Vintages
THE 2010 VINTAGE
2010 was an exceptional vintage at Hirsch in that the weather was unique. Every year here is different in degree of climatic factors: (very) wet, cold, hot, foggy, humid, windy; and how these phenomena play together. But 2010 was a creature unto itself, not comparable to other years in my experience.
It began with very heavy rains: 12” with thunder and lightning plus heavy winds from Jan. 17 to 23rd; and ended the same way with 14” from Dec 17th to 30th. Total rainfall was over 100”. But heavy rainfall is customary here in the redwood rain forest; what distinguished 2010 were the unrelenting dark periods of cool weather with overcast, fog and wind. I recall Marie and I walking the Atlantic beaches of Nantucket on May 21, enjoying the warm, balmy weather, sea lions gamboling in the surf, when I received a frost alert from home.
The winter was wet and windy with moderate temps; the cold weather began end of March and ran well into May. We had finished pruning on Feb 20. The canes and vines had good energy and many buds so there was every reason to expect a good to great crop. Bud break came on March 25 with some frost in the vineyards that week. March 31st epitomized the spring: high of 45 (at noon), low of 32 (at 3PM) with sun, clouds, rain, snow, sleet and some fog. Just another day in paradise.
Lotta rain in April with only five warm days. Vine growth was minimal and this continued into the cool and windy May. It warmed in June with the first day in the 80’s on the 12th. Bloom was widespread on the 13th. From then on the vines took off in response to the heavy moisture in the soil. The seeds were pollinated on the 30th of June. This was the shortest bloomtime in memory and consistent with the continental experience.
The crop looked good, probably due to the warmth and sunlight in the late spring and early summer of 2009, which helped to promote strong development of the latent buds that augur the following year’s crop. Unfortunately, the cold, clouds and fog, the biting winds, and intermittent moisture that held sway in the spring of 2010 caused the crop to set very unevenly and produced the differentiation in berry size called millerandage by the French, who have some experience with this style of weather. Here in balmy, unsophisticated California, we say “hens and chicks.” However you call it, it signifies unevenness of set and berry development. This occurs regularly, but not to the degree of 2010. And for farming in the pursuit of balance, it’s a nightmare.
July 15th was the first warm day in a spell without overcast and fog. There was a brief warm spell from the 14th to 19th of the month that rocketed shoot growth into rampant profusion. Then the morning fog returned, but the vegetative growth continued given the deep soil moisture and warming soils. We sharpened the machetes and commenced to hack back the vegetation. By start of August, we had the vine canopy more or less under control, but were concerned about the 2011 crop due to lack of heat and light on the renewals. (An intimation that would be realized in the following year’s low yields.) Then it was time to hedge the long shoots and open the fruit zone for green harvest and to prevent mold and rot, or at least, to inhibit epidemic conditions.
The berries started to turn color on Aug. 9th. Again, veraision was very irregular across the fields and we envisioned a tricky and sustained harvest in order to pick each bloc at optimal fruit conditions. But first we were faced with thinning the very uneven maturing fruit in order to achieve some modicum of balance for even ripening. This became near impossible due to the extreme soil moisture. The redwood rain forest at Hirsch is a desert in the summer. This is one of the most important factors in the site’s ability to grow premium pinot noir and chardonnay. The hormone, ABA (abscisic acid) promotes ripening and stops vegetative growth, but is produced in the roots only when the root zone dries out to a moderate, slightly stressed level. This is the key to fully ripe fruit with balance of alcohol and acid complexity: aromas, flavors, fruit acids, and tannic structure. 2010 was the contrary model of below ground environment for superior quality.
Needless to say, our crew worked their butts off to cull bunches and berries that were over and under ripe. But the variation was so great that finally, remembering the saying of the Buddha, “the only perfection knowable in this world is the average of the trillions of imperfections,” we put away our thinning shears and awaited the bell for the first round of the harvest. Of course, it rained almost an inch two days before it began.
Working with our new winemaker, Ross Cobb, we designed a strategy to focus on the physiological maturation of the fruit, and not the degree of sugar development. When the pick began Sept. 21, some of the field test results had the sugar at 21.5 degrees of brix or lower, which indicates final alcohol of 12.5% or below. For the first five days we picked only our fruit as none of the clients wanted fruit at low sugars. Then: Whammo! It shot up into the high 80’s and 90’s. (We pick at night to take advantage of the cool temps to protect the fruit [and us], but I noticed one night at 2AM that the gauge read 82 degrees!) Everything got ripe and everyone wanted everything picked yesterday.
Over the first four cool days we picked 28 tons for the winery; then in the six days of the heat, our valiant crew picked 82 tons. When it cooled down again the sugar ripening slowed and the balance of the harvest dragged on until the 12th of Oct when 12-2B, our 2002 chard block, finally got ready and gave over its 2.35 tons of fruit “of many colors” – tiny to large berries; green to plum colored skins; bunches with four berries to fruits with 400, tiny, tight packed bunches and large, gangly open bunches. You name it, 2010 like a protean cup of life produced it.
And the wines? After recovering from vintage shock, we were amazed to find young wines with balance, depth, and a unique expression of the site, a reflection of their father, the vintage of 2010: deep, brooding, faceted, puzzling and surprising in their complexity and manifestation. Why so good in such a trying year? Maybe the cool temps and long hang time; maybe the relentless work to bring light and air movement to the canopy, then the long hours to cull the fruit at the extremes of evenness, and the 18 hour days to pick everything at its freshest expression; maybe the attention to each lot by Ross and his winery crew to treat each as an individual child of the site and year; or maybe it’s the depth, the power, the complexity of the site: its soils, geology, topography, ecology, that was able to welcome the foreign visitor, the 2010 weather, and receive him fully without loosing her innate character and expression.
THE 2010 WINES
So far in 2010 we have produced the following wines at Hirsch Vineyards:
The 2010 Bohan Dillon will not disappoint the avid Bohan fan. Lithe, bright and totally Hirsch, the 2010 faithfully continues the tradition of the precociously charming, utterly quaffable Bohan Pinot Noir. For those of you seeking a balanced, aromatic and finessed expression of California pinot noir, and all at a very reasonable price, this is the wine for you.
The 2010 vintage yielded a very small crop in our Chardonnay vines, but produced a wine of astounding power and concentration held in check by delicacy and restrained ripeness.
280 cs produced, 13.6% alc, 3.38 pH
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