Harvest underway at West Valley vineyards
After last year’s long cool season, West Valley winemakers knew they’d be in for a hot ride for this fall’s harvest.
In Saratoga, winemaker Marty Mathis says his late mother Kathryn Kennedy would likely say this vintage is shaping up to be “typically outstanding.” He notes that he is on the cusp of picking grapes, among them, albarino, friulano, godello and sylvaner. They began veraison—the process of turning color, indicating the shift toward ripeness—in July. This happens in both white and red grapes, all of which start out like rock-hard green berries that are more like marbles, and then swell and soften with the accumulation of sugar as the leaves do that thing called photosynthesis.
On the summit, Jeff Brinkman at Rhys has already brought in grapes for sparkling wine from the Pajaro Vineyard in Watsonville. They will be vinified at the Skyline Boulevard winery, after which the juice will be sent to the Ukiah processing facility, where the sparkling wines are cared for and riddled and racked. A special tasting of Rhys sparklings will be announced later this fall, just in time for the holidays. Be sure to get on their mailing list.
Recha and Rob Bergstrom of Sandar & Hem will be picking old Wente clone chardonnay from the Mountain Winery in Saratoga early next week. The legendary Old Wente clone delivers intense and complex aromatics and flavor, and there is something really cool about harvesting grapes with such a storied history from the grounds of a 100-plus-year-old winery with a panoramic backdrop of Silicon Valley.
Winemaker Andrew Brenkwitz is back consulting at Byington on Bear Creek Road on their estate pinot noir and expects to pick sometime in mid-September unless the heat persists.
Big Basin Vineyards picked their first grapes of the season, Swan clone pinot noir, at Ascona Vineyard on Skyline on Aug. 30. This was to be followed by Old Corral pinot noir from the estate vineyard on Memory Lane in Boulder Creek right after Labor Day.
Thomas Fogarty Winery invites guests to taste wines from four great labels on Sept. 14 at its Wine and Food Faire, when winemaker Nathan Kandler and assistant winemaker Brad Friedman share wines from their labels. Kandler crafts Fogarty and Lexington wines as well as his own brand, Precedent, focusing on heritage vineyards. Friedman also taps heritage vineyards for his Ghost Notes brand, a nod to the rhythmic notes in music that are barely audible.
Tickets are $75 for wine club members $95 general at https://www.exploretock.com/fogartywinery. The ticket price includes tasting flights from all four producers, a lunch ticket for San Francisco based food truck Curveball Sliders and live music.
Mark your calendars for one of the most fun foodie festivals of the year, Gourmet Grazing on the Green, on Saturday, Oct. 5, noon-4 p.m., in a beautiful outdoor setting in Aptos. Tickets are $99 through Oct. 4 and $120 at the door at https://www.sccbg.org/gourmetgrazingonthegreen
Enjoy an afternoon of fine local wines, refreshing handcrafted beers, locally distilled spirits and cocktails and delicious food from top local chefs, along with live music and a vast selection of auction items that run from local art and jewelry to special wine tastings, cruises and dinner packages.