My beautiful and talented daughter, Noel, is in town for a week, so naturally I'm putting her to work! She is helping me put together the details for the release of
The Theology of Wine. It's just way, way too many details for my little brain to figure out, so I'm glad I have a daughter who is a wiz at details and planning. We drove up to Coeur de Terre Vineyard to talk to Jacques, the tasting room manager about holding an event there in October. As we drove past the vines I'm was amazed at how much the clusters have already changed color. It is going to be an early harvest this year.
We get to visit with both Scott and Lisa Neal which is always a pleasure. They are preparing a new vineyard property just next door to their current vineyard. It is going to be fun seeing a new vineyard go in from the ground up.
At one point Lisa asks if we would like to go down into the barrel room and try some of the '12 wines. I'm kind of wondering if anyone ever says no to a question like that. I love that the tool they use to get a taste of the wine is called a thief! Scott pours us a bit of the Estate Pinot Noir, and some of the Estate Syrah. The Syrah was produced using only native yeasts and I've really wanted to see how they came out. They are beautiful!
After the tasting we head outside to do a quick video which we are going to use to help us promote the book. Noel is going to make documentary films and is an expert at filming, so we want to take advantage of those gifts as well. We have a little technical problem, so will have to go back to the vineyard tomorrow. (I know you're having a hard time feeling sorry for us, aren't you.)
When we arrived at the vineyard around noon it was still overcast. Around 1:00 the sun broke out and turned the day beautiful. I've been a little worried that the heavy rains we've had in the last few weeks would have hurt the crop, but the grapes look very healthy. 2013 is going to be another one of those vintages where the fruit gets completely ripe and the wines are lovely right from the start. I'm starting to prefer the difficult years, like 2011 and 2007. I'm really looking forward to tasting some of the 2011's at Coeur de Terre that I helped to create when I was doing my work there on sabbatical. They may start serving them soon up at the vineyard, not because they feel they are completely ready, but because they are out of the 2010's! They better get that new vineyard planted as soon as possible.
