What’s New at Shafer

2009 Vintage at Shafer

Rich, ripe Shafer fruit harvested before October rains

Fans of wines with full flavor, rich color and a bit less alcohol will likely find 2009 their year of years, according to Shafer winemaker Elias Fernandez.

Thanks to a long, cool vintage with a made-to-order heat wave just before harvest, conditions were ripe for stellar wines. Because of the meticulous work in the vineyards, all of Shafer’s fruit was ripe and ready to harvest before the middle of October, which was fortunate.

“We dodged a bullet by having all our fruit ‘in the barn’ before the Valley got a two-day storm in mid-October,” says Fernandez. “This was no light shower. Our range gauge topped out at five inches.”

The season started with a mild, dry spring that offered a nicely timed late May rain.

“We were just starting to think about doing some irrigation,” says Fernandez. “The rain in May came at a good time. The moisture in the soil gave us lush leaf and shoot growth just before fruit set.”

Fruit set is a crucial moment in the vintage, as it sets the amount of fruit that will develop on each cluster.

“At set saw that the number of berries per cluster would be somewhat lower than average,” says Fernandez. “That translated into looser clusters in which each individual grape got a good amount of exposure to air and sunlight.”

By contrast, in fatter, tighter clusters some grapes toward the center will not get proper sun, which can lead to underdeveloped color. In addition, moisture trapped inside a tight cluster can create conditions for mold.

“Thanks to the looser clusters this year, we’re seeing stunning color in the wines,” says Fernandez.

The summer of 2009 was cool and mild. The high most days was no more than about 85 degrees, with lots of sun and cool nights.

As harvest approached the Shafer vineyard team, under the direction of Fernandez, pruned away a lot of additional fruit. In the Borderline Vineyard, a source for One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon, for example, the crew cut away up to a ton per acre.

This process is called “green harvesting” and it accomplishes two things. First, it controls the quality of the fruit, by pruning away any grapes or clusters that are not on track for ideal development. Second, it’s part of a subtler process of balancing each vine, ensuring that each vine has the right number of leaves, and an ideal number of shoots and clusters.

“A balanced vine in the vineyard makes a balanced wine in the cellar,” says Fernandez. It also keeps the grapes on track for uniform ripeness.

As the vintage moved closer to harvest, the weather did the right thing. Daytime temperatures rose into the 90s, bringing up sugar levels in the fruit. The nighttime temperatures, meanwhile, dropped dramatically.

“This is one of the biggest differences between 2009 and other years – a big disparity between daytime and nighttime temperatures,” says Fernandez. “During September when my sons would get ready for school with a temperature outside of 38 or 39 degrees – really cold. And by the time school was out for the day, the mercury had climbed into the ‘90s.”

This see-saw of heat and cold kept sugar levels climbing at a steady pace, while holding acidity levels in the fruit, creating an ideal balance.

This year the harvest team was able to pick at lower sugar levels – about a brix lower – when the fruit had reached delicious physiological ripeness.

“I think what we’ll see when the wines are released is the same concentration with slightly lower alcohol levels,” says Fernandez.

Because the Shafer team works each year to keep the vines in balance throughout the season, historically the fruit for Hillside Select is harvested between September 15 and October 1, which was the case this year. The latest site ready for picking is usually the Borderline vineyard, located at the southern end of Stags Leap District, which finished in line with previous years before the mid-October gully washer.

“As for how the wines will turn out, I’m seeing all the right the elements – color, full flavor, rich mouthfeel, balance. When these wines are released, I think our customers are going to be very happy,” says Fernandez.