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Fall 2002 Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 3
 

2002 Harvest Report:
Edna Valley Pinot Noir Harvest Begins on September 12

The harvest is well underway, and I may sound like a broken record, but like previous vintages the 2002 wines show great potential. The growing season was cool this year with especially cool and windy weather during the spring flowering, causing 20 - 30 percent shatter (non-pollinated flowers yielding no berries). Crop yields are around 2 tons per acre on Pinot Noir and 3 tons per acre on Chardonnay. There was a short spell of heat around September 7 and a small rain drizzle on September 28 that caught the attention of winegrowers and winemakers. For the most part the grapes are riper at a lower sugar level and have a tremendous amount of flavor due to the low yields. We should make some wonderful wines this vintage.

The first grapes received at the winery were Pinot Gris grown in the Edna Valley, harvested on August 29. The Pinot Gris is a new project, and assuming the wine meets my expectations, it will be on the market next spring. Also in the works under the category of "new wines" is a French style rosè. While traveling in France, we loved the drinkable rosès with our lunches and outdoor dinners. Both wines will be tank fermented at a cool temperature and then aged in neutral oak barrels for a few months aging.

The first Pinot Noir grapes arrived at the winery on September 12. It was a cool day, 55 deg. F at daybreak. That was a pleasant change from earlier in the week when temperatures were in the high 90s. Crop yields were low and the fermenters gave off a concentrated aroma of berry fruitiness after a day or two in the tank. It is often at this early stage of wine processing that I have a preview of the wines potential and an indication that the vintage may be outstanding.

One of my desires this vintage is to create wines with moderate, balanced alcohol levels, even though the trend in the California wine industry is to produce wines that push the ripeness and alcohol level. Understandably, the winemaker is looking for maximum flavor at the expense of balance. So, how does one achieve both? I spent more time this year than ever out in the vineyards working with my growers at various points in the vines' lives. A grapevine is just that, a vine that generally creeps along the ground unless it has some sort of a trellis upon which to climb. And each vine has many buds from which shoots grow and develop clusters of grapes. Not all shoots develop at the same rate. Consequently, there are times during a vine's growing season when a few of the weak shoots are removed, shoots with too many clusters may have one or two cluster removed, and some of the leaves are removed to expose the clusters to sunlight. The goal of this laborious task is to bring the vine into balance that will mature its fruit at the same time so there are no green flavors or overripe raisin flavors. Early indications lead me to believe that I am achieving that goal.

(Photo above: Cellarman Mike Trout tops a barrel of 2002 Pinot Gris.)
 

Stephen Ross Open House
Sunday, November 3, 2002
from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Join winemaker Stephen Ross Dooley at his wine cellar located at Courtside Cellars, 4910 Edna Road, San Luis Obispo, CA. The winery is not normally open to the public, so this is a great opportunity to visit and taste the new releases. We will be pouring the 2000 and 2001 vintages of vineyard designated Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah, as well as selected older vintages. Wines will be available for purchase that day and there will be no sales tax (7.25%) charged. Light foods prepared by chef Jose Dahan will be served throughout the day.

The Open House is part of the San Luis Obispo Vintners and Growers Harvest Celebration, which takes place October 31 through November 2. For more information about the Harvest Celebration contact the Vintners Association at (805) 541-5868.
 

Reviews: Scores and Comments from the Press

On a regular basis Stephen Ross wines are sent to prominent wine publications and writers for their evaluation and comments. This is both an englightening and nerve-racking exercise. For some reason not eveyone believes us when we say our wines are the greatest on the planet - they like to hear it from a third party. Generally, there is anywhere from a two to eight month period between when we send the wine from the winery and when a review may be published and hit the newstands. There are no revies as of yet on the newly released Chardonnay. For a complete listing of all reviews, current and past releases, check our website reviews page.
 

Basket Press Finds Its Place in High Quality Winemaking

During the early 1970's California wineries began using state-of-the-art stainless steel membrane tank presses to squeeze the juice out of white grapes and wine out of fermented red grape skins. The speed of the press and quality of the wine was quite impressive. About 10 years later, wineries started pressing whole cluster Chardonnay (grapes still on the stems) in membrane tank presses and realized a dramatic increase in elegance and fruitiness in the wine. This type of press is standard equipment today in most wineries.

However, many wineries found that the taste of red wine from a tank press was earthy and lacked the fruity character of the same wine that ran freely out of the fermentation tank. Often the red press wine was kept separate and not used in the premium blend. Today, a few wineries are using small basket presses and find that the wine is fruity and has beneficial tannins that, when blended back with the free run wine, makes a better wine.

When emptying or draining a red fermenter, about 80% of the wine flows freely (free run wine) out of the tank. The last 20% of the wine is trapped in the skins laying on the bottom of the tank. The skins are moved to the press by shoveling and the press squeezes the wine out of the skins. In the case of a membrane tank press there is usually a lot of movement and handling of the skin en route to the press, and during the pressing cycle there is quite a bit of tumbling and movement that generates solids or haze particles. The wine is quite murky at this point and requires filtration or fining.

Conversely, a small basket press is quite often positioned directly under the fermenter, so the skins are moved directly into the basket. There is a round plate that fits into the basket from the top and it is connected to a hydraulic system that creates the pressure to move the plate down and push the wine out of the skins. Because the skins do not move in the basket, they act as a filter and the red wine coming out of the press is very clear, needs no further processing and tastes good.

Stephen Ross started using a basket press for all of the red wines in 2001 and there is a strong consensus that it is a step in the process that leads to improved wine quality.

(Photo above: Back to the future: Mike Wheeler stands next to a modern basket press. Although the basket press is slow, it yields high quality press wine.)