We're pruning, getting ready to bottle, selling stock, cleaning babies tukii (plural of tukus)...

Teddy Roosevelt said, "Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

Planting vines, growing grapes, wine-making and wine maturation all follow those lines so closely that to distinguish a "made" wine from a picked wine is harder and harder to do...

Pick the ultimate Viognier and watch as the barrel spoils the party. Pick Shiraz too early and taste the weedy green tannins in the un-fermented juice. Pick a red too late and force yourself to re-hydrate so your alcohol levels match industry norms. Plant Chardonnay in the wind and watch as your whole crop flies away in the first big October wind. Success though is elusive and dangerous.

Elusive because everyone in the industry is shooting for the same magic. Dangerous because then you must recreate the magical situation that you encountered in the year you last made the wine.

So better still to make different wines every year. Make 42 different labels of wine and hide in the anonymity of the multitude of different styles and varietals. Why make two or four wines. Why subject yourself to the scrutiny of the one land one wine terrior test.

We tried and succeeded with the Chardonnay. This year we're coaxing the barrels and playing wonderful music to eek out the same flavours and layers that the 2006 Chardonnay is showing. The Viognier is ready to bottle and we're starting to worry that its going to go through a late malo conversion and loose the wonderful flavours and acids its currently showing. the Shiraz needs to be racked off the malo lees and moved into the Anwilka barrels (hopefully the high Parker points will rub off), etc.,.

In short, we've chosen to dare the difficult path; furthermore, though we may fail, our intention is greatness and wild success. And with hope, the failures will be as majestic and inspirational as the overwhelming successes.

Love,

Jake