2011 Harvest
Your Source for St. Helena Harvest Information
ST. HELENA - The 2011 harvest has started, and as always the state of the grapes is one of the hottest topics of conversation in St. Helena. After all, the quality of the grapes is one of the key factors in the quality of the wine. And, despite all of our modern technology, we are still subject to the whims of nature.
During the harvest, we at Appellation St. Helena will be providing weekly harvest reports on our Web site. Check back each week to get the latest assessment of how the harvest is going.
2011 Harvest Report No. 8: Week of October 31
St. Helena vineyards have mostly been picked out and there are only small amounts of grapes that will be left by week’s end.
While it may be true that “wine is made in the vineyard”, this year more than ever, winemakers are influencing style and character due to seasonal challenges. Excellent wines will be made this year with balance and finesse due to the work in the vineyard and winery. The foresight with respect to fruit thinning after rains, sorting, and carefully stewarding the fruit from vine to barrel (with a great degree of assistance from labs and winery supply houses) will pay dividends in the bottle.
Chris Dearden
Winemaker, V. Madrone Cellars
2011 Harvest Report No. 7: Week of October 24
Cabernet Sauvignon is what drives this valley and the weather gods have smiled. With a few days of “fire season style” weather, the bite of acidity in the grapes has lessened. It is time to finish the harvest rather than risk one more rain that would allow the inevitable plethora of fungus that reside in late October grapes to flourish. Now, close your eyes and imagine a wine with ripeness, balance, depth and 14% alcohol.
Bob Egelhoff
Owner & Winemaker 
Egelhoff Wines
2011 Harvest Report No. 6: Week of October 17
2011 has been the most challenging year since our beginning back in 1994. It has been a cool summer and like many, our harvest has been delayed. Aaron Pott was onsite yesterday and was pleased at the condition of our fruit. “This vineyard is truly special.” We experienced some shatter with the Cabernet and we are set to bring in our first fruit off the estate today, October 17, Petite Syrah and Petit Verdot are coming in!
Sarah Buxton
General Manager
St. Helena Winery
2011 Harvest Report No. 5: Week of October 10
Looking out my window at yet more rain, it's a bit hard to be optimistic. That said, nearly all the whites and most of the Zinfandel are in here in Appellation St. Helena. It's mostly tough old Cabernet still on the vine and not suffering much so far. Here at Corison Winery everything is in except my own Kronos Vineyard Cabernet where the scraggly clusters and airy canopy should pull through just fine.
Cathy Corison
Owner and Winemaker
Corison Winery
2011 Harvest Report No. 4: Week of October 3
In St. Helena, we are picking our merlot for Duckhorn and zinfandel for Paraduxx! Phenologically, we're only slightly ahead of last year, but we have definitely seen flavor development and true ripeness in the grapes come around earlier. At the same time the pyrazines have dropped out, which is ideal. We'll pick everything that’s ready in the lead-up to next week’s possible rains—and all the zin should be in by then. While the situation presents some challenges, we gained valuable experience last year in dealing with a season like this. Overall, there are really exciting flavors in the field, and the fruit is in great shape, so we are very optimistic about the vintage.
P.J. Alviso, Vineyard Manager
Duckhorn Vineyards and Paraduxx
2011 Harvest Report No. 3: Week of September 26
Zinfandel vineyards in St. Helena were picked late last week. Skins are thick, promising great color, aromas and tannin structure. Perfect heat last week tuned up the vineyards. We have seen heavier fog than Sunday's "rain". Next up: more St. Helena Zins and Petite Sirah.
Steve Hall
Winemaker
Robert Biale Vineyards
2011 Harvest Report No. 2: Week of September 19
The sweet scent of pomace can be detected in the south St. Helena area: Harvest is here! Aromatic white varietals are being picked this week. Milat picked Chenin Blanc on Monday and much of the local Sauvignon Blanc is in. Red grapes will follow suit, but it will be a few weeks before Cabernet is ready in most sites in St. Helena. Many vintners are sad to see such small yields, but are optimistic that quality will be high.
Mark Porembski
Winemaker
Anomaly Vineyards and Charnu Winery
2011 Harvest Report No. 1: Week of September 12
On our 150th anniversary, our harvest began on the 7th, 10 days later than last year’s 2-week late harvest. Our Estate St. Helena Sauvignon
Blanc was the first fruit in. The light crop is the most dramatic observation for the harvest so far. Our Sauvignon Blanc yield is 60% of normal.
We do expect other varieties to be light, but hopefully not this light! Our Sauvignon Blanc juice has great aromas and flavors of lime, lychee nut,
honeydew and grapefruit with excellent acid
balance.
Peter Mondavi, Jr. ProprietorCharles Krug Winery