half of the Pinot Noir rows, those furthest from the winery, were about an entire degree Brix riper than the others,” says Winemaker Jeff Gaffner. The remaining rows will likely be picked in a little over a week, depending on sugar and acidity levels.

Yesterday’s pick began around 4am with Pinot Noir in the Estate Wingo Vineyard, followed by the four tons of Pinot Blanc.

Both were hand-sorted before proceeding to their fermentation vessels, but that’s where the similarities end for these two varieties. The Pinot Blanc cold-soaked overnight before being pressed this morning; the juice will then ferment in stainless steel.

Above: Pinot Blanc on the sorting table.

The Pinot Noir, by contrast, will complete fermentation before being pressed.

Happy Harvesting,
Ram’s Gate Winery