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Summer
2005 Dear Friends, I remember sitting on my brother David's patio twenty years ago when he suggested that instead of selling our grapes we make our own wine. We would transform this small barn we used to store vineyard equipment into a winery. As of that date we had been farmers. The chardonnay vineyard we planted in 1980 had matured and we had sold our grapes for various wineries in the valley. The Hardy Boys start a winery. Never let a little lack of knowledge ever interfere with a great idea. We didn't have a clue what we were doing...we blew through the road block, warning signs and flashing lights. We were on a mission. Fast forward to harvest week: Having friends in the valley.
In rented gondolas attached to our pickup we made a series of trips with our load of freshly harvested chardonnay grapes to our good friend Spencer Clark's who had a new winery on the other side of Lake Hennessy up above the Meadowood Club. It was the "wild west" of crushing. The fact that all gondolas made it over to Spencer's was indeed a miracle. Tension ran a little high. Bad brakes, no trailer lights, hurling downhill with tons of grapes. No one would ride "shotgun"! Crushing the grapes was uneventful. Just throw the grapes in Spencer's press (a great old machine which I am certain he's replaced), throw in a little yeast and we were off to the races. This stuff is not really that bad. Fast forward three months after bottling. How was it? Well it's a little like asking a mother if her baby is cute. We loved it! The alcohol content was 18-19%. Seems a little hot....Dave, what do you think? After a while even our friends had to draw the line. This stuff was brutal! The beautiful thing about friends is that they have a great way of completely forgetting those days. (Yes, David and I both suspect brain damage.) What is really important today is that it is late summer 2005 and our 2003 wines which are being released this year are the finest wines we've made.
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We're not exactly
certain how we got here. We have survived our share of the "Hail
Mary's" and business plans that could have been a little more sophisticated.
Nevertheless, all seems looking in the rear view mirror. Brother Bob's new project Montagna, will be releasing its 2003 vintage this November. If you are interested in being on the Montagna list please visit (www.montagnavineyards.com)
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