The alignment of cool weather leading to later-than-average harvest timeframes and me getting back on my feet again after 8 weeks in a cast, has allowed me to kick off my own small lot wine-making projects that I thought were going to be delayed a year.  I’m giddy with excitement.

Thanks to some connections in the Pinot world, I was able to harvest a very small lot (only a half ton) of fruit from the Sonoma Coast – 2 different vineyards – yesterday, October 1st.  We couldn’t be more excited with this fruit as one vineyard (a clonal field blend of 828, 115, and 667) brings in good acidic backbone due to the slow growing, cooler climate (picked at only 22°), while the other is bringing more ripeness, flavor and structure.

The wife and I are super excited to be embarking on this venture together and this year I am also teaming up with good friend, Steven Washuta, assistant winemaker of Old World Winery, to oversee these projects together.

We are still looking into 1 or 2 other sources (Pinot Noir) for another ton or two – perhaps Russian River Valley and/or Anderson Valley?  If you know if anyone, let me know.

While the wine country in 2011 has started with a cool spring / early summer as well as some late rains, leading to concerns of mildew and shattering, fear not, there is never a doubt that this will be the Best. Vintage. Ever. Is there ever any doubt?  Really.  Unfortunately, I may have just put harvest in jeopardy for me personally due to a freakish injury I sustained at last week’s softball game.  Plans to make a couple barrels of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay may never come to fruition for 2011 due to such heavy reliance on a right foot.

Yes, the foot that presses the gas and the brake of a vehicle that is to transport me from the boonies south of Napa to the far reaches of wine country.  The foot that accompanies the other one on the left to aid in walking, standing, bearing weight necessary to walk vineyards, check fruit, move equipment, climb sorting tables, punchdown caps and other general winery duties as necessary.

Fear not, the dream continues.  With all the great things that have happened in our lives over the past year due to hard work and a little luck, it’s always humbling to deal with some bad with all the good.  I just wish it wasn’t THIS bad.  Injuries to this area of the foot are rare evidently and generally seen most in car and motorcycle wrecks.  All I was doing was rounding first base for cripes sake.  As a result, surgery is imminent, recovery is long and the foot will never be the same for the rest of life.  Good news is that cycling is still possible in my future.

So, if harvest is delayed, that may just work in my favor, but there are so many things that have to be lined up well in advance to make it all work.  Let’s see how recovery goes and then we’ll see if I can get my first harvest (for our personal label) underway.

There is much more to do in the small, rural locations in northern Sonoma than you might think.  One activity that you must experience at least once is a Mateo Granados traveling dinner.  Mateo and his crew setup operations at various locations throughout the month, with most being wineries.  He creates authentic cuisine from the Yucatan.  Thanks to Adrienne for attending so many dinners and saying his name so often throughout our Holdredge internship that I practically knew the guy before I ever met him.  The food is truly tremendous.

The dinner I attended was at the MacPhail winery, which makes some phenomenal Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Anderson Valley and Sonoma Coast.  The cool addition to the party was a Pelaverga, a red grape native to Piemonte, brought by new acquaintance, Erin, who has recently arrived to Healdsburg as well via Australia and with 6 years of winemaking experience.  Great food wine.

The week prior, the guys at Old World Winery held a tasting of various varieties, blends and regions for a little competition and sensory practice.  These were two of my favorite reds of the night:

Both of these came in 2nd in their respective flights.  The Graves is a GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre) blend from Paso Robles and the Tamarack Cellars is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc (50/25/25) from Columbia Valley.  Hope there are more of these tastings in the future.

Keep experiencing life…

I didn’t realize how challenging it would be to search for rental homes here in wine country.  Since we still have a home in Atlanta, we’re not ready nor able to take advantage of some of the homes in the area that are up for sale in this buyer’s market.  Rather, I’m looking to rent for a short while and would like to find something in the countryside, near some vineyards, preferably, and allows dogs, of course.  Might just end up settling in a regular ‘ol apartment for the time being, we’ll see.  However, the actual “search” is just breathtaking driving around the area with views like this:

Perhaps I should change the name of this blog to something that has the words Pinot Noir in it.  I can’t get enough of the stuff!  Don’t let the rainy forecast deter you from immersing yourself in the elegant juice that is Russian River Valley Pinot Noir by attending Pinot on the River 2010.  When you get there be sure to seek me out, send me a tweet or check-in via foursquare so I know that you are here, so we can finally meet in person and raise a glass together.

See the list of over 100 participating wineries HERE, which include many of my favorites that I have mentioned on my blog over the years.

Pinot on the River Fan Page

Below is a summary of the event schedule, but for more details check out the website link above or the Facebook Fan page.

Friday (TODAY!), October 22, 2010:

• 6pm Pinot On The River’s “Friday Night Out In The Valley” Dinner

Saturday, October 23, 2010:

• 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Seminar Program at our host hotel in Healdsburg.

• 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Seminar #1: A Vintage Retrospective – How well do Western Pinot Noirs age? We’ll explore that topic with three top Pinot producers each showing their Pinots from three vintages of their choice. Our goal is to have at least wines from 2000 through 2005. (Wineries and panelists to be determined.)

• 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Seminar #2: Vintage Focus: 2009 in Western Pinot Regions – 2009 in Western Pinot Noir looks to be an even better vintage than 2007 has turned out to be. We will taste wines from six great winemakers representing Pinot regions up and down the West Coast. PinotReport Editor & Publisher Gregory Walter to moderate this session. (Wineries and panelists to be determined.)

• 1 p.m. – Light Buffet Lunch – Join us for a light casual lunch. Get to know other Pinot lovers and winemakers and share your thoughts about Pinot and the morning seminars.

• 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Take a Break!

• 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. — “A Taste Of Pinot” — We are partnering with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Sonoma County to create our first annual “A Taste Of Pinot” dinner at the Hotel Healdsburg in Healdsburg. The event will feature Pinot-inspired tastings of unique small bites prepared by Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen paired with limited production & reserve Pinot Noirs from 10 fine Pinot producers.

Sunday, October 24, 2010:

• 12 noon to 4 p.m. – Artisanal Pinot Noir Grand Tasting – Taste current releases, special bottlings and library wines from over 100 top Pinot producers from up and down the West Coast at this “full immersion” walkaround tasting.

A full weekend of Pinot Noir, what more could you ask for?  See you there!