Harvest: Last Day

It's the last day of Harvest and we're 100% in! Juan robin and Jim give us a recap of the season as we bring in the last of the Cabernet Sauvignon. Funny enough we finished the harvest on the day of the harvest moon!

We hope you've enjoyed the videos, there will be more to come throughout the winter from the winery along with some vine preparations so stay tuned!

(make sure to stay until after the credits...)



CHEERS!

Day 49 - Quick Update From Robin

A quick Harvest update;

Jim , Juan, and I went out to the vineyard this morning to have a look at the remaining grapes. ~30 tons are still hanging. The Cab Franc will be hand picked on Wednesday. For now some of the Petit Verdot and Cab Sauv we are going to let hang.

The experimental whole bunch Syrah micro ferments went to barrels yesterday and will be kept as individual lots to be assessed in December before the first racking.

Most of the whites are dry or almost dry. With the exception of the Gewurtz which is mid ferment and the second lot of Riesling which is being held as juice. The Estate Reserve Chardonnay is getting its sur les treatment (barrel stirring) as it finishes the alcoholic fermentation and simultaneously starts the malo-lactic fermentation.

All of the Merlot lots are fermenting separately.

One lot of Cabernet Franc and one lot of Cabernet Sauvignon are fermenting away.

The Malbec and second Syrah lot are almost dry-very weird having those varieties finishing before the Merlot and Cabs. Normally they come in a 2-3 weeks or so after the Merlot!

It is a pump-over punch down marathon at the winery right now. As soon as we finish the morning round we start on the mid-day round and once we finish the mid day round start on the evening rounds! After an exhausted clean up the staff goes home, eats, sleeps, and returns a few hours later the next morning to do it all over again...oh yeah and fruit is still coming in, reds are being pressed off, barreled down, and whites need to be racked off ferment lees. WINE is definitely a four letter word at this time of year. Most of the cellar rats go looking for a beer after work.

I am off to the winery to taste through the ferments to make sure everything is chugging along and figure out where to put the last four lots of wine.

My hands are black and calloused, a very attractive look for a new bride.

Cheers,
Robin

Harvest Day 43

Early day today! Started at 6am picking Cabernet Sauvignon. You'll see some cool shots of the harvester with the lights on in the dark and then Juan discussing where we're at with the harvest.



Cheers!

Harvest Day 37: It's been a while...

It's been a while but we're back! Juan updates us on the goings on in the vineyard, the weather and the upcoming picking schedule while Robin discusses what's new at the winery.




Cheers!

Harvest Day 26

We promised a new update on sunday so here it is! This time around Juan is talking to us about the last of the Chardonnay coming in as well as explaining how the machine picker works. He also introduces us to Jim Thompson, vineyard manager, and they talk about this years crop.



Enjoy and Cheers!

Harvest Day 24 - Sunset Vineyard Walk

Hello Everybody! Hope everyone had a great week, we know it's been a while since we updated and we apologize. Things have been a bit busy at the vineyard but that's a good thing!

In this video Juan talks about the upcoming weekend of harvesting while taking a few friends out for a walk through the vineyard! We will be handpicking on Saturday and machine picking on Sunday. You can look forward to a vineyard update from the field Sunday morning. Promise!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the video, and we apologize for the audio in advance, it was very windy tonight and the mic had a hard time picking Juan up.



Cheers!

Friday Sept 17th Stomp Party

It's a little late but here's Juan and Robin crushing grapes old school at the stomp party Friday September 17th!

Martha Clara Vineyards Harvest Day 16

Juan and Robin are at the winery discussing Punch Downs. Also robin shows off her Fashion Week best.

Harvest Day 13

Juan and Robin are in the vineyard talking about hand picking and what came in today.

Hello Everyone, Yesterday was a busy day for us here at the vineyard. Along with bringing in fruit we had our annual Oktoberfest (which is today as well) So hope you enjoy the video and the rest of your weekend.

Cheers!

Harvest Day 9

What a fun morning!!! We have been going strong since about 6am with no signs of slowing. Big day of picking today and we'll be doing our best to update you on whats going on.

We started the day off with Chardonnay, and if you've ever wondered what a vineyard looked like at 6am, well nows your chance to find out.



We'll be doing a lot more picking today as you hear robin say so stay tuned!

NORM!!! I mean Cheers!

Robin is in the winery again and this time she's discussing the inoculation of the Chardonnay.

Cheers

Harvest Day 7

Hey all, it's Day 7 of Harvest and Robin takes a walk through the vineyard and talks about the current vintage of Riesling. Also, Juan gets a little confused.

Harvest 2010 - Hurricane Earl

This again is from Friday September 3rd and Juan gives a vineyard status update regarding Hurricane Earl and discusses possible picking selections for the upcoming week.

Cheers!

Harvest 2010 - Day Three

Our next post comes from Friday September 3rd and Juan and Robin are at the winery tasting and talking about the recently picked Chardonnay.

Cheers!

Harvest 2010 - Day One

Ok folks, so here's the first video, this is actually from Wednesday September 1st and it was Day One of harvesting.  Juan and Robin walk us through a day of harvest from vine to winery.

Juan also discussed Hurricane Earl, why we are starting so early this year and a general overall Harvest Report.

Enjoy, and as Juan would say, Cheers!

Martha Clara 2010 Harvest Blog!

Hello all, just a brief introduction, we here at Martha Clara Vineyards plan on keeping a blog from now through the end of harvest!

In each video we will discuss this years vintage along with discussing the different techniques and tools we use for harvest to give you a better idea of what exactly goes on behind the scenes here at Martha Clara Vineyards.

We will hear from winemaker Juan E. Micieli-Martinez, assistant winemaker Robin Epperson-McCarthy and many others.

So, hopefully you enjoy and we look forward to going through this years harvest with you.

Cheer!