Flaherty Wines

Saturday was a busy day. We started fairly early with the Syrah, receiving 1,600 kilos of fruit. That’s two lots for us, since we ferment in one-ton bins that actually hold 800 kilos (to leave space for the fermentation to push up the cap of skins). (Incidentally, I think it was in 2006 that we figured the bin could take just a little more fruit. What a mess! Shoveling fermenting grapes is not fun.) We harvested the morning side of the vines first, leaving the afternoon side for the second pass (probably next weekend). The vineyard rows run roughly north-south, so the two sides of the vine receive different sun exposure. The morning side seems to run slightly ahead of the afternoon side.

We are very pleased with the way the Syrah looks this year. Our grower, Gonzalo Manzur, was aiming for smaller clusters and smaller berries, which he manages primarily through irrigation control. The clusters were perfectly formed, clean, and beautifully ripened. It should make a very interesting wine.

After lunch, we picked our Tempranillo. With four of us picking, it only took a few hours, but man, it was hard work. The vines are trained on a fruiting wire a half meter from the ground—that’s really low. The vines are trained that low so they don’t block our view (they are basically in our front yard), but it makes harvesting a pain in the back. The crop is fairly small this year, so we’ll only have the one lot.