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2010 Wines

Vintage Notes

What a ride the 2010 harvest was!  The year started with a very wet winter, as we received above average rainfalls in Paso Robles after three years of drought.  This provided excellent leaching of the soil; a process that pushes the salts in the soil away from the grapevine roots, where they can no longer be taken up and absorbed by the vines.

The weather remained mild during the months of berry set. Together with the extra amount of moisture in the soils o f the vineyards, our vines were able to hang slightly above average amounts of fruit.  The summer temperatures were below the norm, providing cooler days than in most years.  In late summer, we were about 400 growing degree days below the previous 12-year average.  However, some high temperatures above 100ºF in late August provided us with a good start for harvesting our whites.

The 2010 Vina Robles harvest officially started on the night of September 9, about 2 weeks later than usual.  All our grapes are hand-picked during the night for quality reasons so that the winery team will receive the cool fruit at 6:00 a.m. in the morning.  The first variety brought in was Viognier from our estate Huerhuero Vineyard.  This variety turned out exceptional, with unique characteristics that warranted an individual bottling.  Viognier was followed by Sauvignon Blanc, Verdelho and Vermentino - the grapes for our WHITE⁴ blend.

Another heat spike during the last week of September gave a ripening boost to the varieties that crave heat, such as Syrah.  First, we brought in Syrah from our Huerhuero Vineyard, followed by Syrah from Ryan Road Vineyard.  Shortly thereafter we were able to pick Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon and things started to become hectic for our vineyard and winery teams.  Unfortunately, light rain during the first week of October put a short halt on harvest, which at this point was about 1/3 complete.  Rain is always unwanted during harvest.  Luckily, the weather quickly turned warm again and after a weekend of sunshine combined with a nice breeze, the grapes and the vineyard s were able to dry quickly and  harvest was back in full swing.  The 2010 harvest was completed on October 26 with Cabernet Sauvignon from our Creston Valley Vineyard.  The last fruit was brought in just before the first frost came over Paso Robles wine country during the night of October 27.

Overall, yields per acre were slightly higher than in 2009 and the 2010 harvest turned out excellent, especially for the early ripening varieties such as Viognier and SauvignonBlanc, as well as Syrah and Petit Verdot.  Nonetheless, some varieties, for example Petite Sirah, struggled with the lack of intense heat.  On the other hand, the longer hang time enabled us to pick the grapes at the optimal ripeness and at slightly lower sugar levels than in previous years.

Looking back at the 2010 harvest, we are happy with its quality.  Compared to other parts of California, Paso Robles wine country can be pleased with this past growing year.  We received more sunshine days and less rainfall during harvest than the North Coast and other regions.  So far, the wines taste fresh and are showing good fruit and acidity.  We are looking forward to releasing the first wines of the 2010 vintage this Spring.