The last few weeks have heated up in the vineyard and definitely put a new spin on the 2010 vintage. The dramatic increase in local temperatures has resulted in the grapes beginning to ripen faster and faster.  So now, many growers who talked of harvesting well into November, are now scrambling to get fruit in before it gets to ripe.

“It’s just a crazy year,” First Crush viticulturist Lowell Zelinski said. “Grapes that should be ripe, aren’t and some varieties that shouldn’t be ripe are already being harvested.”

Fortunately, First Crush is prepared.  We still have several locations and wine grape varietals to choose from for our remaining three harvest weekends. In order to ensure that we make your wine from only premium quality Paso Robles fruit, Dr. Zelinski and the rest of our viticulture team regularly visit vineyards all throughout the Paso Robles growing region to find the best fruit to use for our Grape Escape Harvest Weekend getaways.

While there is no shortage of fun during every Grape Escape weekend, we ensure that every First Crush event is geared to help you learn about the many aspects of the dynamic and exciting winemaking industry in Paso Robles.  How DO you go about finding the best fruit to make the best wines? How do you decide when a Syrah is ready to harvest versus a Cabernet Sauvignon? We hope that providing the answers to some of these questions will help to enhance your experiences with wine drinking for many years to come, even after you say farewell whichever Paso Robles we decide is fit to provide fruit for the custom wine you help make with First Crush.

At First Crush we take a bit of a different approach to vineyard selection than most wineries. Our harvest weekends are pre-determined to give customers the opportunity to plan their harvest getaway in advance. We select them based on typical ripening dates, but unfortunately the grapes don’t understand our need to have them ripened on a date that’s convenient for you or us.  So until Mother Nature registers for a First Crush harvest experience and agrees to play along, we’ll have to keep doing it the way we are now.

We are fortunate that here in Paso Robles, we have many micro-climates that offer varying stages of ripening among varieties and even from one vineyard to the next. We are also fortunate that our relationships with growers and wineries through First Crush and our vineyard management company – gives us access to many vineyards throughout Paso Robles.

The 2010 Vintage could be great one for Paso Robles.  The cooler summer day and nighttime temperatures have allowed for slower ripening, which generally improves quality. While the grapes had it good, it was a bit of a different story for the growers (and we don’t know the end of the story yet), but those who properly managed their vineyards could be rewarded with some fantastic quality fruit.

All of these things mean great things for First Crush customers.  There will be plenty of plump, juicy fruit hanging on the vine making for easy picking and the custom wine that we make for you should be superb. Here’s a look at this year’s crop and a preview of some of vineyard selections….

2010 Vintage Overview

While the unseasonably cool summer in Paso was generally good for grape quality if properly managed, there are some pros and cons for both the grapes and the grower. The chilly, damp summer mornings and evenings created some fairly heavy powdery mildew pressure early on, but in vineyards where the growers were aggressive with preventive maintenance, the crop did not suffer.  The much-needed rainfall created a bit of a challenge for vineyard floor management which also required aggressive maintenance. The cool weather also led to decreased shatter and inhibited shoot growth, while increasing fruit load.