It's now the end of November and the first racking of the red wines of the 2000 vintage is underway. The 3" hoses connected to the racking valve of the primary fermenters are gravity feeding a jet of inky black Estate Cabernet Sauvignon through the sump into a clean tank before being pumped into our new American oak barrels that arrived two weeks ago. This first step of working with the new wine is our first glimpse of what the future holds for this unusual vintage. Now is the time to catch our breath and reflect back on the last seven or eight months form the first bud break to the impossible schedule of crush.
A very dry fall last year gave us ample time to prepare the vineyards for the upcoming winter. Using the LISA (Low Impact Sustainable Agriculture) system of farming our home ranches, we use non-till on the hillsides that overlook the Russian River. Natural grasses and rock drainage prevent erosion of the volcanic soils that are so important in producing our Cabernet and Merlot. Waterbars need to be dug across the roads, ditches need to be cleaned, and a shot of triple 15 fertilizer applied to each vine in the hole under each drip emitter. Pruning started in January, just as the first rains of the year began. We use a bilateral cordon on our reds and the brush gets chopped and mulched back into the soil. Pruning is a long and tiring job, but it is one of the most important tasks in the vineyard. Control of vine vigor, training, and getting the vine to the level of optimum production all focus around how the dormant vine is handled. Our new plantings are only four years old and
we had great hopes for our first "real" crop. The weather remained cool and wet, but without any major frosts or cold spells. This was about the time that I started my serious travels for the winery. Sure enough, about the time the weather was improving in California I was freezing in Buffalo, Chicago, or any other cold place that needed a winemaker and dinner.
Spring came early with the usual showers and sun. Bud break (when the vines wake up and start to grow) came in early March. Our hillside vines escape the threat of frost and damage from the cold. By the time the new shoots are 8 to 12 inches long, the very young grapes can be seen and evaluated for crop size. Now is the time to become a gardener. Mow the grass, train the young vines, tuck the shoots between the wires, start irrigating, monitor the insects, control unwanted weeds, and most important, keep an eye on the developing clusters. Bloom came in May and set the berries with little or no shatter. This is about the time to start seriously thinking about tank space and barrel needs. By all indications it was going to be a very large crop, good news after several low yield years!
Summer is a great time in the Sonoma wine country. The morning fog and afternoon sum provide the right temperature  for the grapes to ripen and mature. The winery is usually quiet with plenty of time for vacations and bottling prior to harvest. I divided my time between Mexico (fishing), Chicago (bottle signing), New Orleans (tasting), Sierras (fly-fishing), and Bangkok (winemaker dinners). Plus a few other places that I have forgotten about. A large crop usually balances a warm summer with harvest starting in late August or early September. Times to go over the equipment and order the crush supplies and do that last minute bottling to empty that needed tank before harvest.
We started the crush with a hillside Chardonnay from Alexander Valley the second week of September. In a normal year, we manage to get most of the whites in before the reds get ripe. However, a sugar check on our Merlot block put the brix at 24.2 on September 19th. The next day we hand picked the block with a yield of 4 tons per acre. A slight decrease in tonnage due to a heat spell in June that caused some damage to the exposed clusters. Still the quality was excellent with a great balance of sugars, acid, and pH. Two days later we were crushing Zinfandel from Dry Creek along with Chardonnay from Chalk Hill. Since our Chardonnay is barrel fermented it became a test of skills to empty out the cold juice into the barrels so we could fill the tank with red grape must. It takes about a week to ferment a red and press it into another tank out of the way. Just when we were getting into the full swing of harvest, Mother Nature stepped in to put a hold on the sugars. Our hillside vineyards
had been growing for a long season, now they were starting to shut down for the fall. After a two-week wait we were finally able to start crushing again. But the wait was worth it. With an average of 23.4 brix and an acid level of 0.68 our overall yield was just under 5 tons per acre! The handpicked fruit was beautiful going into the crusher. Aromas of mint, black cherry, and chocolate were coming off the fermenting must. The Cabernet was pressed off the skins the last week of October to finish the long harvest.
It takes about a month (not real scientific) for the wine to settle on the lees so it can be racked into barrels for aging. That is what we are doing in the cellar that and trying to stay warm. In January we will start to prune the vines for the 2001 vintage, which will bring us full circle of another year at the winery. Then its time to take off the shorts and tennis shoes and trade them for a three-piece with matching tie for another found of dinners, seminars, and tastings. The life of a winemaker.
Robert "Bob" L. Fredson
Winemaker
Domaine Saint George Winery
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