How do you know when to harvest?

 “We look at three things,” says winemaker Rich Foster. “Sugar, PH, and most importantly the flavor of the grapes. If they taste green, the wine will taste green too. If the grapes are sweet but have no flavor complexity, then the wine will be boring. You need that depth of flavors,

 all the minerals, pretend you are not tasting the sugar and taste for everything else. On block one, when I taste the tropical fruit, I know it’s done, and we bring it in.

Why do you harvest by hand?

Rich is very passionate about that. “When you hand-pick the fruit, you know you are getting fruit, not MOG (material other than grapes, which can include some rather unsavory stuff). Mechanical harvesting also bruises the fruit, and the second you break the fruit, fermentation starts. You don’t want that to begin in the field. The winemaker needs to be in control, decide what yeast to use, control temperature. We start very early and depending on the weather don’t pick past 10 or 11, and then the grapes go directly in the cold room.”

Did the late April freeze affect yields?

“Our overhead frost protection didn’t work because the water district had turned off the pumps, so yields will definitely be lower this year. Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon will sell out early. The 2007 vintage will be sold out by January of 2009, and the 2008 vintage will be gone by August or September of 2009. In some areas we lost over 50% of the grapes. The Block One reserve yield will be so low that only club members will get some, so this is an added reason to join the Roblar Club.”