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These are the vintages in which I am reminded of an ancient curse—I mean—proverb: “May you live in interesting times.” 2006 was nothing if not interesting.
We started out the year with one of the earliest budbreaks on record. This was quickly followed by some cool weather which slowed the vines down just as they were ready to take off. Rain ensued with warmer temperatures in June, leading to massive disease pressure. By July, the heat wave was on as many days above 90F followed. August was the same, although the cooler spring delayed veraison. The heat and drought-like conditions provided for smaller berries at harvest and better skin tannin development. September greeted us with rainy mixes where sunshine followed rain followed sunshine followed rain.
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| Chardonnay Picking at Allegro |
This was a year of patience and vigilance. I was good on the former, but lost a step on the latter. We lost half our Chardonnay to powdery mildew along with most of the other growers in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The rest of the vineyard remained clean, with one of the best canopies ever in Allegro history.
Ah, but the grapes. Who cares about disease and canopies anyway. I’m a winemaker. The reason for it all is in the glass. And 2006 provided a good to great grapes across the board. Here’s a short rundown of the vintage as I see it.
Chardonnay
This was the year that powdery mildew humbled us for this grape. The ones that survived produced vibrant flavors with lots of depth. Our old vineyard produced grapes nearly on par with 2005 amazing wine. Combined with grapes from the second oldest Chardonnay vineyard in the state (Allegro’s being the oldest), Philip Roth Vineyard, we are going to have one heck of a wine. Look for our “Two Old Vineyards Chardonnay” in 2008 sometime.
Pinot Grigio
Tim Jobe at Twin Brook is really starting to dial in on this grape. Their twenty-year old vineyard is producing high-quality flavors, and Tim is delivering some of the cleanest grapes in the state. Look for the ’06 to rival the ’05 in its purity of fruit and clean flavors.
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Riesling
This grape struggles in the heat in the southern part of the state here at Allegro. It simply wears out in September. But the flavors are there, and blended with Riesling from Erie and you have a nice complexity with fruit forward flavors that sure to be the summertime drink of 2007.
Chambourcin
Once again this grape has proven itself to be the most consistent performer in Pennsylvania. Year in and year out you can expect it to deliver great color and interesting flavors, and 2006 was no exception. Look for brighter fruit in this year’s offering.
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| Into the Press |
Merlot
This year we sourced fruit from Jan Waltz in Lancaster county and Karl Zimmerman of Shade Mountain north of Harrisburg. Both came in with great numbers. Karl’s was a bit lighter on the whole, and will provide the base for our regular Merlot. Jan’s had more concentration of flavors, and time will tell how nice it will be. I am leaving room for the potential of a reserve wine from his vineyard. Not quite on par with the ’05, but a great addition to any reserve blend.
Cabernet Franc
Once again, two sources provided the fruit to us: Twin Brook and Stewart vineyard. Look for another varietal Cabernet Franc from us in 2006. Both vineyards delivered fine quality, but Stewart was definitely the standout here. The skin-to-juice ratio from Stewart Vineyard was intense, just what I would have expected from a dry summer. The flavors are pure dark fruit.
Cabernet Sauvignon
We sourced Cabernet from Waltz vineyard as well as our own this year. The Waltz will provide us with a good varietal Cab with solid flavors. The Allegro Cabernet, though, is the one I have my highest hopes for in the vintage. The skin-to-juice ratio was incredible, the aromas during fermentation practically exotic, and the color as deep as possible. The tannins were the most supple I’ve ever tasted in a vineyard. This is the one to watch.
It will still take a few weeks for all the fermentation aromas to blow off and for the wines to settle down before we can start to see their true natures. But I am extremely happy with 2006. The growing season was not terribly hard, and the grapes (with patience) all seemed to come around. 2006 will go down as one of the good solid vintages in history. I liken it so far to the ’97, with good quality grapes all around the area. Some of these wines, like the ‘97s, we should be enjoying for many years to come.
Carl Helrich
November 8, 2006 |
