Keenan Winery - Keenan - Napa Valley Spring Mountain District
The President’s Desk 2018
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
I’m frequently asked, “How was harvest?” This year my answer was, “Like a dream”. Everything about this harvest, and quite frankly, the entire growing season was ideal. Bud break occurred at a normal time, weeks later ‘set’ was problem free and the growing season got off to a terrific start. In August veraison began and was beautifully even and delightfully drawn out and the Zinfandel crop, which can be notoriously uneven, was as even as we have ever seen it. It was such a pleasure to walk the vineyards in the weeks preceding harvest and bask in the glory of all of these perfectly shaped broad shouldered even ripening clusters.
There were no adverse weather events at any time in the season and harvest started at the perfectly normal date of the 13th of September. Harvest hit a fever pitch pretty quickly and just as all of our fermentation tanks filled to capacity a perfectly timed rain event hit on September 29th and gave us a weeks’ break from picking. Picking then resumed with open tanks awaiting and in two more weeks harvest was complete. Usually when harvest is over we all have a sense of relief but this year I was left with a wistful feeling for I will miss walking in the vineyards and looking at the prettiest crop I have ever seen. Great quality and great yields make for a dream like scenario. But what makes this last harvest better than a dream is that for decades to come we will be able to enjoy the fruits of this vintage.
And speaking of dreams, the cover wine for this issue, the 2012 Side by Side, literally came to me in a dream back in August of 2006. This might be the best wine we make and for those not in the know, this is one of our ‘secret’ wines. These are wines (there are now 5 of them!) that are never shown in public, never submitted for review and not even on our website. And yes there is a ‘secret’ club, check it out!
Holiday Cheers!
Michael
CHARDONNAY THAT WON'T GIVE UP
Great growing conditions do lead to bountiful yields! Even the Keenan Chardonnay vineyard thrived this year in spite of a recent disease infestation that led to significant vine removal from the block. It must be a great year when you lose twenty percent of a vineyard and still end up prospering!
Over the last couple years we have noticed more and more of the Chardonnay vines were going through bud break and then stalling. Shoot growth was slowing down in late spring/early summer and young clusters would wither and fall to the ground. Anticipating a virus or other disease might be settling into the vineyard, cuttings from a few of the weak vines were submitted to a laboratory for pathology analysis. Results showed that the cuttings were free of all viruses, but were positive for Pierce’s Disease: a bacterial infection within a vine’s vascular tissues.
Pierce’s disease is not a new disease. It was first detected in Anaheim California in 1892. Over the years the bacterial infestation has affected vineyards all over the state, and it appears to currently be more prevalent in certain parts of Napa county. There is no cure for the disease once a vine is infected, so the only option is to pull the diseased vines from the ground and replant with healthy young vines.
This summer, over an acre’s worth of Chardonnay vines were removed from our six acre Chardonnay vineyard. The crazy part…? The 2018 Chardonnay yield still surpassed or rivaled annual yields for seven of the past eleven years! The healthy vines that remain are still producing wonderful hillside Chardonnay clusters like they have for many years past. We do plan on replacing the diseased Chardonnay vines that were removed sometime soon. There’s also a rumor that the Keenan Chardonnay vineyard might be christened with a unique name in the near future. Stay tuned…
Here’s to a superb 2018 vintage!
Matt Gardner
2012 Side by Side, Napa Valley, Spring Mtn. Dist.
$125/bottle
Side by Side is an equal blend of estate Cabernet Franc and Merlot that literally comes from vine rows that are growing side by side. This is the only vineyard block on the estate where there is no dividing road between two varietals. One can imagine the root tips almost touching beneath the surface of this high elevation steeply sloped rocky vineyard. Maybe that is why they have blended so seamlessly to create this unique Spring Mountain blend that exhibits not only the power of the mountain but the elegance as well.
Cheers!
Michael Keenan
Michael Keenan, President, Keenan Winery
I consider the Side by Side the companion wine to the Mernet. Both wines are half Merlot but I consider both wines to really be all about Merlot. The Mernet is Merlot paired with Cabernet Sauvignon and the Cabernet acts as a catalyst to bring out the pretty, beautiful, feminine side of powerful masculine mountain Merlot. Conversely in the Side by Side, the Cabernet Franc unlocks an earthy, masculine, finely elocuted power of the Upper Bowl Merlot. Prior to 2005 the Upper Bowl all had gone into the Napa Merlot adding great color, firm tannins and massive structure but had never merited being bottled on its’ own. Then, when the dream came to me to blend that vineyard equally with Cabernet Franc, did the expressiveness of that block finally get unlocked.
S U M M E R O P E N H O U S E
SATURDAY, JUNE 15th
11 AM – 3 PM
- Wine Tasting and Appetizers
- Current release wines, library wines and secret wines!
- Taste barrel samples and purchase wine futures
- Tour our historic cellar and meet the winery staff
- Enjoy the views from our mountainside winery
Taste current releases as well as library wines, and even sample some of our young wines still aging in oak barrels. Appetizers will be served to compliment our award-winning wines.
DON’T MISS KEENAN WINERY’S Summer Open House, beginning at 11 am on Saturday June 15th.
This event is by invitation only, and is free to Wine Club members, however $40 per adult will be charged for non-Wine Club members. Please RSVP with the number of guests in your party by June 10th.
Please note: we will be capping attendance this year at 300 guests.
RSVP
Phone: 707-963-9177
Email: info@keenanwinery.com
Faxing : 707-963-8209
The post The President’s Desk 2018 appeared first on Keenan Winery.
No comments:
Post a Comment