Getting dumped by Cabot

WINE TALK
21

Even more important, did he leave $ for cab fare on the dresser? [cry.gif]

22

Heard a rumor Cabot lost the '17 vintage to smoke taint?

True?

23

It’s true Brig. We will pick a ton or two, to try out some new products and techniques, but I don’t have much hope for eastern Humboldt fruit this year. The smoke is lighter than the past couple of weeks, but I feel the damage has been done. This is the third year out of five that we’ve received enough smoke to taint the fruit. We dumped or declassified all the 2013 Syrahs, and 2014 vintage as well. Now comes 17 again, even worse than 13 and 14. Like I’ve said, farming up here in the wilderness has huge challenges, but great rewards. The one truth is about farming, as in life, there are no guarantees. Mother nature is raging this year. There’s no cooling her down.

The good news is, our vineyard sources to the south and west of us, in southern Humboldt, havnt received the smoke we have and are very slowly ripening. We are hopefully the Pinots and whites will be fine.

24

That sucks.

I made a “donation” to the Cabot Fire Fund via your website shopping cart. LOL

Ship them when you think it’s safe. Still hot as hell in socal.

25

Man, that is awful. People talked about it here when the Gorge fire combined with eastern winds to push smoke and hot weather into the Willamette Valley. While it was hazy and ashy at times the general consensus from folks who have been through stuff like this before in CA is that it wasn’t nearly dense enough or long enough for this to be much of an issue. I hope that they are correct. I hope that you can get buy. I would guess there are plenty of grapes for sale up this way if you want to make a go with some of that. Short of fruit we are not this year it would seem.

26

I drove over the Fremont Bridge when the smoke was heavy in PDX and there was blue sky over the hills to the west. Several of the GK’s soccer games were canceled over the last several weeks, first from smoke blowing up from the south, then from the Gorge. John’s neighbors to the north must be hard hit from the Chetco Bar fire.

27

Yes the Chetco fire was much worse than what we were getting down here… according to smoke maps. We were getting a lot of smoke from that fire all the way down here.
Smoke taint is a very difficult thing to quantify. I’ve seen damage from relatively short periods of intense smoke. I’ve seen little to no damage from more extended periods of light hazey smoke. There are too many variables to say how bad it will be.
I’m going to stick to the fruit I have (two Pinot vineyards and some whites) from our two southern Humboldt vineyards that only got a couple of days of smoke. they are so close to the ocean the winds kept the smoke to the east, fortunately. Skipping making Syrah for a year isn’t the end of the world. I do all the work myself and own the properties out right so I’ll be fine.

28

Did you turn off the electric fence and let the bears pick the smoke tainted fruit?

If so, have video?

29

We have so much starling(bird) pressure here, they will have it cleaned up in no time.

Thanks for the order Brig.

30

Speak for yourself, I’m drinking one of them right now and it’s absolutely delicious :wink:

You know you have a great attitude when your customers are more worked up about the loss than the owner.

31

I just donated to the Cabot college fund LOL. And I said no more buying this year since I Gotta replace the home a/c unit…Opps.

32

Just ordered some of your '11 Humbolt. Cool climate for me. [cheers.gif]

33

John: Very sorry to hear about the smoke taint…some of those FB pictures were terrifying! Also very glad to hear that the Petrolia fruit was in good shape. Looking forward to the whites and trying the Elk Prairie again…it was very primary but seemed to have great fruit and lots of potential.


Cheers!
Marshall [berserker.gif]

34

We are all happy the fires are just about out. These recent rains have cleared the air in time for harvest.
Yes, that Elk Prairie needs time. Can’t wait for you and D to try the other 15 Pinots from down there as well as the whites.

35

Looking forward to the holiday season! I realize that it is always a problem to do the business/family juggling act. grouphug


Cheers!
Marshall [cheers.gif]

36

Drank the 07 Kimberly’s Syrah last night watching the World Series. Outstanding! Just great Syrah typicity, pepper and meat framed by restrained blackberry core. Exuberant but sturdy and consistently interesting. Well done mate!

37

I love buying the library offering you make during Berserkerfest, John and look forward to doing so again this year. Syrah is such a wonderfully versatile grape, I love both hot climate and cool climate, American, French, Australian . . . yum!