Will it be an Ice Wine or a Late Harvest Wine?

freddy_03.jpg   The 2008 harvest season has come to an end and fermentations are winding down in the Winery. We have crushed 14 different types of grapes for a total of 113 tons of fruit for our Cave B and SageCliffe wines. The only fruit left to harvest is the semillon.  It has been covered with bird netting to lay in wait for the weather to get really cold. Depending on how low the temperature goes, it will be either an Ice Wine or a Late Harvest Semillon. In order to be deemed an Ice wine we need at least 24 consecutive hours below 20° Fahrenheit. If we are not fortunate enough to have these temperatures by mid-December the wine will be a “Late Harvest” instead of an “Ice Wine.”

All in all the harvest went quite well and I am pleased overall with the quality of the fruit. I am really excited for some of the varieties new to us, in particular Malbec and Viognier. Although the Viognier is still fermenting, the beautiful tropical fruit aromas and floral notes are quintessential Viognier. The Malbec has the deepest, most intense inky color of all the wines fermented so far this year. Beautiful.  The flavors are already deep and rich, even in its extreme youth, having just completed the fermentation.

Until next time.

Buen Provecho,

Alfredo “Freddy” Arredondo 

Winemaker, Cave B Estate Winery    

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