Vintage Update May 2005
Spring Report, May 2005
Eric Miller, Winemaker
As it is, the 2005 crop level looks good. While some buds took a hit in February, and there was some frost damage, it looks now like clusters are well-formed and only leaves show irregularity. Fact is, I won't really know what God gave us until a week or two after flowers are fertilized in June. And if this cool weather keeps up, I won't know until July!
Things are definitely moving irregularly and slowly. For example, Vidal Blanc and Cab vines vary from 2 to 14 days behind. Even Chambourcin is not able to make up its mind as to whether or not to grow or hold. Right now it is in a weird kind of limbo. Apparently this cool season is not to its liking. At the same time, leaves are a rich green, suggesting good nutrition and readiness to push. But oddly enough, those varieties jump in the heat of summer, when other varieties become nascent. Figure that one out!
Much more satisfying is the progress of Chardonnay and Barbera. Some of our grower’s Chard is on time and others are... just hanging out. Our own Miller Estate Chardonnay is hot and popping, with faint signs of frost damage. Again, we wait until flowers become berries. But I have my hopes up for Barbera. And the past two visits to the Sangiovese vineyard would seem to bear out great expectations for this year’s Due Rossi (are my dark Italian roots showing?).
The only nothing-can-touch-me variety this year is Cabernet Franc. Close behind is Merlot. Who knows”? Maybe a Cheval Blanc type blend for 2005 Merican that is prominently Cab Franc? That would hearken to the wonderful 1999 Merican with almost 50% Cab Franc. But we have just sat down to the card game and the game is played for another five months.
Life in the Chaddsford Cellar
On the cellar side, bottlings are going far better than we can usually count on, except for a delay in glass for the 2004 Riesling (maybe the best combo of mineral and fruit we’ve seen in a Riesling in a few years). Already released is the BRILLIANT 2004 Spring Wine. It is my absolute favorite Spring Wine since we started -- similar to the very good ’03, except that ’04 was simply a better vintage. Big fruit in the nose, not quite as sweet as last year, but a cool wet mouthful of grapefruit, peaches, apple and apricots with zingy acidity. Also on the shelves is the ’04 Pinot Grigio, with a NY appellation since there was simply no PA Pinot Grigio available in the ’04 vintage. Would love your comments on whether you detect any differences!
A New Super Tuscan Blend
 After the lighter, almost Beaujolais-style ’03 vintage reds, I’m very happy to be back in bed with some super sexy ’04 reds. You may already have read about our new little “gem”, Rubino, a Super Tuscan blend (primarily Cab Sauv, Sangiovese and Merlot). We are loving its strawberry/cherry fruit wrapped up in fine grainy tannins and a smooth body. By making this hunky blend we used up our limited resources of top tier Cabernet Sauvignon, so, there will be no Cab S for ’04 -- but we do have one complete Merlot (20% Cabernet) already speaking of jammy fruit compote and chocolate!
Our other Italian, ’04 Due Rossi -- 50% Sangiovese and 50% Barbera from the Miller Estate -- has gained some real depth as the vines continue to age. As rustic as Barbera can be, this “two red” blend definitely shows the suave side of that beast. Good ripe flavors, as you will find also in the ’04 Chambourcins.
Where the Big Boys are
The '04 Pinot Noirs seem to know they are on top of the world this year, and have taken their sweet time finishing fermenting. The Miller Estate Pinot just wrapped up and went into barrel, leaving the Barrel Select cuvče on its own, perking away mindlessly. The good news is ripe flavors, soft acids and moderate color; if we can just get through this late fermentation we'll be fine, though bottlings will likely be delayed.
Watch for '04 Rubino, Due Rossi, Chambourcin and Pinot Noir at this year's Barrel Tastings and sale of Futures in July!
View From The Vineyard
 As the '04 vintage wraps up in the cellar, I must now turn my attention to the new '05 crop on the vines. Let me begin by saying the winter has not been kind. We had a wonderful feeling of "this ain't no winter" up until February. Then we got that wonderful warm spell and in a 24-hour period we dropped from warm and weeping vines sunning in 60 degree weather to damned cold at about plus 10. Shallow-rooted vines like the young Shiraz took a hit and could not move their water into the roots fast enough and we took some damage. The hot sun and cold night froze and split trunks and cordons in the Cabermet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. At this point I do not know the extent of damage but at the least our pruning costs sky-rocketed to about 200% sorting dead wood and pulling it from the vineyard. The most painful thing was taking the calls from vineyard manager Brett about his beloved vines. Every ******* day for the past month. At this point his painfully conservative approach to pruning would appear to have saved most of the crop for '05, but we will see about June when the vines' internal mechanisms work or simply collapse under the load of a crop. I have not surveyed other vineyards yet but I hear there is some loss in the ones that were pruned before the Big Drop.
I'll know more in a few weeks when I begin to physically survey the other vineyards we buy from. Check for my updates here and come see how I'm doing at the July barrel tastings.
Eric Miller, Winemaker
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