Harvest Updates: The end of harvest — Cabernet Sauvignon (Part 1)

Sean W. McBride Letters from Napa Valley

Part 1: Harvest comes to a close on 2024 today with the last block of our Cabernet Sauvignon, with Orion high in the southwest sky and a full moon overhead. And now that harvest is over, queue the music, this is when I get all melancholy and reminiscent about all the things that could have gone wrong but didn’t and happened to go right, or maybe I’m just exhausted today. We started at 4am and pulled in 3.0105 tons of Clone 337, which tends to be our “reserve” grade selection which will ferment in Beta Tank, and 2.019 tons of Clone 169 which will ferment in Alpha Tank and likely will form the backbone (i.e., structure) of our Estate Bottled Red Wine.

Similar Posts

  • Harvest Updates: The end of harvest — Cabernet Sauvignon (Part 2)

    Sean W. McBride

    Part 2: It’s been such an incredible vintage I don’t even know where to begin with extolling 2024’s virtues. Extremely high sugars and low pHs with lots of acidity on the midpalate that is balanced (at least in the wines that are just finishing fermentation now — our Merlot blocks, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and…

  • Early Colors and Ancient Glass

    Sean W. McBride

    On July 21, we captured a season in motion: in our Block 3 Merlot, which has been dedicated in the two years to our Cuvée Spéciale — veraison has just begun. Barely ten percent of the berries show their deep violet hue among the foliage. Steps away in our Cabernet Sauvignon clone 47 block 1,…

  • On the 2024 Vintage

    Sean W. McBride

    Harvest is slowly coming to a close here in Napa Valley, and so far, I have to admit, it’s been exceptional. The late spring and early summer were mostly hot and bright, forecasting strong vegetative growth for next year.  Towards the end of July the temperatures began to cool, and we had a generally mild…

  • Harvest update: on the 2025 vintage

    Sean W. McBride

    Feels like time for a belated conclusory paragraph about the 2025 vintage, which was marked by highs and lows, and could have used a couple more highs. Since I last wrote at the end of September, when we had just racked Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to tanks and barrels, we have concluded harvest. Two days…

  • Harvest Updates: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot

    Sean W. McBride

    Happy to report: It’s been a delightful harvest so far. We harvested our Merlot, Block 3,  on October 2, followed by Block 2 Merlot on October 4, along with our Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot from Block 1 the same day. We returned Saturday October 5 and harvested the remainder of Block 1 — all…

  • Cooking with Crosby Roamann: Penne with Fresh Tomatoes and Mozzarella

    Sean W. McBride

    When I was a teenager in New York City, some friends of mine would always visit this restaurant, Mezzaluna, on third avenue on the upper east side of Manhattan. Back then, Mezzaluna was probably the nicest, fanciest, most expensive Italian restaurant I had been to, and it was very different from the kinds of Italian…