
VINTAGE
The 2006 vintage in the Arroyo Seco region of Monterey began with one of the wettest springs on record, with rain nearly every day in March—indeed a record. This unusual rain affected bud fertility, ultimately reducing cluster numbers (and consequently yields) in White Riesling. The growing season started warm, followed by very cool weather in June, July and August with the exception of a short heat spike during the third week of July. The combination of record spring rain, warm late spring weather and a cool summer encouraged slow ripening and ubiquitous Botrytis (the noble mold) development – so much so, that for the first time since 1995 we had ideal conditions to hand-select this fruit and produce a Late Harvest Riesling. We hand-harvested the Botrytis-affected White Riesling clusters on October 26th, destemmed and crushed the fruit and let it sit overnight in the press before gently removing the free run nectar at 31.1º Brix with 7.7 grams per liter of acidity the following day.
Vineyard
The Bay Mist vineyard lies just east of Cypress Avenue in the heart of our early Greenfield vineyard plantings which surround our lone iconic Monterey pine tree in the Arroyo Seco AVA. The vineyard has some original White Riesling on its own roots planted in 1972, and some White Riesling vines planted in 1995. The soils are largely Chualar loam, underlain by stones deposited from the Arroyo Seco over the millennium. The winds of the Salinas Valley are particularly intense in the Bay Mist vineyard due to its position at the beginning of an elevated plateau just to the north.
-------------------------------------------------
Technical Data
Composition: 100% White Riesling
Harvest Date: October 26th, 2006
Process: Hand harvested, early morning, destemmed and crushed into press for 18 hour skin contact, press to 0.6 bars
Harvest Chemistries: 31.1° Brix, pH=3.43, 7.7 g/Liter Total Acidity
Vinification;
Yeast: M2
Fermentation: In stainless steel tank for 21 days
Post-Fermentation: Racked off of gross lees, cold stabilized, fined and sterile-filtered after 3 months in tank
Maturation: 45 days in stainless steel post fermentation
pH at Bottling: 3.16
Alcohol: 12.3% by volume
Residual Sugar: 10.81 g/100 ml
Bottling Date: January 18, 2007
--------------------------------------------------
Winemaker's Comments
After an eleven-year absence, we are proud to reintroduce the 2006 J. Lohr Bay Mist Late Harvest White Riesling, which is light golden yellow in color with Botrytis-induced aromas of dried apricots, peaches, pears and candied oranges. The enticingly high 10.3% residual sugar is wonderfully balanced by the wine’s crisp acidity and 3.16 pH, creating a versatile wine to be enjoyed on its own as dessert, or paired with fruit sorbets or pears baked in cream.
Jeff Meier, winemaker
Other products in the category VINEYARD SERIES:
2004 Hilltop Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon -- VINTAGE
September 11th was the first day of harvest for Hilltop Vineyard blocks 55 and 56. Back-to-back low rainfall years in 2003 and 2004 produced very low yields and very tiny Cabernet berries. Particularly in the Hilltop block we are trying to provide dappled and not direct, sunlight on the fruit to protect the anthocyanin pigment from damagingly high temperatures. In the Hilltop Vineyard, we . . .
2005 Hilltop Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon -- VINTAGE
The 2005 vintage offered a welcome respite after two consecutive years of draught in Paso Robles. The vines seemed to awaken with enthusiasm from the generous winter rainfall, not only with a healthy crop, but with bold and generous dark cherry and black currant fruit varietal expression which is the hallmark of this great Cabernet winegrowing region. Ripening occurred slowly in 2005, with . . .
2005 Arroyo Vista Vineyard Chardonnay -- VINTAGE
The 2005 vintage in the Arroyo Seco was a welcome respite from the short, warm vintages of 2003 and 2004. Early March bud push in the Chardonnay was met with abundant spring rains, followed by a long, cool growing season. These ideal conditions allowed intense flavor development and acid preservation in a slow and even ripening of the Arroyo Vista Chardonnay fruit. Harvest commenced on . . .
2006 Arroyo Vista Vineyard Chardonnay -- VINTAGE
The 2006 vintage in the Arroyo Seco region of Monterey County showed a return to near-normal rainfall of eleven inches, with cool, windy, Salinas valley weather throughout the growing season. Coming on the heels of the abundant 2005 crop, the 2006 Chardonnay crop was lighter than average, and produced intensely-flavored fruit. The ideal growing conditions promoted a slow and even flavor development . . .
2006 October Night Vineyard Chardonnay -- VINTAGE
Coming on the heels of a large 2005 vintage, 2006 saw a return to a winter of average rainfall (which is about 11 inches in Greenfield), a mild spring, and a more typical Chardonnay crop. I also made a conscious decision based on a tasting early in 2006 to let our Dijon and Musqué Chardonnay clones ripen more fully and create grapes of greater volume and texture. Both the weather and cluster . . .
2003 Carol's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon -- VINTAGE
2003 was an outstanding vintage for our St. Helena Vineyard. As with the previous year we were lucky enough to have the Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes ripen at the same time and facilitate “co-fermentation.” This is the practice of making a field blend or fermenting the varieties together to enhance the marriage of the wine and the stability of its colors and tannins. We harvested . . .
2006 Carol's Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc -- VINTAGE
2006 could almost be called “A Tale of Two Seasons.” The first half of the vintage saw some very warm (unseasonably) late spring weather, followed by a major cooling period at the beginning of June. With the exception of a 10-day relentless heat wave in July, the final three months of the 2006 growing season were very cool – pushing ripening back two to three weeks. This vintage marks the . . .
2006 J. Lohr Fog’s Reach Vineyard Pinot Noir -- VINTAGE
2006 marks the inaugural vintage of our J. Lohr’s Fog’s Reach Vineyard Pinot Noir. Grown on cobbly, sandy loam soils of the cool, windy Arroyo Seco appellation of Monterey, Pinot seems to thrive, producing tiny, deeply colored and flavorful clusters. Comprised of Dijon clones 115, 667, 777 and Pommard 4 grown on two different rootstocks, the Pinot Noir grapes were hand harvested, destemmed . . .
2007 Carol's Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc -- VINTAGE
The 2007 vintage got off to an early start with bud break occurring in late March in St. Helena, followed by a warm, dry spring and early summer with scant rainfall. Additionally, what looked to be an average year in terms of cluster numbers and thus yield turned out to be a very light vintage due to fewer and lighter berries per bunch of both greater flavor and acid retention. This all . . .