Celebrate Labor Day with Texas Wines
Labor Day Weekend is upon us with three days to celebrate the end of the Summer. School has begun which means that Fall is coming along with football. Texas is known to still be hot this time of the year. The Texas grape harvest is moving fast and lots of Autumn activities are here. Labor Day is symbolically when white clothing is retired with the darks coming out. Our foods are getting heavier and hence our wine consumption starts to transition from the light white wines of Summer to the red wines which we traditionally pair with the heavier foods. With our temperatures in the 90’s, it’s a slower transition for we Texans.
The last several weeks have been hectic at Texas vineyards and wineries with work days approaching 24 hours as grapes are harvested, crushed, and made into wines. So far, the Texas grape harvest is looking to be another great year for the production of quality grapes and hence quality wines. You just cannot make aware winning wines with average grapes. This year appears to be another great year for Texas wines using Texas grapes. Here is what Texan wine industry people are saying. Mike Batek from Hye Meadow reported, “Here at Hye we have harvested tempranillo, refosco and negroamaro. All came in with great numbers and lower yields than what were forecasted. The color on all three is great and the refosco is almost velvety on the palate. We received our first new barrels today and will be barreling down later this week. We are still waiting on montepulciano and aglianico to pick. I’ve lined up a crew for next Sunday and I’ll be sampling grapes tomorrow to make sure the seeds are brown and dry. Sugars are high with the heat, but the grapes themselves still need time to develop and allow the seeds to go from green to a dark, dry brown.”
Julie Kuhlken with Pedernales Cellars told me, “We have finished harvesting at Kuhlken Vineyards in the Texas Hill Country. We have brought in Tempranillo, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Petite Sarah, and Sangiovese from there. This is the closest we have ever seen harvest in the High Plains follow harvest in the Hill Country. We are knee deep in High Plains fruit, having harvested in Dessert Willow Vineyards this past week bringing in Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Alicante Bouschet.”
Michael Barton with Hilmy Cellars provided this information, “The cooler weather has helped slow down the maturation of the fruit in the early part of this year. With higher amounts of rainfall in the hill country we got to forgo irrigation in our vineyard, but also helped keep our soil temperatures moderate. Most of our hill country fruit was about 1 to 2 weeks later than normal for picking. Only now are we having heat spikes coming in that are starting to increase sugars and picking decisions are being made. Mix this cooler onset weather and moderately cropped vineyards we are looking at a potentially high-quality vintage. I’m especially intrigued with the quality of red wines and early picked whites for sparkling. The fruit we that have received from the Hill country are showing well balanced chemistries and deeper hues of color. In the High plains we are just now looking at picking some of our reds but from what I am seeing, it is going to be an excellent vintage.”
David Newitt at Slate Theory Winery near Fredericksburg reported, “All Hill Country estate whites are in. (Sauv Blanc, Fiano, Trebbiano) Fruit quality is excellent, yields as expected. High plains whites mostly in, (Muscat Canelli, Malvasia Bianca) one variety left for next week (Viognier). Fruit quality is good, yields as expected. Hill Country reds have started coming in this past week (Merlot, Sangiovese, Cab Sauv, Carmenere), with several varieties scheduled for the next two weeks (Cab Sauv, Montepulciano, Aglianico). High plains reds began this week (Tempranillo, Merlot, Nebbiolo), everything else looks like 3 to 4 weeks to go.”
Bottom line is that it looks like another great year for Texas wineries!
