2008, Another Dynamite Vintage at Blasted Church...
Phew! Another growing season at Blasted Church's 41 acre estate vineyard has come to an end. Post-harvest is a welcome time for the vineyard staff to put the vines and irrigation system to rest for the winter, and for the winery crew to continue their magic.
Based on what is currently developing in our wine barrels and tanks alike, the 2008 vintage is excellent. Read on for the 2008 vineyard story.
A long, cool spring greeted us at the beginning of the growing season. Depending on the grape variety, budburst arrived in early May, one to two weeks later than normal. The later start to the season gave us some extra time to complete annual maintenance tasks, fertilizing, installing more water-efficient dripline irrigation, and putting in a new main line for our lake-fed irrigation system.
We pulled out two acres of Optima and in early May, replanted with two clones of Sauvignon blanc. Clone 1, widely planted in New Zealand, and French clone 159 were chosen for their herbaceous and green fig characters. Organic applications of humic acid solution, beneficial soil microbes, seaweed extract, and natural fish-based fertilizer were made in this block and others in order to boost soil and vine health
Removing suckers from trunks, thinning out extra shoots and training rapidly growing shoots occupied our dedicated vineyard staff throughout May and June. Bloom occurred mid to late June, one week to ten days later than normal. July and August were typically warm and very dry, but were interrupted by a few storms. Winds reaching over 100 km/hr ripped through the valley on July 10th. Compared to some vineyards we fared quite well. Just one backbreaking day was spent replacing broken posts, fixing destroyed wires and re-tucking fallen shoots. Thankfully no crop damage was observed. Early August rain storms gave us a much appreciated break from having to irrigate. The Blasted Church Weather Gods were looking favourably upon us as we escaped the hail damage experienced by others. We were however extra diligent with disease monitoring and prevention.
It is necessary to adopt as many sustainable grape growing practices as possible in the vineyard. One goal of ours is to reduce the width of weed-controlled strips at the base of the vines, and widen our mixed grass/natural weed inter-rows. By increasing the width of the vegetated inter-rows we can reduce erosion and degradation of precious topsoil, reduce compaction from tractor passes, and provide more habitat/food for beneficial insects. This season we purchased a wider mower (6 feet) and already the inter-rows have been expanded.
August is an exciting month when fruit starts to undergo veraison (ripening). Sugars accumulate, acid levels decrease, and berry colour changes are initiated. In general, veraison was delayed throughout the vineyard in 2008, encouraging us to pay careful attention to crop levels. Anticipating a later harvest than normal, we conducted slightly more fruit thinning particularly in the red varieties in order to ensure optimum ripeness. Very little bird scaring was necessary this season, and wasp populations were not as bothersome as usual either.
As always, we harvested our 14 varieties of estate-grown fruit by hand. Fruit was picked based primarily on its flavour/aroma profile, and when sugar/acid levels were to our winemaker's satisfaction. On September 26th we eagerly harvested our first fruit of the season, Optima and Sauvignon blanc. While the Gewurztraminer matured on the vines a full month longer than in previous years, early tasting in the winery indicate beautiful floral flavours and aromas. With slightly smaller bunch sizes this season than in previous years, our estate Ehrenfelser and Chardonnay Musque shine through, packed with peach, apricot, and tropical notes.
The first red variety to be picked was our hillside Syrah on October 13th. Consistently award-winning in quality (2006 British Columbia Lieutenant Governor Award of Excellence) this fruit displays a great balance of sugar, acid and tannin levels combined with complex flavour/aroma profile (bacon, pepper with darker fruit characters). Not to be overshadowed, our estate grown Pinot noir, Cabernet sauvignon, and Merlot are promising excellent varietal character.
Crop yields overall this season were at average levels. Fruit was exceptionally clean and healthy, and very little manual fruit culling was necessary on our sorting machine. Thank you very much to our dedicated vineyard crew. You have made this vintage yet another Blasted success. Cheers!