2016 Harvest at Bookcliff Vineyards - Best grapes and best weather

The harvest at Bookcliff Vineyards is in full swing. We are crushing reds on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The grapes are absolutely gorgeous this year. What a blessing. And the weather is cooperating. Sunny and dry with cool nights and warm days. This year Bookcliff will be making Late Harvest Muscat Blanc again. These are perfect conditions.

Merlot in Bloom at BookCliff Vineyards

Most people are not aware that grapes bloom, let alone what they look like. It is a rare sight, as just for one week in late spring the tip of the grape clusters burst into tiny yellow flowers emanating a sweet smell. This year is especially magnificent as the cluster in particular of the Merlot grapes are almost twice the size of usual. I was fortunate to visit the vineyard in Palisade this week and snapped a picture. Enjoy!

Spring in the Vineyard at BookCliff Vineyards

Chardonnay after the storm

2015 has been an early spring in Colorado with warm weather starting in March. Orchards and Vineyards are about three weeks ahead of schedule. But, on April 16th we had a little bit of a scare by having a snowstorm pass through wine country, covering the sprouting vines in a white coat. Luckily the temperatures warmed up and snow turned into rain, gradually defrosting the vines (Chardonnay). Everything is well and good in the vineyard. The vines are looking good just two weeks later.

Riesling two weeks later

Wine in the Spring

BookCliff Vineyards is busy topping off barrels, filtering and bottling wine, and labeling the next vintage! Justin and Will have been a part of BookCliff's wine maintenance and health throughout the years. It is important to monitor the wine as it ages in barrel. Important tasks such as topping off keep the wine from oxidizing. Other duties of a winemaker during this time include walking the vineyards and checking for bud break to determine fruit production. John finds himself visiting Palisade often and talking with our vineyard manager, Prescott, about maintaining the vines as they start to see buds. So far, 2015 is turning out to be a great year for vineyard managers in Palisade! We are looking forward to a great harvest!
Cheers!

Colorado Terroir Similar to Argentina

It is all in the soil. And the climate. And not to forget the elevation. When we visited the vineyards in Mendoza, Argentina we were surprised to find similar growing conditions. Sandy loam soil with rocks embedded and a dry, arid climate requiring irrigation during the entire growing season. Argentina, especially in the Uco valley can boast more rocks, through the rocks are fewer in Colorado they are bigger. Both areas depend on the run off from the snow pack in the mountains, which feeds into the Colorado river and flows right through Palisade. In Mendoza the consensus is that grapes grown in higher elevations make better wine. The highest locations in the Uco valley, 45 minutes South of Mendoza are at 4900 feet. The BookCliff Vineyards in Palisade are at 4600 feet. As a result Colorado wines taste more like the wines in Mendoza than in California and the same grape varieties are used to make world class wine - Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot.

Harvest Season

Harvest season has arrived! John and Ulla have been down to Palisade quite a bit this summer, walking the vineyards with Prescott- our vineyard manager, to estimate crop production for this year's harvest! Muscat Blanc will be the first varietal picked and trucked up to Boulder to kickoff harvest! We can't wait to start receiving fruit in a couple of weeks! Come on over to the winery this September and October to check out the crush pad! Cheers!

No Rest for the Winemakers!

Winemakers really have no downtime in their industry. Harvest is the most exciting time of the year when all the fruit arrives! After harvest, winemakers are continuously monitoring the health of the wine, bottling new releases and bringing in new barrels for future vintages! Our Winemaker, John, is down in Palisade walking through BookCliff’s vineyards, making sure the vines are producing quality fruit for harvest 2014. Walking the vineyards early in the year and checking the vines will help John make better estimates on fruit yields for the coming months. Justin, our Assistant Winemaker, is busy washing new barrels, pumping wine into barrels and monitoring its health in the cellar! Everything our guys are doing right now are critical steps to ensure we bring in the right amount of fruit during September and October and have enough tank and barrel space for all products. Stop by the tasting room either Thursday or Friday to check out the action! Cheers!

Warm up with Chambourcin

Colorado has been experiencing some extremely cold temperatures. Many folks have had trouble starting their cars and keeping their homes warm with temperatures dropping into negative degrees. Palisade is typically warmer than Denver, including its surrounding areas. Boulder averages temperatures between 25-26 degrees F  during January and February, while Palisade averages temperatures between 30-36 degrees F during the same months. The average annual snowfall in Palisade is 3.1 inches during February, compared to 12.7 inches in Boulder. BookCliff's vineyards are overseen by Prescott, our vineyard manager. He pays close attention to the conditions of the vines and works hard to bring forth the best crop possible. The winter is always worrisome with the vineyards and we can only hope for better results each year.

Chambourcin is one of our hybrid varietals that can withstand temperatures from 0 to -5 degrees F. It produces a dark purple wine, exhibiting notes of black cherries, spice and plum. Stop by our tasting room to check it out! Stay warm!
Cheers!
*Data is taken from http://www.usa.com/

Digging in the Dirt at BookCliff Vineyards

We at BookCliff Vineyards are working on improving our Vineland's vineyard in Palisade and are replacing our furrow irrigation system with a micro sprinkler system. We received a grant from the NRCS to pay for half of the materials. To save and make the installation of the sprinkler system less expensive we are doing the labor ourselves. Before Thanksgiving John, Michelle from Creekside Cellars and Prescott, Jose and Camerino, our employees at the farm went to task and put the trenches in for the new sprinkler system. The goal is to have the system working starting with the new season in May 2014.

Done with picking grapes at BookCliff Vineyards

We are done for 2013. The last grapes were picked and delivered on 10/18; Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. After taking a deep breath it is time to roll up the bird netting and stow it away. Bins need to washed and put back into the barn. And not to forget, there is finally time to fix what need fixing. The quantity of grapes is 45% of the 2012 harvest. Stand-outs are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot - something to look forward to about the 2013 vintage. Overall the 2013 growing season experienced record cold weather in January and record rains in September. So, let's wrap this up and hope for a better 2014.

Swamped with Grapes at BookCliff Vineyards

The long days are not over yet. We are still harvesting and still receiving grapes at the winery. This week we are getting Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin. The Cabernet Franc is the crown jewel making a wine unique to Colorado. Chambourcin is something new to us and we are still evaluating whether to use it for blending or make something totally new, a sparkling Chambourcin. Two more down and one more to come. Next week we will receive the final truck load with Cabernet Sauvignon wrapping up the 2013 harvest season. Luckily the weather cooperated for most of the time. Only once was it raining and cold all day.

2013 Harvest Started at BookCliff Vineyards

The crew in front of the press

Due to the low crop load and the hot days in late August and September the grapes are ripening quickly in 2013. We started our 2103 harvest with Muscat Blanc. Unfortunately we only harvest about one ton of grapes, as this variety experienced a lot of damage from winter freeze and spring frost. 2013 follows a year of abundance in 2012 where Colorado was blessed with good quantity and quality at the same time.
It looks like the different varieties are ripening quickly and we can expect to crush Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon next week.

Veraison in the Vineyard at BookCliff

We are sprinting towards harvest if the start date of veraison is an indication. As the crop load in the vineyard is lower the grapes are ripening faster. We are prepared for the bird flocks as the nets are on. From now to harvest the work that can be done in the vineyard is limited. With the nets on in-row weeding is not possible anymore and spray applications for powdery milldew are not possible. Now is the time to empty the tanks and order the yeast to get ready for the new crop to arrive in the winery.

BookCliff Vineyards Merlot Clusters in Early July

Lots of green berries on the clusters this time of the year. 2013 turns out to be a strange year in the vineyard. Some vineyards experienced a lot of damage from either the winter cold or the spring frost and have barely any clusters. Other vineyards that were spared have a normal size crop with big clusters. Merlot in Colorado often struggles with a pour fruit set or loose clusters. This is a healthy big Merlot cluster. Just within a month the berries will turn color starting their ripening process.

The grapes are Flowering in the BookCliff Vineyards

Last Thursday we visited the vineyards to see the progress the grapes are making. Due to the recent wave of hot weather the grapes are growing like weeks. Some of the varieties are flowering at the moment. One of them is the Merlot. As you walk down the rows you can smell the sweet scent. We keep our fingers crossed that it does not rain and that we won't have high winds while the grapes flower and set fruit. If everything goes according to schedule, we can expect ripe fruit in the middle of September.

2013 Crop at BookCliff Vineyards has a Rough Start

The 2013 crop had a rough season so far. January 2013 recorded the coldest temperatures in Grand Junction. The average high for January 38 degrees Fahrenheit and the average low is 17 degrees Fahrenheit. This January the daily high often did not reach 20 and the daily low dipped below -10 degrees Fahrenheit.
In addition we had three freeze incidents in March and April this year. All crops saw some damage. There will be no apricots or cherries this year. Peaches are between 40% and 50% crop depending the location and our vineyards on average will be only 50% productive in 2013. There is not much positive to report, except the crop count was faster and harvest will require less labor.

Global Warming in the Vineyard or Not



Healthy (alive) bud

 There has been a change in weather patterns in the past three years in the Grand Valley (Palisade area) where the peaches grow and the majority of the vineyards are in Colorado. It has gotten warmer over an extended period in the spring and summer in 2012, but the winters have gotten significantly colder than usual. 2010 and 2011 brought several cold spells from January through April causing significant bud damage or causing the vines to die back to the ground. In January 2013 the Western parts of the Grand Valley saw night temperatures as low as negative 14 degrees Fahrenheit. It looks like all vineyards experienced at least some bud damage in 2013. Farming means living on the edge and over the years I have gotten used to the fact that all the worrying does not help. Now is the time to dissect the buds to check on the damage and then adjust the pruning. In June after fruit set we will find out what damage the cold spell caused.


Dead bud





Meet Hazel our hardest working vineyard worker

Hazel in her Element

Hazel works from dawn to dusk; she is the first in the vineyard and the last to leave. She makes sure she knows were everyone is and that they are working hard. If a cat is in the vicinity this can be a challenge. Her forte is chasing birds out from under the bird netting. She can jump as high as the fruiting wire. If the work gets too boring she finds a cane to chew on. She is the first to jump into the truck to go off to the next vineyard for some more work.  And at the end of the day she still has energy left to play. Who would not want to have Hazel on their crew.

A Great Time to be Had

We had picture perfect weather at the feast in the vineyard doing Palisade wine fest. Guillermo Casarrubias from Trattoria on Pearl brought his pizza oven all the way from Boulder to serve pizza with  Cabernet Franc Reserve 2009. But, the highlight was Lamb Ossobuco served with the best of the fest, our Reserve Syrah 2010. The finish of the evening was quite romantic as twinkle lights illuminated the dark sky. Given the great success there will be a repeat in 2013.  

The 2012 harvest is in Progress



2012 Chardonnay grapes



The 2012 spring was early and warm resulting in the vines butting out much earlier especially compared to 2011 which was a cool  and late spring. 2012 and 2011 could not be more different. In addition to the cool temperatures the spring run off was plentiful in 2011 thanks to the snow pack in the mountains. 2012 hardly saw a run off and the Colorado river was low for the entire spring season. As a result we find ourselves harvesting the grapes in August which has never happened before in our relatively short history of owning vineyards for 16 years. We picked Chardonnay on August 20th for sale to Plum Creek Winery in Palisade. Right after Labor Day we will pick some more Chardonnay and the Tempranillo and Muscat Blanc as well. We usually did not start harvest until the third weekend of September. The good news is we will be done sooner and won't have to crush and press in November when the days are shorter and it is dark earlier.

Tasting grapes for ripeness