Kautz Family Vineyards (Calaveras County) & Bowman Zinfandel Vineyard & Sobon (Amador County) - Harvest Reports

CALAVERAS UPDATE

Steve Millier, Director of Winemaking at Kautz Family Vineyards, which includes Ironstone Vineyards and Leaping Horse Vineyards (Murphys/Calaveras County) sends this report:

We picked Verdelho last Monday (September 19) from Hay Station Ranch.  The grapes looked fantastic with outstanding sugar + acid balance. 

Friday, September 23, we picked the 85+ year old Zinfandel from Larry Nies.  This is an old vine Zinfandel vineyard that backs up to the Mokelumne River along Hwy 12 (across the street from the Rous Estate vineyards) in Lodi.  This vineyard is noted for its intense cherry focused fruit.

TWO AMADOR UPDATES:

Leon Sobon sends us this report from Sobon Estate Winery, Plymouth/Amador County:

We picked our first grapes Thursday September 22- the Sauvignon blanc and the Viognier.  Three weeks later than normal!!!   The quality seems to be excellent, partly because of the small crop, 40 % of normal, and partly because of the long hang time.  The cool, wet spring during bloom has affected most of our varieties.  The reds are a week or two away.

Scott Harvey sends this report: 

Scott at Riesling Harvest

We’ll start with the Amador harvest  on Tuesday with the Bowman Zinfandel Vineyard.  It is the first Zin vineyard we bring in every year.  Will be bringing in approx.. 40 tons.  We produce both wines from Amador County and Napa Valley for Scott Harvey Wines .  
Amador and the 2,000 foot mountain areas around Napa such as Atlas Peak both bud out three weeks later than the Napa Valley Floor.

Seems like the valley floor of Napa has been much more affected by the late cold spring.  The earlier bud break really hit the Napa Valley floor while the later bud break in Amador and the hills around Napa were not as affected.  A Sauvignon Blanc vineyard we get grapes from in Napa that normally produces 40 tons, this year only produced 15 tons.  We harvested Riesling from the Rutherford Bench last Monday and it came in at normal tonnages, although a month later than normal.