News

Post harvest notes from John and Michael
11/15/2007

2007 Harvest, a season of contrast by John Killebrew, Winemaker

They say that California is the “land of contrast”, and this year, at this winery, was no exception.  We had lots of new equipment, new personnel, and new vineyards to get to know, but were fortunate to see that after emerging from the haze of harvest we can look back and see the same quality wines that we expect from Havens Wine Cellars.

After an early bud break and a mild spring and summer the late August heat put our Albarino harvest date at a relatively early September 1^st (a Saturday, of course).  Some merlot and cab started coming in soon after, and by the 19^th we’d crushed over 150 tons!  Last year, “in contrast”, the tally was closer to 20 tons at the same date.  But just as we had visions of a fast and furious season the weather put the brakes on all vine activity, and we brought in nothing for five days.  We utilized this break to actually prepare for the crush that had already started, by plumbing and wiring our newly installed tanks, writing home to mom, and darning socks.

Syrah from Carneros rebooted our season and by the end of September we reached the half way mark, having crushed around 225 tons.  The next two weeks were characterized by everything ripening at once, working 75 hours a week, neurotic weather watching, and no tank space in the cellar.  By Oct 15^th, the day before the rains really started, we crushed our last load; thus completing our second half of harvest in just two weeks. 

We spent last week putting all of the remaining ‘07’s down to barrels and topped tanks, and as of November 9^th we have approximately 1200 full barrels, one empty.  Another flawlessly planned crush!  Overall, this year’s wines exhibit great acid brightness, tannin balance, optimal ripeness, and extremely deep color.  We are looking forward to following these wines’ development and an exciting blending season.  After we re-familiarize ourselves with our families, that is.

Life in the Vineyards, 2007 by Michael Havens, Winegrower

No matter how good we are at turning grapes into wine, the qualities we end up with are determined by the growing season, from bud-break to harvest.  Our 2007 weather began with a heat burst in March, pushing the buds out early, then cooling for a moderate April and May.  Flowering occurred just after rains ended, in late May to early June, with most of our Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah vineyards setting a “normal” crop.

Though we started warm and early this year, each successive month was cooler than 2006 until we reached September, which actually pushed our total heat for 2007 a hair  above 2006.  July seemed downright chilly, with a little mist falling for a couple of days.  But the critical month for wine quality is August; as the French say, “Août fait le moût” (August makes the must).  And it was a lovely, moderate August, that is until the 28^th, when we had sudden push of heat that began our harvest suddenly and threatened to push all sugars to the picking point immediately.  But when temperatures returned to normal after four days, the vines did an amazing thing:  they neither shut down (which was a real possibility) nor kept producing sugars.  Rather, they went into a period of ripening without sugar increase—that is, acid, flavor, and phenolic maturity continued without sugars rising to a point that forced harvest.

When moderately warm weather (low 80s) returned around the 21^st of September, the vineyards were all ready to make the last increase in sugar and flavor that allowed us to bring them in.  Remarkably, the flavors of our grapes came to ripeness before the sugars—a pretty rare occurrence in California.  And the very cool nights in Carneros and lower Napa Valley kept the acids at a level for fresh and lively wines.  Equally encouraging were the absence of any “green,” under-ripe flavors and aromas, and the deep, intense color in all the wines (Merlot and Cabernet Franc with nearly the same color as Syrah—really!).

From the vantage point of November, which by the way is unseasonably warm, as the wines are slowly completing fermentation, it is safe to say that we have another fine vintage at Havens.  The fruit character is as forward and juicy as 2006 (think a 2002 knock-off there), but the wines have better structure and more color.  It’s too early to make predictions, but it’s safe to say that all of us in the cellar have big smiles as we’re tasting the 2007s.

Michael Havens

2007 Harvest Preparations
08/27/2007

In the Cellar

We are forging full steam ahead toward Harvest 2007 here at the winery and we're especially looking forward to our first Harvest under total solar power. Yes, our new solar panels are fully installed on the roof and we have all marveled at the electricity meter spinning backwards. It is certainly encouraging many of us to have solar energy at home, but only Michael has managed to accomplish it - Bravo Michael!

 Most of our new equipment has arrived. We are now the proud owners of a new wine press, five new tanks, a new fruit delivery system and new catwalks for the tanks.  Some were easier to receive than others, but all have been exciting additions and the cellar crew is itching to get their hands on them. We've managed to move all of the barrels into one room and plan to install a new humidification system soon. The good news is that this will help reduce the evaporation of wine, which means more for everyone. We also have a new winery software system to bring us fully into the new millennium, and although the cellar staff probably won't give up on their scribblings quite yet, they're excited to have much more data readily at their fingertips. John and Mike have spent many hot August days inputting information so we can use the new software this year. Thanks for all the eye-straining work guys!

 In the Vineyards

 The clock is ticking, the sunshine has been abundant, but we still experience our cool afternoon breezes and chilly nights.  All of this is pointing to an outstanding harvest, though we expect the overall crop to be slightly smaller than average.  We have been busy sampling the grapes to determine when we will fire up our new equipment and begin Crush 2007.

 We have also added some new vineyards to our stable this year.  The Toth Vineyard is perched on a steep slope outside of Napa and planted to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.  We are hopeful that this exciting rocky hillside will produce a wine worthy of a vineyard designate bottling.  We will also be getting Merlot from Red Door Vineyards in Carneros.  This tiny plot is densely planted and should provide solid wine for both our Napa Valley and Reserve bottlings.  Lastly, we have added a top quality Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard - Three Hills - managed by our good friend Doug Hill, who has produced top quality fruit from this site for several years.

Also of note, we grafted some of our Estate Vineyard this spring from Syrah to Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.  The vines are doing great.  They look very healthy and we are expecting a small crop from them in 2008. In order to balance our loss of Syrah grapes from the Estate, we were able to purchase more from our good friend Lee Hudson in Carneros. 

 In the Tasting Room

We've had some comings and goings in the Tasting room. After nearly 5 years our beloved Peter Robichaud has stepped down as our resident Wine Informant. Many of you have been great fans of Peter's and will be just as sad to see him go as we are. We hope to have Peter continue his associations with the winery and he recently joined us at a Concierge event we held at the winery. It was great to see him again and we wish him all the very best in the future.

Stepping in to fill Peter's shoes is Connie Parsons. Connie comes to us with many years of experience in the Tasting Rooms of Napa Wine Company, Clos du Val and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. She has immediately seized control of our Tasting Room garden, quickly transforming it into the pretty patio we knew it could be. Connie can be visited at the winery Thursday through Monday.

In early August we held an event to thank the local Inns and Hotels for all their referrals to our little "Haven". Rather than hire a catering company and do what every other winery does, we chose to make it as homespun and tasty as we could. We selected cheeses to go with each wine, discovering some new terrific pairings along the way. We cooked delicious fare to match each wine in our little winery kitchen. We brought out the Record Player from the cellar and John and José spun discs to keep all our guests happy. We all had our first names emblazoned on our shirts with Havens underneath - Michael never knew he had so many relatives. At the end of the fete, the staff all rested their weary feet by sitting down to dinner under the oaks. It was a perfect end to a lovely evening.

Guilding the Lily
05/02/2007

The good news in our neck of the woods is that the weather has warmed up - it is around 70 degrees today so we're all happy to start breaking out the short sleeves. April began with our usual celebration –Kathryn Havens’ birthday and the release of the new vintage of Albariño. There was the usual rush of loyal customers lined up for their share - always an exciting thing to see. We also shipped our first club of 2007 which this year included a larger allocation of this wine and we’ve heard back from many grateful members as a result.

Another celebratory note is that we produced a wine for the first Pinot Plus auction in Carneros along with grower Lee Hudson. It was a Syrah-Grenache blend called "Carnoso" (which means "fleshy" in Spanish) and it proved so delicious that it garnered the top bid of the day's auction, $4,000 for the 5-case lot!" We were all thrilled.

Another thing we are celebrating this month is our new cellar crew. As we mentioned in our “Wintry Musings’ note Jeff Keene, our former co-winemaker, has now moved on to pastures North and Walla Walla Cabernet –we miss him already but he’s been back for one visit so we hope we can keep encouraging that. John Killebrew, our co-winemaker for many years has officially stepped up and assumed the full winemaking role with gusto. He heads up, what we certainly consider, an ace team. We wanted to give you a little background on our new recruits and a little info on what is going on in the cellar.

  Mike Rayner -Assistant Winemaker

Mike was born and raised in rural Sonoma County.  From an early age he traveled the back roads of Napa and Sonoma counties among contrasting climate zones and physical features and watched as the wine industry grew.  Upon completing his degree from UC Davis, he started his career at Domaine Chandon in Napa Valley learning the sparkling wine process.  Eventually his interests turned to still wine and he became Assistant Winemaker for Carneros Creek Winery, specializing in Pinot Noir. While there he worked with legendary grower/winery owner Francis Mahoney.  Mike started working with us at Havens as Assistant Winemaker in January of this year.  As he puts it, “It's great to be a part of a strong production team with such a depth of experience and I'm looking forward to the great wines we will all make together in the future”

 Cruz Manzo - Cellarmaster

Wintry Musings
02/01/2007

I’m sure many of you will find it hard to believe (or sympathize) that we had nearly two weeks of morning frost and temps under 30°F in the month of January - unheard of around here. We promise this picture of Jeff, Michael and John (L to R) was taken earlier in the year. And even though we complain we really shouldn’t as frost this time of year doesn’t affect the vineyards. Thankfully, the yellow mustard flowers are peeping through the dormant vines, bringing with them bright color and evidence that spring is just around the corner.

Michael has left us all here to hold down the fort while he takes off for three weeks of warmer weather in the southern hemisphere. Don't worry we’re not letting him rest too much. His main order of business is a Cool Climate Syrah Symposium in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. While there, he plans on exploring New Zealand Syrahs with a group of international tasters, many of whom are Masters of Wine. Other planned ports of call include the wine regions of Nelson and Central Otago. The opulent part of the trip will be a stay at The Soneva Fushi Resort in the Maldives (Google at your own risk) where he and Kathryn will schmooze and share the Havens wines with many of the resort’s guests. We hope they’ll also get some much needed R&R while there, before leaving for the final part of their trip. Following New Zealand, they will take head to Singapore where they will host a winemaker dinner. Our importer there has long begged for Michael and Kathryn’s presence, so while they were in the neighborhood it seemed to make perfect sense.

In other New Zealand news, we are sorry to report that our own resident Kiwi, Jeff Keene, co-winemaker and friend for eight years, has decided to move his family to Oregon. Jeff will be the Winemaker at the shiny new Pamplin Family Winery making, no doubt fabulous, Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes grown in Walla Walla, Washington. We are certainly sorry to lose him, but we plan to continue our friendship for many years to come and also hope to convince him to share some of his new knowledge once he relocates. We trust he knows where to send the free samples! Please join us in wishing him, his wife Cherí and their children, Jacob and Julia, all the best in their new life up North. We will miss them here in Napa.

John Killebrew, currently co-winemaker with Jeff, will continue his role as winemaker. We are also delighted to announce that Mike Rayner has accepted the position of Assistant Winemaker -that way John won’t have to do all the work. Mike was formerly Assistant Winemaker at Carneros Creek for 5 years and has been helping us out in the cellar for some time now. Congratulations to them both. Michael, John and now Mike are all excited to continue making wine of great integrity and quality and in the style you have all come to love. Bring on the Spring and bud break!

Reserve Duo Debut: 2002 Hudson Syrah and 2002 Merlot Carneros

2002 Hudson Vineyard Syrah

Our 2002 Hudson Vineyard Syrah shows how much site can over-rule weather: it’s greater structure, spice, and length express the upper Carneros terroir, even in this very warm vintage.

92 points

Steve Tanzer
The International Wine Cellar

Deep ruby-red. Aromas of blackberry, cassis and mocha. Dense, sappy and sweet, with black fruit, pepper, spicy oak and saline nuances. Very youthful, varietally accurate Syrah. Finishes with firm tannins and a licorice flavor. (T Block is noted on the back label)

2002 Merlot Carneros

Equally splendid, the 2002 Merlot Carneros is already developed into a stylish wine: dark plummy fruit, subtle notes of baking spices and anise, and a broad-but-firm backbone.

89 Points

Steve Tanzer
The International Wine Cellar

Good ruby-red color. Riper, more roasted aromas of plum and animal fur. Fatter, plusher and sweeter than the Napa bottling, with very ripe flavors of plum, dark raspberry and chocolate. This expands impressively in the mouth, and finishes big and broad, with sweeter tannins than the Napa example and a late note of licorice. This cuvee typically evolves more slowly than the Bourriquot, notes Havens.

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