Harvest 2007

A fast start leads to a long finish

October 2007 – A fast and furious start – that was the beginning to the 2007 Harvest season. As winemaker Bill Knuttel put it, "by the time Labor Day weekend had ended, our entire crop of Chenin Blanc along with 2/3 of our Sauvignon Blanc was already in the barn!"

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Harvest time in wine country is an exciting time for everyone in the wine industry. The future prospects of a great vintage keep people buzzing and add extra energy to the Dry Creek Valley. Grape trucks, harvest equipment, and round the clock activity add to the organized chaos.

This season, the fast start to harvest was not necessarily a bad thing. For our Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc, the fruit was excellent with superb flavors and ample sugar levels. Each of these varietals should be terrific this year with tremendous acidity and balance. During this warm period, we also had some bits and pieces of Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Merlot arrive at the winery, which was slightly early. However, as more temperate weather arrived many varieties slowed their ripening pace and came back to a more normal schedule.

As we dug deeper into harvest, the weather continued to cooperate and even out with many varieties on schedule. This certainly helped to calm many growers’ frayed nerves! More Zin arrived at the winery and looked delicious. "Great color and flavor and as clean as a whistle," according to Bill. Chardonnay also arrived and looked great. For the most part, crop size was about average and depending on the vineyard, was larger or smaller but not too much in either direction.

Finally, we’ve arrived at the middle of October and things are looking great. Cabernet has started to come in, which typically is the last variety to do so. "Overall, this looks like it’s going to be as good a harvest as 2006, if not better," says Bill. "We won’t have the same yields as we did in 2005 but that’s okay by me – I’d much prefer to get average sized yields with excellent quality."

Harvest 2007 is almost complete. And when it’s over, you’ll find most winemakers in the Dry Creek Valley toasting to another harvest – with a cold beer.

Thanks to our 2007 Interns!

For more than 30 years, we have welcomed interns from around the world to assist us with harvest.

These hard working and eager students, fill a much needed role during the busy harvest season - crushing grapes, pressing grapes and red pomace, pumpovers, rackings, filling and topping barrels, as well as vineyard sampling - they are truly a valuable asset!

This year, we welcomed three interns from three very different regions across the globe:

Sebastian, Francois, and Tom

Sebastian Franco-Siri, Uruguay
Francois Bezuidenhout, South Africa
Tom Lightfoot, Australia

From the entire family at Dry Creek Vineyard, we'd like to thank you for your hard work and dedication. With your help, we will be able to produce another terrific vintage of Dry Creek Vineyard wines!