Things are starting to calm down for us in the cellar a little and we’re actually able to breath a bit. But, it won’t be for long. All of the wines have finished primary fermentations with just a few barrels left taking their sweet time finishing up with malolactic fermentations, there are always a few stubborn ones. Now we are looking forward to our 2018 bottling and new wine release schedules.
Looking back on harvest...
2017 started off as such a mellow and steady growing season for us. We had a nice wet & cold winter which allowed for the vines to shut down and get some proper rest. We had a delayed and shortened spring which led us into normal summertime patterns … until Mother Nature decided to let us know who is still the boss is. We then suddenly were hit with a heat spike with temps hovering around 100° which unusually lasted for a week. When these types of heat waves happen towards the end of the growing season they can make for some stressful decision making. But, we are happy to say all of the fruit came in fresh, tasty and having some really good concentration of flavors. And everything was in before the dreadful NorCal fires ignited.
Overall it made for an interesting vintage and we learned a lot which we’ll be able to put to use in the future - definitely one we’ll be talking about for years to come...a true winemaker's vintage and excited to have been 100% on the front lines and in the cellar for the very first time since Smt Story began in 2014.
Can't wait to show you all around the cellar, we'll update the website soon with new tasting and cellar tour information you may schedule with us in Windsor. Thrilled to have 2 locations to meet you now while visiting wine country.
- Eric Story