2014 Harvest of our Prelude Vineyard’s maiden vintage.

Prelude Vineyard

Leading into the 2014 growing season extreme cold winter was a first sign of uncertainty ahead.  Our vines of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were just 3 years old yearning for their very first harvest.   Light rainfalls warmed up our vineyard within just days, we could see our vines started to bud.  At the kiss of warm sunlight, bud after bud, they competed by stretching themselves to catch their taste of Spring.  

cabernet buds 2Growing season

Warm sunlight with just a touch of rain early on allowed vines to flourish.  They quickly reached maturity to start forming grape clusters.   As quickly as they grew, Spring rain was light and short-lived followed by hot dry summer, this continued on into Fall -the harvesting season.  Unlike older vines with roots tens of feet deep into the ground, our have yet to fully matured, shorter roots meant little chance for finding underground water.   Irrigation was necessary to keep the vines healthy.

rasinate grapes 2

Maiden Harvest

Irrigation couldn’t stop some of our clusters raisinate, that also meant more concentrated fruits.  Some vineyards in Napa Valley harvest their grape only after the first sign of raisination.  Our grapes were fully ripened, both fruits and seeds but mid September.  Dawn of Friday September 12th marked the maiden harvest of our Prelude vineyard.

crates of cabernet 2014 S

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