Fall 2010 Newsletter

Another harvest is behind us and as we have grown we have undertaken many exciting projects.  We want to keep you up to date with the 2010 harvest, our 2009 Pinots that are being bottled soon, and our new winery location.  Of course, you can always check us out on Facebook or Twitter and talk with us about wine or anything else.

The 2008 Vintage Sold Out, but let us know if you want a bottle or two from the Library

We have sold out another vintage of Fulcrum and On Point.  It happened so quickly this year that it caught us a bit by surprise.  Luckily, we had already set aside some bottles for our library before we sold out, so we have some for future tastings and to evaluate the aging potential of each bottling.

If you were meaning to order, but didn’t get around to it and wanted  some of the 2008 please contact us at info@fulcrumwines.com and let us know what you would like.  We will try to accomodate as many members as possible with at least a few bottles of wine each.

2009 Bottling.  The first in our new winery facility!

In 2009, we shifted our production into a new facility, Bin to Bottle in Napa.  We had outgrown our first facility and wanted to upgrade our processes further. We now have more staff, and improved lab capabilities.  This means we can act quickly and thoughtfully with each lot to ensure quality throughout the life of the wine.  The result is some of our best winemaking to date.  Couple this with the excellent growing season in 2009 and we have some special Pinots in our line up:

2009 Gaps Crown Vineyard, Sonoma Coast-  This vineyard never disappoints.  The fruit provides  berry and underbrush flavors with a smoky edge.  Firm in tannins and built to age.

2009 Londer Vineyard, Anderson Valley-  Our first vineyard-designated Anderson Valley Pinot.  Expertly grown on the Londer Estate north of Philo, CA.  This is a wine of depth and elegance, but with a firm acid and tannin structure that bodes well for cellaring.

2009 ON POINT, Christinna’s Cuvee, -  Named in honor of my wife and partner. This is a special bottling.  A blend from three special properties-  Londer, Gap’s Crown, and Floodgate(Russian River).  All high end properties, but each provides a unique component to the blend.  Floodgate offers spicey floral aromas.  Gap’s Crown a juicy mid-palate, and Londer a ripe tannin that adds texture.  Beautiful and graceful.

All of these wines will be released in the Spring/Summer of 2011, but we will be pouring them earlier at events across the country.  Check out where we will be on our website event section.

2010s are in the barrel, and what wild ride.

2010 was ultimately a great growing year, but it was not without challenges. Here is the emotional roller coaster we went on:

Happy-  An abundance of rain over the winter left many of us excited that we would not face water shortages.

Worried- Unfortunately this rain carried into spring and we began to worry about potential issues with poor fruit set and the motential for mildew and mold.

Happy- A cool dry summer left the vineyards in great shape.

Worried-  This was the coolest summer in a long time and some farmers began to worry about not being able to ripen the fruit. This caused many vineyard managers to remove leaves shading the fruit to allow more light to penetrate the canopy and increase the ripening potential

Super Worried- As soon as the leaves were removed a heat spike well into the 100s hit Northern California.  The now-unprotected fruit was left to bake in the sun. Too much of a good thing caused total vineyard loss in some cases.

Relieved-  Many vineyards didn’t leaf-thin as much as first reported and much of the fruit was in excellent condition.  On top of that, the heat put the ripening back on track.

Excited- The cooling trend happened again and we saw weeks of hangtime(leaving grapes on the vine) ahead which would allow flavors to develop to perfection.

Not again!-  A heat spike came in early October that pushed Pinot Noir vineyards in many regions to try to pick.  This put a stress on the picking crews and made harvest logistics difficult.

What were we worried about?-

All of the Fulcrum vineyards came away more or less unscathed by the weather and the timing of heat waves and cool spells left the fruit perfectly ripe. Maybe the best harvest in a decade.

While Fulcrum is Pinot Noir focused, it is important to note that after our fruit was harvested there were still weeks to go for the Cabernet growers.  Rain and cool temps moved their harvest dates back and caused even more concern. We hope they all managed to get the best crops off the vines.  My guess is they did.  California winegrowers are a smart and dedicated group and we at Fulcrum appreciate all they go through to help us craft the best wines possible.

Thanks again for following our progress and we really think our very best wines have just been made. 

Cheers,

David and Christinna

http://www.FulcrumWines.com