All the grapes are in! (As of October 23rd.) As the production team continues processing this year’s excellent harvest, we asked Katey, our winemaker, to share some first impressions and updates.

Everything’s fermenting and happy. A lot of it is going dry now, meaning the yeast has finished converting all the sugars into alcohol. We use a technique called “sur lie” aging, leaving the finished yeast to settle out of the wine during aging, imparting wonderful flavor and mouthfeel. Most of our white wines we seal up and “put to bed,” letting the aging process occur slowly and naturally. However, for many of our wines, based on the taste of that particular varietal and vintage, we occasionally stir the lees to impart more roundness to the finished wine. That generally goes for sparkling, chardonnay, white wines that will have more body, and that goes for reds as well. Once we get our reds in-barrel, we’ll usually stir those wines about once every other week. We don’t have any “blanket protocol” on how we handle fermentation, instead responding to the specific qualities of the fruit and the vintage. The decision of whether or not to stir the lees or take a wine through malolactic fermentation will depend on the growing conditions of that year.

It was a very warm and sunny season. Heat and sunlight can drop acids prematurely; that is, premature for our beloved, often-overcast Finger Lakes. There are many different acids in wine, each with their own flavor. Malic acid, whose name derives from the Latin word for apples, is found in apples, grapes and other fruits, imparting bright flavors. In warm years, malic acid drops fast as fruit ripens, so particularly in white wines where you want to preserve freshness and brightness, you have to watch those levels. As a result, we’ll be stirring less and taking fewer wines through malolactic fermentation this year.
It’s looking like a bold, strong vintage for the reds. We were able to ripen more fully towards balanced ripeness, which is unusual in the region. Higher sugar gives you more alcohol, and that gives you more body, and you want to mirror that with ideal acidity. Katey hasn’t seen numbers like this in a long time. This season is going to be exceptional across the range of varieties we work with.
The warm fall meant the fruit continued to accumulate sugars, or brix, late into the season. For example, we brought in Cabernet Sauvignon, the grape we usually harvest last, as high as 25 brix in one vineyard, which is unusual for the region. Cabernet Sauvignon generally has higher acid in the Finger Lakes, and the acid hung on through the long ripening period. In combination with the high sugar levels, we’re looking at an exceptionally powerful, well-balanced wine. Very age worthy, but definitely approachable on the younger side as well.

Harvest is always challenging. The specific day we choose to pick each vineyard is crucial, capturing the grapes at their ideal brix and acid levels. We started earlier in August than any previous year because of the unusually warm and sunny growing season, and the fruit continued ripening quickly over the next couple months. As a result, the picks sometimes stacked up on each other, which meant both the vineyard and winemaking teams had to work double-time. The vineyard crew rallied to make it all happen, and the winemaking team was in there late most nights, processing all the fruit. You need that strong teamwork and camaraderie to keep going through those long days. We have a few birthdays in early October, and that gave us a chance to break the tension a little and be silly and celebrate. Tim and Nancy were both a week apart. We cooked a bunch of food, enjoyed each other’s company. It was a great time and an incredible harvest. Everybody here is a pro, so they know what to do.