by Greg on November 15, 2012 in Featured, From the Land
Experience the 2012 olive harvest with our vintage report video. Harvesting commenced at Jordan the morning of November 13 with Spanish Arbequina olives, and we’re thrilled with the quality and quantity of the fruit. Our 2012 Jordan Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil will be released in late 2013.
by Greg on October 17, 2012 in Featured, From the Cellar
Chardonnay élevage has begun in our cellars, and it brings back special memories for me. During my time in Burgundy working with the winemaking team at the Maison Joseph Drouhin in Beaune, I was specifically tasked with the responsibility of monitoring the fermentations of more than 1,000 barrels of Chardonnay from roughly 90 individual vineyard blocks along [...]
by Greg on October 15, 2012 in Featured, From the Cellar, From the Vineyards
Our first harvest report of the 2012 vintage is in. The verdict? Phenomenal. The first few weeks of crush were fast and furious, with Chardonnay, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes arriving at the hopper often on the same day. After two vintages with smaller crops and more challenging weather patterns, 2012 is proving to [...]
by Greg on October 12, 2012 in Featured, From the Vineyards
Experiencing night harvest is a rush for anyone who loves wine grapes. You can see your breath, the grapes are cold and the air thick with fog. I stopped by one of our top Chardonnay vineyards on October 3 during the night harvest and joined the picking crew, who’d been hard at work since 3 a.m. Those [...]
by Greg on October 5, 2012 in Featured, From the Vineyards
Perhaps the biggest make-or-break decision made by a winemaker each vintage is deciding when to harvest the grapes. The chemistry of the freshly picked grapes largely determines the potential of a wine’s greatness, as well as the amount of work and attention needed in the winery to coax the wine to that elite quality level. There are [...]
by Greg on September 27, 2012 in Featured, From the Cellar
Our 2012 Chardonnay is already beginning its transformation. After passing through the destemmer and sorting process as detailed in my previous harvest post, Chardonnay grapes–still firm and cool from the night harvest–are then transported to our Willmes membrane press. Within this cylindrical press, two membranes (one on each side) are inflated like balloons, allowing for [...]
by Greg on September 25, 2012 in Featured, From the Cellar
The first of the 2012 red grapes arrived to the winery this morning in the form of 36 tons of Mazzoni Merlot. Our winemaker, Rob Davis, has been working with grape grower Mike Mazzoni since 1994, and in fact, fruit from Mazzoni Vineyards was the first fruit source outside of the Jordan Estate to go into the Jordan Cabernet [...]
by Greg on September 21, 2012 in Featured, From the Cellar
On Tuesday, September 18, we received our first grapes of the season in the cool and crisp early morning hours: Chardonnay clone 76. Upon their arrival to the crush deck, the freshly harvested grapes began their journey into the winery on the conveyor belts of the sorting tables. With team members lining the sides of the [...]
by Greg on September 18, 2012 in Featured, From the Cellar, News
The first grapes of the 2012 vintage glided down our sorting table this morning at 5 a.m. For the last week, we’ve humored the idea of Alexander Valley Merlot being harvested before Russian River Chardonnay this year because their sugar levels were charging ahead a week ago, but it was in fact Chardonnay (Dijon Clone 76) that broke the tape. This clone [...]
