NEWSLETTERS    RACK 'N' ROLL

The 2007 Vintage

As this year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on the recent harvset. I look to Mother Nature for guidance and past vintages for comfort. A day does not go by without someone asking "how’s this vintage going to be?" I usually say it is going to be good, just another great year in California.

In 2007, there were drought-like conditions throughout the growing season (not uncommon to the state), encouraging growers to irrigate more than they typically do. The dry conditions scared many vintners as this usually indicates an early harvest and vintners are notorious procrastinators. Fortunately, climatic conditions were very moderate and forgiving, even near harvest. It never got really hot nor cold throughout the growing season. Now you ask, "so what does this mean for quality?" Quality is quite high when these interactions occur. Grape berry size is quite small and undiluted, concentrating flavors as ripening progresses. Grape extraction is very easy to achieve, balancing supple tannin with crisp acidity. Lastly, subsequent wine color is quite intense and easily extracted in red varietals.The down-side to these vintage conditions is that yields are low for many vineyards, making it more costly to farm per given vine. Also, wineries tend to have extra barrels and supplies in anticipation of an average sized harvest.

As for Testarossa, I saw all of these above conditions for this harvest which was quite the opposite from what we saw in 2006. Instead of asking, "where am I going to fit all this wine", I was saying “I can’t decide which new barrels to use since I have extras to choose from.” This was a good problem as we were over-prepared for the peaceful rate of fruit ripening and smaller crop size. This trickling of fruit into the winery kept the crew relatively fresh which is rare during harvest. Also, this enables us to give each batch of wine 20-30% more attention (we had a 20-30% reduction in projected crop size) than during the average harvest.

Thus so far, the 2007 vintage is looking to be some of the best wine that has been produced at Testarossa. Incredible richness, complexity and balance are found in the wines produced. The production crew, vineyard crews, and Mother Nature all worked passionately, in unity, striking ultimate balance. And that is my goal for Testarossa wines.

Bill Brosseau
Winemaker