Early Season Review of Rafanelli and Gipson Ranch

I spent a little time up at Rafanelli Vineyard and Gipson Ranch recently, reviewing each of the properties and the super-early prognostication on the 2013 grape harvest quality. 

The early predictions look very good. If this heat keeps up, it could be an early season. Not a lot of rain and warm days have accelerated growth in 2013. 

I've been looking to harvest Sauvignon Blanc and Petite Sirah in 2013 to widen my experience as a winemaker and broaden the audience of wine drinkers beyond Cabernet Sauvignon. I've always like Petite for its deep color and longevity. Naturally, I'm working my current vineyard partners and my bias for hillside fruit locations in Sonoma County.

We've got a long way to go until harvest begins, but the early opinion polls show promise.

DS

Harvest Party 2012

It seems that in the boutique wine business, there is no rest for the weary.

Within 24 hours of harvesting 5 tons of grapes and personally harvesting with my Dad, 1 ton of grapes, it was time to run back to Fresno and throw a party.

But the difference with this year, we had some help in the kitchen.

Keith's Box Car Cafe, Cafe Corazon, and Sam' Deli were part of the party and while generally he theme is Italian, there were a couple twists.

Keith's Smoked Lasagna's have reached nearly cult status in Fresno. I ordered two of them, brisket and pulled pork. Now most people know, I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Italian cuisine. So the idea of taking American smoking technique and combining it with lasagna noodles without tomato sauce is a little crazy to me. But guess what? Fusing American and Italian cuisine the way Keith has with this lasagna works. It worked so well, there wasn't any lasagna leftover. It also proved that Mastro Scheidt Cabernet pairs well with a smoked brisket lasagna. Thanks Keith.

Leo's house roasted coffee is legendary in Fresno. Cafe Corazon doesn't have any competition in Fresno. I don't consider Starbucks competition. Leo roasts every bean in his shop. Leo also grinds flour. Grinding flour? Isn't flour something you buy at the store? No, not for Leo or in-house "food dude" Chef Martinez.

I tasked Leo and Chef with making several focaccias. They came through with both traditional and a "German" foacaccia. The whole Mastro-Scheidt thing inspired at least one German pizza, complete with sausage and mustard. Kudos to Leo and Chef.

Lastly was the ultra-traditional Sam's Deli with a couple classic trays of cold cuts. As I didn't eat until the end of the night, I combined whatever was left on the trays, slices of spicy coppa with focaccia, as well as provolone with a corner end of lasagna. Sam's is still the ONLY game in town for high-quality Italian meats. I just wish I held some proscuitto back for myself at the end of the night.

Another shout-out goes to Cairdean Vineyards who I asked to supply the white wine for the evening. Their 2011 Sauvignon Blanc was a perfect way to start the evening and it doesn't hurt that the winemaking team comes from Fresno State. Go Dogs.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the evening!

Up at Doug's Vineyard

As we look to Harvest 2011, I was out inspecting several other vineyards today, all Dry Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. Looking at a couple different blocks of Clone 15 and 337 here in the hills.

Checking out some Vines

A few of the guys got together to see what the rains had done to a small vineyard of Garnacha and to make some guesses about what the harvest might yield on this younger set of vines.