1st Fruit Drop At Our Home Ranch

One of the most exciting things about summer for a winemaker is watching the vines grow and the fruit develop. In fact, you could say that as soon as the new leaves start popping out in the spring, as soon as you can start to see the beginnings of tiny clusters, you are watching the 2008 wines taking shape. All the signs so far are pointing to another great vintage for us, with the added bonus that we’ll be getting the first crop from our own vineyard. Shown in the picture is our Grenache at the front of the property. All that green stuff on the ground is fruit that we’ve dropped in order to step up the intensity and quality of the grapes still hanging on the vine. We’ll actually go through again at veraison (when the grapes begin to turn color) and drop any remaining green fruit, ensuring that the whole block ripens evenly and consistently. It’s so thrilling, not just for me but for the whole ESVW team, to have our own estate grapes, finally. It’s typical Ed and me to want to control every aspect of the process! Amy Butler, Winemaker