Nova Cadamatre

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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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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Harvest 2011 – Week 6 – How One Decides When to Pick

We just finished Week 6 which saw the bulk of the Pinot Gris that we’re harvesting along with the first part of our Chardonnay.  We even brought in some Zinfandel last week at 26+ Brix! No joke!  Weather was a bit warmer last week with some days in the 90s but it has still remained fairly ...

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FAIL: The Word Everyone Hates to See on MW Exam Results

As you probably assumed from the title of this post, I have once again failed the MW exam.  This was my second attempt and the IMW follows the rules of baseball in the three strikes, you’re out philosophy.  I have one more try before I’m benched. I decided to blog about this failure while it was still fresh ...

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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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Harvest 2011 – Week 4 – Grapes, Pigs, and Fun Varieties at Asti Winery

Week 4 has come to a rather quiet close as we only processed a few hundred tons this week atAsti.  It’s a drop in the bucket for what is to come this season.  We were led by Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris from the Lodi area which both had perfect Brix, crisp acids, and really ...

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Harvest 2011 – Week 3 – The Pinot Commeth

We’ve begun harvesting Pinot Gris from the Central Coast vineyard, CatCanyon (also the source of the Emma Pearl Chardonnay).  Pinot Noir doesn’t seem to be too far behind in Brix so I’m sure we’ll start to see that soon as well.  Here atAstiwe have our first grapes scheduled for mid-next week however it’s mainly Sauvignon ...

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Harvest 2011- Week 2 Recap

Driving around last week in Alexander Valley I’ve really started to notice serious veraison.  A sister winery of ours down on the Central coast has Pinot Gris scheduled to be picked tomorrow.  Harvest is truly upon us.  The weather this week has been beautiful.  Cool, foggy mornings have given way to bright, sunny mid-days and ...

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Harvest 2011 – Week 1 – Going through Veraison

Now I’m sure you’re thinking to yourself…Grapes can not be being harvested already.  So what’s this week 1 thing all about you ask???  I count the first week in August every year as week 1 of a 16 week harvest season.  Week 16 falls in the middle of November by which time normally all the ...

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Vintage 2011, The Mid-point Check In.

When I last talked about how vintage 2011 was going in the NorthCoast was in bloom and the weather was truly dismal indeed!  Now after several weeks of beautiful, warm, sunny weather our outlook on the vintage is beginning to lift.  The rain during bloom did impact the crop levels negatively.  So far I’ve heard that ...

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