It’s “Back to School” month here at the big red schoolhouse and the vinous students are already showing up for class. First to arrive, and quite early, were Pinot Noir 667 and Pinot Noir 05, on August 19, the earliest matriculation ever. A small cropload, due to the drought and the very protacted bloom that …
August is here and the summer heat is well and truly on, hastening the ripening of our estate grapes. Veraison is in full swing, turning the green grapes to red as the pace of summer quickens and our thoughts turn to impending harvest. Pinot Noir sports netting — we don’t like to share with the …
Out in the vineyard, we see the bright hues of autumn and in the cellar we see the many barrels now filled with Vintage 2014 wines. The harvest was pretty awesome by all accounts. Dave tallied a total of 58.4 tons for this year’s haul and gave the vintage an A+++ rating! We’re very excited …
Wow – what a quick harvest this has been! In fact, it’s almost history, as the estate Cab Franc is coming in this week. Even the Petit Verdot beat it to the punchdown! That pretty much leaves a wee bit of Grenache and Mourvèdre over at Pichon still hanging. Don’t forget this evening, October 1, …
Here at the Schoolhouse, the aromas of ripening grapes means that Harvest is upon us! Our Estate Pinot Noir is ripe and ready to be picked first with Chardonnay to follow. Vintage 2013 is shaping up to be spectacular with excellent quality and quantity along with fantastic flavors. We’ll be posting updates on Facebook with …
Wow! This year’s growing season has been one of high speed and overall high temperatures, so we’re in the final stretches of ripening now, with all the reds entering the stage we call “veraison,” where the grapes turn from hard green marbles to their purple-hued majesty. We’re in a “Count Down to Harvest” this month. …
October is here and it’s time to fall for our mountains. There’s nothing like the beautiful colors that begin to appear in the vineyards once the grapes have been plucked. Come see the changes of the seasons, and pick up your special Fall Caramels – get a custom logo’d 2-pack with every two bottle purchase, …
It’s Count Down to Harvest in the Santa Cruz Mountains! It’s August, and that means harvest is imminent. We’ve netted the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and we’ll be bottling some of the 2010 and 2011 vintages, emptying barrels and freeing them up for vintage 2012. It looks like we’re in for a serious heat wave …
The harvest of 2011 could well be classified as an interminable wait, punctuated by frenetic bouts of picking activity, followed by yet more interminable waiting, nail biting, some pleas to heaven for abatement of rain, and abundance of sun, followed by thankful, hurried blitzkriegs of picking in advance of yet more grey, gloomy, ill-portending storm …
At Burrell School Vineyards, there’s the sound of corks popping in celebration of the end of harvest. There’s also the quiet sighs of relief after what has been a nail-biting season, with overall reduced yields. Anne and Dave are very grateful to their Santa Clara vineyard partners for supplying them with Cabernet a-plenty for the …
The early and persistent rains have slowed harvest down, but not after a feverish push to bring in all the grapes that were ready for the crusher. Chardonnay is safely in barrel! The Merlot on the estate is still hanging out and the Petit Verdot will be a while in coming around to ripeness, but …
Harvest 2011 Update!! The Burrell School Estate “Principal’s Choice” Pinot is all safely pressed off into barrels, and resting comfortably, while the wood goes to work. There was a wee bit of a break with the cooler weather of the past weekend, but things are amping up in the heat index, and the grapes on …
September is in full swing up at the school house. The grapes are coming in! They picked 2.5 precious tons of Pinot Noir on Friday, Sept 9, mostly clone 667. It’s been fermenting nicely. Dave and Anne were planning on bringing in clone 115 this past week, but the thick marine layer abated the ripening …