Melissa Stackhouse, J Winemaker
The
J harvest of 2011 continues to roll on. We are nearly finished with Pinot
Gris and Pinot Noir. Early sampling of our 2011 Russian River Valley
Estate Pinot Noir shows a vintage across the board that is nothing less than
exquisite. Most of the lots are still in tank, on the skins and
fermenting. A few Russian River Valley Pinot Noir lots are already in
barrel, having been drained and pressed last week. These wines will be going
through malolactic fermentation in barrel, and will be
aged for about nine months. We expect blending to begin in early spring.
Melissa Stackhouse Admiring J Estate Pinot Noir Grapes
And
happily, we completed our sparkling wine harvest weeks before the rain began to
fall. The sparkling lots are all tucked away in tanks awaiting assemblage. We will begin blending these
wines at the end of October for tirage bottling in early February.
The 2011 sparkling wine vintage can be characterized with one word —
spectacular!
Our
major challenge this harvest, however, has been with Chardonnay.
Chardonnay is always the variety that takes a hit when the Russian River
Valley weather becomes marginal. The seven-day forecast will hopefully
bring us warmer and drier weather. We’re keeping our fingers crossed and
hope to finish this year’s harvest by the end of next week.
We
will keep you posted on our progress.
Best Regards,
Melissa Stackhouse, J Winemaker
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