Chardonnay

NovaCadamatre October 28th, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . .

Harvest 2011: How California became Italy

This year has had it all.  We started with heavy frost on the Central Coast, rain during bloom and spring hail.  The craziness continued with a long temperate summer which was punctuated by few heat spikes (if you can call mid 90s a heat spike out here).  Growers fought Powdery Mildew and numerous invasive insect ...

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NovaCadamatre October 2nd, 2011 . . . . . . . . . .

Harvest 2011 – Week 9 – The Beginning of the End.

In case you haven’t heard we’re going to have a weather event this next week.  Now, being from the south, I love the way the western weathermen talk about precipitation.  I hear “weather event”, “Major trough”, and my personal favorite “heavy drizzle”.  In the south, weathermen would usually say “It’s going to rain!” and then ...

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NovaCadamatre September 23rd, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . .

Harvest 2011 – Week 8 – Harvest Halfway and MW preparations

At this point we’re halfway through the harvest season.  In another 8 weeks it will all be wrapped up.  Wine will be tucked away in barrels or tanks either going through ML, extended maceration, and sur lee aging.  Between now and then is the most complex time during the harvest.  This is when the bulk ...

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NovaCadamatre September 19th, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . .

Harvest 2011 – Week 7 – The Waiting Game

This past week brought cooler temperatures to the regions around Asti Winery.  We saw a noticeable slowdown in sugar accumulation and thus a drop in tons being delivered as growers waited to see movement again.  This week is forecasted to be warmer and hopefully this will kick ripening back into gear.  Chardonnay is coming in ...

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NovaCadamatre September 4th, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Harvest 2011 – Week 5 – Things REALLY get moving…

This week we’ve started seeing far more grapes than the previous week.  Our Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc were joined by our first Chardonnay of the season!  Fruit quality looks really nice and acids are still staying put thanks to the more moderate day time temperatures as well as the cool nights.  The Alexander Valley ...

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NovaCadamatre August 20th, 2010 . . . . . .

An Awesome Chablis Tasting…

One of the highlights of this week was a Chablis tasting that some of the winemaker’s and I did.  I personally LOVE Chablis because it is a great pure expression of what the Chardonnay grape can be without the oak and butter that is so prevalent in more modern styles.  Anytime I can taste the ...

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