2010 Brezza Cannubi Barolo

We got a windfall of green tomatoes from our friend Laurie and my husband looked around for a recipe that uses green tomatoes. He found a recipe at the New York Times which called for lamb chops. He made it a few nights ago and made a side of Israeli couscous. He brought out this 2010 Brezza Cannubi Barolo which our friends gave us to pair with the lamb. The barolo was the perfect pairing with notes of dried cherries, raspberries and spice.
Per my usual modus operandi, I looked on the Internet to find out more about this delicious wine. The Brezza Estate is located in Langhe in northwestern Italy, and extends over 31 hectares, of which 20 are vineyards, some dating back to 1885.¹
The property has taken its name from Giacomo Brezza, who with his father Antonio produced their first bottle in 1910. They are now in their fourth generation of growing grapes and making wine. Their annual production is approximately 100,000 bottles of wine made from local varietals including Dolcetto, Freisa, Barbera, and Nebbiolo.
The grapes are harvested in October, carefully hand selected in the vineyards and then transported to the winery in small plastic baskets. At the winery, the grapes are destemmed and put into temperature controlled stainless steel tanks where fermentation takes between 7-8 days with frequent pumpovers. The wine is then racked and put into cement vats to undergo malolactic fermentation (MLF). After the MLF is completed, the wine is moved into Slovian oak barrels where they will remain for 2 years. The final step is bottling, where the wine will spend 1 year in the bottles and then finally be ready for sale. Only 9,000 bottles of Cannubi Barolo is produced. The bottle we received from our friends is number 2680!

References:
1. Brezza.

Statistics for Our Varieties from 2019-2023

Today is the first day of fall! We are getting ready for our 2024 harvest. I thought I would look back at our previous harvests to get a shapshot view of each year's important statistics.
Auxerrois

Auxerrois	Harvest Date	Weight/ Lbs	Volume of Juice/ Gallons	Brix	pH	TA
2019	September 23, 2019	636	50	19.6	3.23	7.35 g/L
2020	September 27, 2020	1670	133	19.0	3.07	7.5 g/L
2021	September 28, 2021	1638	130	18.0	3.25	7.2 g/L
2022	September 25, 2022	3097	248	20.0	3.16	7.1 g/L
2023	October 1, 2023	500	40	18.8	3.36	6.5 g/L

Chenin Blanc

Chenin Blanc	Harvest Date	Weight/ Lbs	Volume of Juice/ Gallons	Brix	pH	TA
2019	October 14, 2019	3920	305	21.6	3.15	13.5 g/L
2020	October 11, 2020	8201	655	23.3	3.09	12.1 g/L
2021	October 17-18, 2021	6200	496	20.4	3.17	14.6 g/L
2022	October 16-17, 2022	4901	392	21.0	3.07	8.9 g/L
2023	October 22, 2023	1410	120	20.0	3.05	8.7 g/L

Chardonnay

Chardonnay	Harvest Date	Weight/ Lbs	Volume of Juice/ Gallons	Brix	pH	TA
2019	September 28, 2019	291	26	21.5	3.17	9.4 g/L
2020	September 24, 2020	1136	80	23.5	3.0	10 g/L
2021	October 3, 2020	2625	210	20.4	3.28	8.2 g/L
2022	October 2, 2022	2306	185	22.5	3.11	8-11 g/L
2023	October 5, 2023	500	40	18.8	3.4	10.0 g/L

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon	Harvest Date	Weight/ Lbs	Volume of Juice/ Gallons	Brix	pH	TA
2019	November 3, 2019	332	30	19.0	3.25	11.1 g/L
2020	October 22, 2020	888	80	22.4	3.08	10.7 g/L
2021	October 24, 2021	561	45	20.1	3.07	10.4 g/L
2022	October 21, 2022	1300	104	21.0	3.26	NA
2023	October 31, 2023	369	30	18.8	3.15	10.4 g/L

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc	Harvest Date	Weight/ Lbs	Volume of Juice/ Gallons	Brix	pH	TA
2019	October 26, 2019	377	32	23.0	3.23	11.3 g/L
2020	October 22, 2020	872	80	23.3	3.27	11.3 g/L
2021	October 24, 2021	402	32	19.8	3.2	7.4 g/L
2022	October 21, 2022	1200	96	22.0	3.27	NA
2023	October 31, 2023	369	30	20.4	3.24	7.9 g/L

Barbera

Barbera	Harvest Date	Weight/ Lbs	Volume of Juice/ Gallons	Brix	pH	TA
2022	October 21, 2022	600	48	22.5	3.0	NA
2023	October 31, 2023	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

This overview is really helpful for us to be able to see how we did each year. This also reminds us that 2023 was a disastrous year with a freeze in February that killed primary buds and an advective frost that killed the south half of the vineyard.
It will soon be another harvest year to add to this list.

Auxerrois Ripening Numbers

Based on previous harvest dates, we "feel" that the Auxerrois is about ready to harvest. However, there is no getting around the fact that we need concrete numbers to decide when to harvest. So, yesterday, a representative sampling from the 5 rows of Auxerrois we have was collected and the juice was squeezed from the berries. Judging from the color of the juice, it seemed that the Auxerrois was not quite ready. Here are the numbers that we got from the tests:
Brix      17.5
pH      3.17
TA      7.6 g/L
There are nice days coming up in the week ahead, so we hope that we can accumulate a few more Brix.

Mystery in the Vineyard

We have a mystery in the vineyard. This year is very much like last year with respect to the amount of rain that we have been having. On the one hand, we don't have to irrigate, but on the other hand, with the rain and the sun, the amount of vegetative growth in our vineyard was out of control. While we did our best to control this growth and provide for air flow in the canopy, it was not enough to prevent the spread of downy mildew which we typically see in our vineyard.
This year, however, we are seeing somewhat of a puzzle. All of the varieties that are on the east side of the vineyard have really lost their leaves. This includes the Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Barbera. Coincidentally, when my husband sprays, he begins at the Chardonnay and goes east to the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Barbera. So, for a while, we were thinking that there might be something in this order of spraying.
This weekend, while working with our friend Laurie, I showed her the difference in the canopy between the Chenin Blanc and the Chardonnay which is illustrated in the photo the below.

To me, this photo shows that no matter where the Chardonnay was growing, it experienced the same problem of loss of leaves as the Chardonnay planted together. To add to the mystery, this year, knowing that the Chardonnay is prone to downy mildew, we aggressively shoot thinned leaving only enough shoots to carry a nice load of grapes.
Right now, we are shrugging our shoulders wondering what we can do next year which might lead to a different outcome from the mystery we have in the vineyard this year.

Dinner with Friends and Wine

Recently, we had our globetrotting, wine-loving friends over for dinner. You have to catch them when they are a little stationary here in CT. Last year, they gave us a bottle of 2013 Bellefont-Belcier that they acquired from their trip to St. Emilion and we held it in our possession until we could have it with them with dinner. Chateau Bellefont-Belcier is a right bank Bordeaux, the wine is made of a blend of 77% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon.
The appropriate pairing for this Bordeaux is a nice steak and my husband really knows how to make steak! That was the simple decision but we also wanted to begin dinner with our 2019 Chardonnay and we decided on pairing the Chardonnay with a seafood vol a vent. The vol a vent was stuffed with shrimp and scallops.
Our main course was a smoked cowboy steak, fondant potatoes and a simple salad. For wine pairing, we had their 2013 Bellefont-Belcier and a 1997 Dunn Howell Mountain that my husband pulled out of his cellar with the idea of comparing a California wine with a French wine. It turned out that our friends are Dunn aficionados! They have been purchasing Dunn and have a vertical of the wines including a magnum of 1987, the year that they were married.

For dessert, we pulled out our 2021 botrysized late harvest Chenin Blanc of which we made eight 375 ml bottles. We paired the Chenin Blanc with three cheeses, manchengo, St. Andre and Cambozola. On the size we had honey, fig jam, fresh figs and grapes. (Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of the cheese platter). We learned that all the cheeses are a great fit with the late harvest Chenin Blanc.
The evening passed all to quickly, with great friends, great conversation, wine and food. That was a recipe for an evening we will remember!