2008 Harvest Report - the final haul

Always hotly anticipated is our Cabernet harvest. It's the last to come in and is most often accompanied by much wringing of hands and watching of weather reports. But the wait is usually worth it and our 2008 harvest was no different. Beautiful, super ripe, weighty clusters awaited our crew, who handled the best of the best with care, delivering optimum fruit to our winemaker clients and reserving a special lot for use in our own Peña Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon.

Our Cab is grown and harvested in 2 unique blocks of vines, the Rocks and the Terraces. The Rocks sit on a stony, fully-exposed hilltop looking northeast to Geyser Peak. Soil in this block is loose, shallow shale which provides structure to the cabernet. The Terraces step down the vertical slopes of Bradford Mountain towards Peña Creek and impart complexity and rich fruit intensity. We harvest and crush the Cabernet grape from these 2 blocks separately in small lots, blending early in their barrel-aging cycle.

Our winemaker Kerry Damskey was side by side with me, testing the brix throughout the last few weeks and was almost giddy (those of you who are acquainted with Kerry know this is not hard to imagine!) once we set a pick date.

Our 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon looks to be another home run: full of lush, ripe concentrated blackberry, currant and spices.