From the Fields

What I'm hearing from growers this year is it's a lighter crop. Some of the older vines are struggling more with a lack of water, and the younger vines we are pulling grapes from seem to have more of an average crop.

We're going to see a small crop next year if we don't get some water into the ground and into the root zone. Smoke taint has been in the news, and California has certainly had its share of wildfires. Here in Madera, we're isolated from that but still remain concerned.

COVID has been an issue for almost a year and a half now; it's been a real roller coaster for the tasting room in when we can taste and what regulations will allow. We have followed a recommendation to close the tasting room. Wine sales have been very good both online and for curbside pickup. We've stayed in touch with customers through webinars via Zoom with tasting samples that we send out. But it certainly has put a damper on the ability to come out and taste.

Crush and harvest is happening now, and we look forward to being able to share ports that we're making with people in the future.