A mild spring, not too much rain and, other than birds (we’re not the only ones who love grapes), local winemakers say 2014 is an almost ideal harvest.
“It was a good year, hot and dry, no mildew, no pests, we didn’t have to spray anything,” said winemaker and winery owner Guy Drew, ticking off the felicitous conditions of this year’s growing season.
As for what flavors he’s expecting from the alluring little orbs he and his crew are busy picking this week in the McElmo Canyon area where he grows or buys much of his crop, he can’t say. That won’t happen until the harvest is in and the complex process of turning grape juice into wine, that holy potion once reserved for the gods, is upon him.
But beyond the propitious conditions Mother Earth awarded Four Corners’ winemakers, it granted Drew a coveted thing – red-wine-producing grapes. They’ve been in short supply the past three years, which prevented him from making his heavenly port.
She was equally generous with Fox Fire Farms Winery and Vineyards in Ignacio, producing the biggest crop owner Richard Parry has ever harvested in his 10 years of winemaking.
“We kept thinking, ‘One of these days, one of these days,’ and this is it, the day has finally come,” he said, rejoicing in the abundance of his French-American hybrid, Marquette. It’s a cross between a burgundy and a Bordeaux grape and resistant to cold, mildew and black rot.
Cold and wind are a grape’s worst enemies, so now is the hour to harvest, with all four local wineries rushing to get the fruit off the vine. But there are always some unexpected hazards.
“We’ve had birds and raccoons eating grapes,” Parry said. “I didn’t know there were grape-eating raccoons.”
And the birds, ah, the birds had their way with the Wines of the San Juan’s vineyards, cutting into the grapes they had to harvest on their farm east of Bloomfield, New Mexico. That’s to say nothing of the bitter cold that hit in late fall, harming the white-wine grapes so badly that they’ll have to replant the vines, said winemaker Josh Arnold.
Such is the life of a vintner in the Four Corners, where a beautiful warm day can freeze overnight, a shifting wind can destroy acres of perfect fruit and Colorado’s famed wildlife – deer, birds and now, raccoons – can wreak havoc dining on choice crops. A bottle of wine made in the Four Corners is a miracle in itself.
Colorado and New Mexico are very new to the business of growing grapes for wine, and each year can feel like one more in a long line of experiments. But in the spirit of farming’s “local first” mantra, it’s worth supporting, says Star Liquors wine buyer Jolin Cordalis, who carries bottles from all four wineries.
“What if we really have a knack for growing grapes? If we local people don’t buy it, who the heck will?”
Arnold, for one, shrugs off nature’s inconstancy as just part of the job. While the infernal birds made off with the white-wine grapes, the red-wine baco noir came in abundance and in the highest quality he’s ever harvested. He said he doesn’t try for consistency.
“That’s not how winemaking is,” he said. “Each year is different, and you only have one shot at it. It’s not like you can go out and make a new batch.”
At the end of the harvest, you have the rest of the year to figure out how to do it better, he added.
But not all winemakers share that philosophy. Over at Sutcliffe Vineyards, also in McElmo Canyon, they seem to have winemaking pretty well figured out. Winemaker Joe Buckel aims to turn out consistently flavored wines each year, and he does.
So even though wind damaged the grapes for his best-selling syrah, the small crop he did harvest will make an even more delicious wine. That’s because, in the perverse world of grape farming, often the more difficult the conditions, the higher quality the crop.
In this instance, winds came during the flowering, making it difficult for the vines to produce fruit. The grapes that survived, however, have more concentrated flavors because the plant had fewer berries to feed. Thus, Buckel expects the syrah and the petit verdot, both from single vineyards, to be 2014’s blockbusters.
For those of us eager to judge whether he hit his mark, we’ll have to wait. Sutcliffe won’t release it until late 2016 or early 2017. It’s only after the harvest that winemakers go to work, fermenting, storing, aging and ultimately, making magic. That takes a number of years.
A wine’s quality is due in part to the character of the grapes themselves, but a goodly portion is attributable to the wizardry of the winemaker.
“For a wine, it’s the winemaker that makes it,” Drew said, laughing as he conceded that his ministrations to nature’s produce make or break the flavors in the bottle.
So while it’s too early to anticipate what will come of this year’s harvest, he’s happy to tout the 2012 cabernet he’s about to bottle. It has nothing less than great fruit, firm tannins, good mouth feel and a long, velvety finish, says its maker. It’s good for cocktail hour or with dinner, pairing well with red meat or a braised dish like braciola. (If you’re looking for a scrumptious white, check out his Russell Vineyards 2010 Riesling.)
Buckel, too, has bragging rights to a big, beefy red, earning 90 points from Wine Enthusiast this month for Sutcliffe’s 2011 Colorado-grown cabernet franc.
If you want a super-fruity white for the season’s last warm days, Cordalis suggests Wines of the San Juans’ Blue Winged Olive Riesling, named after a fishing lure. Arnold is hoping you’ll try his muscat – an aromatic Italian varietal drunk after dinner in its home country – for which he earned a gold medal from the Fingerlakes International wine competition in New York.
And Parry says his 2013 gewurtztraminer should also claim the attention of white-wine fans in search of something not too tart, not too sweet, but just right with its floral and citrus notes.
A good grape harvest bodes well for the Four Corner’s wine lovers. I’m toughing out the wait for the 2014 vintage by stocking up on the best of 2011’s local wines. It’s a long winter, after all.
phasterok@durangoherald.com
