I have no earthly idea why we would think that a
(completely arbitrary) date like April 15th means we are
out of the woods with regard to the occurrence of frost events at our
elevation. In 2008 we were wrong and so suffered at the fickle hand
of Mother Nature as did many of the Northern and Central California
vineyards that year.
In the very early morning hours on April 20, 2008 a
twenty-seven degree wind blew down from the Sierra and stayed on our
ranch for about seven hours. That, of course, was more than
long enough to cryogenically prune the fresh green primary
shoot tissue on all of the vines in both our Museum and Fait Accompli
vineyards. This had never happened before.
It was a mockingly comfortable 85 degrees later that
week and a benevolent warm summer/fall provided even ripening energy
for what little fruit we gleaned from the secondary shoots.
Smaller caliper, cane length, bunch size, bunch count and berries
left us with the smallest crop we have seen since our first vintage
in 1999.
The perverse upside is that, with a higher
solids-to-juice ratio, the wines from these two estate vineyards are
more deeply concentrated in their color, flavor and aroma
expressions.
They are also a bit more earthy and tannic and, frankly,
still want for a bit more cellar time.
As is our tradition, Fait Accompli 2008
"Cryo" is a co-fermented field blend of Cabernet
Sauvignon (clones 7 and 8 and 337), Cabernet Franc,), Malbec, Petit
Verdot, Carmenere and Merlot (clones 4 and 181).
After a long fermentation with two Bordeaux yeast
isolates, this wine was allowed to rest without racking in three new
Hybrid French/American oak barrels for over 30 months.
Fait Accompli 2008 "Cryo" was bottled
on May 24, 2011.
Sixty- six cases produced.
$60.
