Summer Winemaker's Report

As of today, July 14th, we are seeing only a small amount of color beginning to develop in the red berries. This is what we call Veraison, (Ver-ray-shun), it is a French term meaning the onset of ripening. It’s hard to believe that in only a few more weeks we’ll begin the task of taking samples from all of our vineyards to monitor the ripening process. This means the start of harvest is less than 8 weeks away! 

I’m frequently asked about how the drought is affecting the us in the wine business. We are fortunate, at the moment, to have ample water supplies both in our vineyards and at the winery. However, we are hyper-vigilant with our water use and are ensuring there are no water leaks so as not to waste water. Waste not – want not, right? With the weather conditions being what they’ve been, we’ve only had to minimally irrigate our vineyards once this year so the vines are not needing too much.

I consider this a good thing. Our ultimate goal is to promote the roots to grow as deep as possible where three things happen.

1. The temperature is consistent.
2. The humidity is consistent.
3. Deep down is where I believe the Terroir of the site is found. This is where the vines and fruit can truly express the sense of place that is so important to our winemaking philosophy here at Renwood.

 
Over the next several months several of our new 2013 wines will be released and we are very excited about this! The fruit and power of this vintage is not like anything I’ve seen for a long time. Did you know that we only make 200 cases of each of the wines that are poured in the tasting room? We will always strive to make wines that have typicity of variety and typicity of site. Wines that are delicious, interesting and unique. We are passionate about sharing only wines of the highest quality, and wines that make you think.
 
Warm Regards,
Joe Shebl