Rain Catcher Vineyard

Paso Robles experienced record winter rainfall from December 2022 to March 2023. Rain totals for the season were nearly double the 30-year average, recharging the parched soil profiles after two years of drought-like conditions. Colder weather persisted through much of the growing season, with cloudy skies prevailing until the end of June. Veraison occurred during the second and third weeks of August, about two weeks behind schedule. Thankfully, near perfect warm weather continued through October and November. This allowed us to wait until late autumn to pick fruit with optimal flavor and anthocyanin development. We hand-harvested 17 boxes of Mourvèdre, 9 boxes of Grenache, and 2 boxes of Syrah to create this unique, field-blended, southern Rhône-style wine. The whole-cluster Grenache was crushed by foot and covered with destemmed Mourvèdre and Syrah berries to begin fermentation.