Current Grapes Available 8/20/22

VarietalAmount Still Available for Sale (tons)Expected Optimal Harvest TimePrice
(< 0.5 tons)
***
Price
(0.5 ton or more)
Barbera1.0early-mid SeptNA$1.00/lb
PrimitivoWAIT LIST****late Aug-early SeptNA$1.00/lb
Quinta* blendSOLD OUTearly-mid SeptNA$1.20/lb
Touriga (Non-Quinta*)2.0late Sept-early OctNA$1.00/lb
Muscat blancSOLD OUTlate August$1.00/lbNA
*”Quinta” refers to our block of 5 Iberian varietals planted in 2004/2005 and is a field blend of Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo (Tinta Roriz), Tinta Cao, Souzao, and Tinta Amarela.
**”Non-Quinta” refers to Touriga Nacional grown in other blocks.

***Minimum order in 2022 is 0.5 tons (1000 lbs) except for Muscat blanc (a.k.a. Muscat canelli), which is 0.125 tons (250 lbs).

****Given the uncertainty in total yield, additional Primitivo may become available once current commitments are met at harvest. Any additional Primitivo will be offered to those on the waitlist on a first-come, first-served basis. Waitlist does not reflect a commitment to buy, but if fruit is offered, it must be accepted or declined within 24 hr, after which time (if not accepted) it will be offered to subsequent party on waitlist. Please reach out via e-mail to be put on the waitlist for Primitivo. Waitlist quantity can be as little as 250 lbs.

Current Grapes Available 8/7/22

VarietalAmount Still Available for Sale (tons)Expected Optimal Harvest TimePrice
(< 0.5 tons)
***
Price
(0.5 ton or more)
Barbera1.0early-mid SeptNA$1.00/lb
PrimitivoWAIT LIST****late Aug-early SeptNA$1.00/lb
Quinta* blendSOLD OUTearly-mid SeptNA$1.20/lb
Touriga (Non-Quinta*)2.0late Sept-early OctNA$1.00/lb
Muscat blancSOLD OUTmid-late August$1.00/lbNA
*”Quinta” refers to our block of 5 Iberian varietals planted in 2004/2005 and is a field blend of Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo (Tinta Roriz), Tinta Cao, Souzao, and Tinta Amarela.
**”Non-Quinta” refers to Touriga Nacional grown in other blocks.

***Minimum order in 2022 is 0.5 tons (1000 lbs) except for Muscat blanc (a.k.a. Muscat canelli), which is 0.125 tons (250 lbs).

****Given the uncertainty in total yield, additional Primitivo may become available once current commitments are met at harvest. Any additional Primitivo will be offered to those on the waitlist on a first-come, first-served basis. Waitlist does not reflect a commitment to buy, but if fruit is offered, it must be accepted or declined within 24 hr, after which time (if not accepted) it will be offered to subsequent party on waitlist. Please reach out via e-mail to be put on the waitlist for Primitivo. Waitlist quantity can be as little as 250 lbs.

Vineyard Diary 8/7/22

The 2022 vintage is shaping up as a potentially outstanding one. We had a cool spring and a slow start to summer with memorably pleasant mid-70’s temperatures for the 4th of July. The heat of summer followed, and while triple digits were breached a few times at our site, generally we had highs in the mid- to upper 90’s for an extended period, with characteristic cooling to the low 60’s at night. Of late we even had some cloudy days and, more amazingly, a quarter inch of rain one morning…almost unheard of for our climate in August. Now we are looking at at least a week of upper 80- to low 90-degree highs with our normal low humidity…wonderful ripening weather for the grapes. If this moderate heat can sustain through September, this could be the best vintage since 2012–a year in which we saw highs only in the low 90s for an extended period heading into harvest.

Consistent with the moderate weather, we’re seeing very little evidence of sunburn or raisining in any of our fruit, including relatively highly exposed Barbera clusters. We had completed shoot thinning on our cultivated Barbera blocks relatively late, resulting in less foliage re-growth than usual and very good sun exposure of the fruit. Even the fruit in our few rows of Muscat Canelli, whose skin will brown with high heat, is still yellow-green and looking fantastic as it begins to sugar up.

We are officially in the home stretch now for the vintage, with veraison beginning or well in progress for all of our varietals, and having just deployed the rest of our birdnetting to cover all but the Barbera. The Quinta had been netted 1-2 weeks earlier due to the annual temptation (to the birds) of the early-ripening Tempranillo. While inconvenient for every other operation in the vineyard, the netting seems essential for protecting fruit given birds and indeed all of nature circling for food and water in still overall dry conditions. We have been battling gophers, tree squirrels, ground squirrels, wild turkeys, and song birds in the vineyard for weeks or months, and our local bear is about due to join the fray.

One thing we are not seeing–a relief after the Caldor Fire last year–is any major local fires, though they can appear at any time in the dry conditions. This is not to say that there haven’t been any regional fires–there have been several to our south already–but none that have impacted us for more than a day or two, as Cal Fire has been successful and bringing them under control. We hope that it remains that way.

One of our talented home winemaker clients recently achieved a remarkable trifecta with a Best of Show, Best of Division, and a Best of Class (all for dessert wines) in separate competitions with the same port-style wine made from our Quinta block with 2019 fruit. This block of 5 Iberian varietals has been used in numerous top wines over the years, definitely fulfilling our original vision of showcasing the synergy of varietals in a Portuguese-style port. The yield on this block–a block which is now 17 years old– has been steadily declining, but we’ll be getting what fruit it can yield into the hands of some of our best long-term clients this year.

We still have 1 ton of Barbera and 2 tons of Touriga Nacional available for commitment in half-ton or greater quantities, as well as 250 lbs of Muscat Canelli. Due to frost damage in the region, Foothills grapes are likely to be in short supply, and as noted above, it’s shaping up to be an outstanding vintage. Therefore, we encourage you to secure quality fruit while you can from us or others. Once a given variety of our fruit is fully committed with half-ton or greater orders, we will entertain wait list requests for smaller quantities (as little as 250 lbs), should any fruit remain after our main harvest. We have already established such a wait list for our Primitivo.

We look forward to meeting our clients at harvest, which is likely to be on the early side of normal timing this year, and providing some outstanding fruit.

.

.

Current Grapes Available 8/1/22

VarietalAmount Still Available for Sale (tons)Expected Optimal Harvest TimePrice
(< 0.5 tons)
***
Price
(0.5 ton or more)
Barbera1.0early-mid SeptNA$1.00/lb
PrimitivoWAIT LIST****late Aug-early SeptNA$1.00/lb
Quinta* blendSOLD OUTearly-mid SeptNA$1.20/lb
Touriga (Non-Quinta*)2.0late Sept-early OctNA$1.00/lb
Muscat blanc0.125mid-late August$1.00/lbNA
*”Quinta” refers to our block of 5 Iberian varietals planted in 2004/2005 and is a field blend of Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo (Tinta Roriz), Tinta Cao, Souzao, and Tinta Amarela.
**”Non-Quinta” refers to Touriga Nacional grown in other blocks.

***Minimum order in 2022 is 0.5 tons (1000 lbs) except for Muscat blanc (a.k.a. Muscat canelli), which is 0.125 tons (250 lbs).

****Given the uncertainty in total yield, additional Primitivo may become available once current commitments are met at harvest. Any additional Primitivo will be offered to those on the waitlist on a first-come, first-served basis. Waitlist does not reflect a commitment to buy, but if fruit is offered, it must be accepted or declined within 24 hr, after which time (if not accepted) it will be offered to subsequent party on waitlist. Please reach out via e-mail to be put on the waitlist for Primitivo. Waitlist quantity can be as little as 250 lbs.

Current Grapes Available 7/28/22

VarietalAmount Still Available for Sale (tons)Expected Optimal Harvest TimePrice
(< 0.5 tons)
***
Price
(0.5 ton or more)
Barbera1.0early-mid SeptNA$1.00/lb
Primitivo0.5late Aug-early SeptNA$1.00/lb
Quinta* blendSOLD OUTearly-mid SeptNA$1.20/lb
Touriga (Non-Quinta*)2.0late Sept-early OctNA$1.00/lb
*”Quinta” refers to our block of 5 Iberian varietals planted in 2004/2005 and is a field blend of Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo (Tinta Roriz), Tinta Cao, Souzao, and Tinta Amarela.
**”Non-Quinta” refers to Touriga Nacional grown in other blocks.

***Minimum order in 2022 is 0.5 tons (1000 lbs)

Current Grapes Available 7/23/22

VarietalAmount Still Available for Sale (tons)Expected Optimal Harvest TimePrice
(< 0.5 tons)
***
Price
(0.5 ton or more)
Barbera2.0early-mid SeptNA$1.00/lb
Primitivo0.5late Aug-early SeptNA$1.00/lb
Quinta* blendSOLD OUTearly-mid SeptNA$1.20/lb
Touriga (Non-Quinta*)2.0late Sept-early OctNA$1.00/lb
*”Quinta” refers to our block of 5 Iberian varietals planted in 2004/2005 and is a field blend of Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo (Tinta Roriz), Tinta Cao, Souzao, and Tinta Amarela.
**”Non-Quinta” refers to Touriga Nacional grown in other blocks.

***Minimum order in 2022 is 0.5 tons (1000 lbs)

Current Grapes Available 7/11/22

VarietalAmount Still Available for Sale (tons)Expected Optimal Harvest TimePrice
(< 0.5 tons)
***
Price
(0.5 ton or more)
Barbera2.0early-mid SeptNA$1.10/lb
Primitivo0.5late Aug-early SeptNA$1.00/lb
Quinta* blend0early-mid SeptNA$1.20/lb
Touriga (Non-Quinta*)2.0late Sept-early OctNA$1.10/lb
*”Quinta” refers to our block of 5 Iberian varietals planted in 2004/2005 and is a field blend of Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo (Tinta Roriz), Tinta Cao, Souzao, and Tinta Amarela.
**”Non-Quinta” refers to Touriga Nacional grown in other blocks.

***Minimum order in 2022 is 0.5 tons (1000 lbs)

Current Grapes Available 7/11/22

VarietalAmount Still Available for Sale (tons)Expected Optimal Harvest TimePrice
(< 0.5 tons)
***
Price
(0.5 ton or more)
Barbera2.0early-mid SeptNA$1.10/lb
Primitivo0.5late Aug-early SeptNA$1.00/lb
Quinta* blend0.5early-mid SeptNA$1.20/lb
Touriga (Non-Quinta*)2.0late Sept-early OctNA$1.10/lb
*”Quinta” refers to our block of 5 Iberian varietals planted in 2004/2005 and is a field blend of Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo (Tinta Roriz), Tinta Cao, Souzao, and Tinta Amarela.
**”Non-Quinta” refers to Touriga Nacional grown in other blocks.

***Minimum order in 2022 is 0.5 tons (1000 lbs)

Current Grapes Available 6/20/2022

VarietalAmount Still Available for Sale (tons)Expected Optimal Harvest TimePrice
(< 0.5 tons)
***
Price
(0.5 ton or more)
Barbera2.0early-mid SeptNA$1.10/lb
Primitivo0.5late Aug-early SeptNA$1.00/lb
Quinta* blend0.5early-mid SeptNA$1.20/lb
Touriga (Non-Quinta*)2.0late Sept-early Oct$1.00/lb$1.15/lb
*”Quinta” refers to our block of 5 Iberian varietals planted in 2004/2005 and is a field blend of Touriga Nacional, Tempranillo (Tinta Roriz), Tinta Cao, Souzao, and Tinta Amarela.
**”Non-Quinta” refers to Touriga Nacional grown in other blocks.

***Minimum order in 2022 is 0.5 tons (1000 lbs)

Vineyard Diary 6/17/22

The 2022 growing season is well in swing now, as we enjoy unseasonably cool temperatures for a couple days with the official start of summer in less than a week away. It was yet another unique weather pattern in the fall and winter, with an “atmospheric river” storm in late October delivering a big bolus of fall rain, a disappointing pause in precipitation, a delightfully wet period in late December with ample rain and snow, a major pause in precipitation for the rest of winter, an “April miracle” of 4-5 more inches of additional rain. A couple insignificant early June storms capped the choppy rainy season, which in the end provided us probably average rainfall if counting the big October storm, though it’s still officially drought conditions in much of the state. The bigger event for 2022 weather was 1 or 2 frost events in early April and, for some, in May, which will likely significantly decrease the 2022 grape crop from the Sierra Foothills. Frost generally doesn’t kill older vines, but it will kill new shoot growth–which much of the region had as of the first frost (it had been 90 degrees only 2 days before)–and the replacement shoots that a vine puts out in abundance are typically less fruitful. At Shaker Ridge, we had pretty minimum impact of the April frost (and none from the May frost) due to our vineyard’s altitude at “only” ~1500 feet (limiting the cold) and the excellent “air drainage” (cool air is heavier and flows away from a locally elevated site) of our vineyards. The biggest impact was in our Tinta Cao grapes whose buds push early and so were farther along than other varietals when the first frost hit; we’ll see decreased yield in those.

In April, we resumed a grafting project begun in 2021 which will bring additional Tempranillo, Souzao, and Rhone varietals (Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre) beginning next year, at least in home winemaker quantities. These came at the expense of former Primitivo vines that were on a different soil type than our main Primitivo block or at the edges of this block. The net effect is that we now have a large block of Primitivo on a relatively uniform soil type–our rocky, red clay loam–and by next season will bring larger quantities of our Iberian/Portuguese varietals, having already expanded our Touriga Nacional and Tinta Amarela offerings–and a new block of Rhone varietals which we’ll likely sell as a field blend for “GSM” blends.

Due to limited time to devote in 2022, we are farming only about 75% of our site, letting some of the Barbera grow untended so that we can focus scarce time and water resources on the rest. The vines have all past through bloom at this point, so have nearly full length shoots and fruit set, and will now be focusing their energies on developing the young berries. We have managed to avoid triple digit temperatures to date, and all looks good in the vineyard. We omitted weed spraying in the vine rows with herbicide this year and saw those quickly fill in, mostly with clover, and we’ll see how that experiment goes as the season progresses.

Again due to limited time to devote, we are looking to simplify harvest logistics in 2022, and so at this time are only committing to half-ton (1000 lb) or greater orders, and have limited quantities of Barbera, Primitivo, Touriga Nacional, and a field blend of Portuguese varietals from our well-decorated Quinta block still available. Speaking of the latter, we recently learned that a home winemaker client won Best of Show honors (in port category) at a top California fair with a port-style wine made from our 2019 Quinta grapes, beating out a double gold single-varietal port entry from the same client made from our 2018 Primitivo grapes. For our part, we earned a gold medal at the El Dorado County Fair (home winemaker competition) with our 2020 “Pandemic Primitivo”.

We look forward to a strong 2022 vintage for our clients.

.