Harvest 2026 is a wrap!
Another Lodi harvest is all done. Our eleventh vintage! While all this info is fresh in my mind, now is a good time to review how this harvest went.
It was an early harvest this year, quite the opposite of 2025. What is unusual about this early harvest is that it wasn't caused by a hot summer, or September specifically - this year, September was quite cool relatively speaking. It was a warmer than average winter and spring that got vineyard development started early, and that carried all the way through.
The cool September meant very cool grapes hand harvested in the morning, which is always a good thing for winemaking - long, slow fermentations with plenty of time for skin extraction. This harvest started on September 7 with crushing Grenache and ended October 7 with pressing Aglianico. Compare that to last year's harvest, which started September 23 and ended October 25. Another nice thing about an early harvest is that we get to enjoy beautiful Northern California fall weather with harvest behind us. Last year, it went right from finishing harvest into winter weather.
On to what was harvested - all are one-ton lots of hand-harvested Lodi grapes. We started with Grenache on September 7 at 26.8 Brix, then Mourvedre came in on September 9 at 26.5 Brix. Syrah followed on September 15 at an aggressive 28.0 Brix, and finally Aglianico wrapped up harvesting on September 25 at 25.8 Brix.
The plan is to make a GSM from this year's harvest, our first since 2015. Hopefully that blend comes together to my satisfaction, while also allowing me to bottle the three components separately. I'm particularly excited about finally securing the first Algianico I've ever made. This is another one of those varietals I know next to nothing about, including what a good version is supposed to taste like. It will be an educational journey getting this to bottle.
While I watch the 2026's go through malolactic fermentation in barrel, I can turn some attention back to the 2025's, which should be ready for some barrel tasting. I'll be updating myself on the developmental progress of the 2025 Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc soon, and starting the label design process after that.
The other bit of news is we'll be releasing the 2024 Choral's Vineyard Clements Old Vine Zinfandel with the fourth quarter wine club release. It's been dealing with quite a bout of bottle shock, and last time I opened a bottle about two months ago, it seemed about half way through that. When it comes together, it will be quite an impressive and expressive OV Zin, and the highest ABV of any Drava Wines bottling at a stout 16.6% alcohol. That will be a winter wine for sure.
I'd like to thank all of our wine club members and people who have signed our registry book to receive these emails, and I look forward to your next visit to try some of these new wines.
-Steve
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