[Chris Vais]

The 2013 crush will get underway for Longevity Wines this coming Monday when our Pinot Grigio will be harvested, thus begins the 2013 crush. Our crush plan calls for 53 tons to crushed this harvest. Varietals include: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache Blanc, Grenache Noir, Viognier, Marsanne, Petite Sirah, Mourvedre, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Sangiovese, Barbera, Tempranillo and Zinfandel and perhaps a little bit of Graciano.



Because of the dry winter and especially dry spring grape yields are predicted to be lower than last year. My walks through a suppliers vineyards also revealed that for some varietals berry size is smaller and clusters tighter and smaller. This may be as challenging a year for winemaking as 2010 was, we'll see.



If any of you are interested, I'll update this post periodically as the harvest progresses.

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[94SilverCab]

Still interested in 6 of your Chardonnays...



Keep me posted, I'm always interested...



Jay

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[Chris Vais]

The Chardonnay will be released this fall. I tasted it this past weekend and it is still closed in from bottling.

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[Chris Vais]

Crushed 3 tons of Pinot Grigio yesterday. Today it gets pressed off and the juice pumped into the fermentation tanks. Crushed a half ton of Sangiovese this weekend. I had hoped we would get more of this but the grower only gets about two tons and after tasting what we did with it want to retain some for himself. Two years ago, the first time we got this fruit, it produced a spectacular bottle of wine. We are hoping that lightening strikes twice. I'm not sure what clone of Sangiovese this is, but the leaf shape suggests that it might be a brunello clone.

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[94SilverCab]

I like to cellar wines for 10 years or more, the brunello clone sounds like it would be perfect for the long haul.



Jay

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[Rap]

Do you think that's wise at your age? I mean, couldn't something go bad? Live for the day!

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[Chris Vais]

Hey now you youngsters have nothing to worry about. i'm 65 and I still cellar wine for the long haul. Somebody will be very glad I did when I finally check out this world.

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