Harvest Time 2000

Back to Cline Times 10~00

The Thrill of Harvest
Cline Cellars now in its fifth week of harvest has crushed 1780 tons of grapes and the pace has not slowed down. The winery is anticipating 2700 tons of grapes to be crushed for the 2000 vintage.

One of the most crucial aspects of harvest is timing--determining the precise moment during the ripening process when the grape is fully mature and the balance of sugar and acids is optimal. The tremendously complicated responsibility lies on the shoulders of our Enologist Dawn Sacchetti and Winemaker Matt Cline. The delicate timing of each year's harvest can be complicated further by the fact that very often fruit within a single vineyard is in varying stages of ripeness, thus potentially extending the harvest of a single vineyard plot over several days. Although the ultimate timing of harvest depends on mother nature, it also pending the grape variety, the region and the style of wine desired.

Special thank you to Bill De Vaughn and Dawn Sacchetti for their contributions to the Cline Times.

Cline Cellars Breaks the 1000 ton mark on Friday, September 15th. That is equivalent to 67,000 cases of wine!

Light Rain In Wine Country

After a long hot and humid day rain showers cooled down Cline Cellars' production team. Tuesday's (9/12) rainfall was miniscule and had no impact on the grapes. "I'm not too concerned about the rain, just bring on the sun and warm temperatures," said winemaker Matt Cline. By Thursday the weather in Sonoma was partly sunny and warm with a light breeze. These three elements will help eliminate any moisture in the vineyards and aid in preventing any mildew on the grapes.

Weather for the weekend is expected to be hot and dry. "The only problems we foresee this weekend is everything ripening at once", said Matt Cline. The only advantage of grapes arriving at a rapid pace is the sooner I get to go fishing said Matt Cline.

While it is too early to tell what the vintage will be like, yields are up, flavors are good and acid levels are in balance.

Harvest Time

Cheers to the first harvest of the new millennium! Thanks to Mother Nature this year's harvest is off to a good start. The growing season was ideal except for the heat spell in late June where temperatures hovered in 100-degree mark for days. The torrid heat did burn some vineyards resulting in leaves to shrivel and some grape clusters to raisins but damage was minimal.

Cline Cellars began harvest on Wednesday, August 23rd crushing 10.8 tons of Sauvignon Blanc and 2.2 tons of Malvasia Bianca from Contra Costa County, which should be blended into our Cotes d'Oakley Vin Blanc program. The first truck load of red grapes arrived Saturday, August 28th with 24 tons of Zinfandel from Lodi, slated for the California Zinfandel program.

After last year's frenzied picking, white and red varietals ripening simultaneously and laggard equipment, Cline Cellars is upbeat about the 2000 vintage. In late spring, Cline Cellars installed a crush pad with a new hopper and Diemme destemmer (see photo below), which will enable them to handle more grapes and work more efficiently, maybe earning themselves an extra hour of sleep.

So far, winemaker, Matt Cline and his winemaking team are happy with the quality of the grapes and their yields. Only time will tell if this harvest is a stellar year.

Diemme Destemmer (Above)

Sauvignon Blanc grapes sent into a inclined conveyer to be dumped into a Diemme Press. After wine is pressed it will be moved to a tank to begin the fermentation process. (Below)

Stay tuned for Cline Cellars' continuous coverage of Harvest 2000, keeping you updated on the latest harvest events.

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