Harvest Wrap-up | November 2023

As we move deeper into Fall, the winery is recovering from the frantic daily pace of harvest and quickly transitioning into preparations for our winter bottlings. This year was certainly unique. We had a cooler year overall, and harvest started and ended almost a full month later than we’ve been used to. This is a mind-shift and caused for some small amounts of hand wringing on when (or if!) all our fruit would ripen before the rains or cold weather came in. Patience proved key as we were able to ride through a couple of small rains, and we were rewarded with warmer temps to finish off the season with some beautiful fruit. I’m looking forward to bringing these wines together in a few more months!

Some of the exciting changes that came with 2023 include utilizing 100% Estate-grown fruit as well as a new beginning at one of our historic Heritage properties. While over 95% of our wines have been sourced from estate-grown fruit for years now, we were most recently purchasing fruit from only two “outside farmers.” And with one of our “outside farmers” being Steve Hill, who planted and tended to Durell for almost 40 years, we had very intimate and longstanding relationships with our growers. Still, the move to 100% Estate-grown fruit is significant in that it is a commitment in paradigm that ties our wines inextricably to our land and vines. Our wines will represent only our land in each vintage. Period. This doesn’t mean we are stagnant or tied solely to the past, however. We continue to innovate and reinvigorate at our Monopole and Heritage vineyard sites. Whether it is the expansion of Organic grape growing or planting new Pinot Noir blocks on our historic Durell Vineyard, our land and our wines continue to morph and evolve, and I think that’s how it should be.

I’m looking forward to getting together with my family this holiday season, starting with my extended family toting our Thanksgiving meals up to the mountains to be together in a place we all love to soak in. Gather, share, and laugh. That sounds about right!

Thank you for all your support and table fellowship this year – we feel and appreciate it.

Cheers,
Ryan Prichard

Director of Winemaking