My goodness we're sitting here after a big day of memories flooding through our hearts. August 20, 2015 was the first day of Harvest 2015, our second Smith Story harvest. We woke up early to cut polenta into pig shapes from a cookie sheet that had cooled overnight. Oh that huge pot of simmering Italian sausage ragu... with a delicious aroma of fresh brewed coffee swirling in the kitchen while we prepped. A morning of no complaints. Even our German winemaking guests were awake early and keeping Lord Sandwich entertained for us.
This first day of harvest is so very special to us, all the meticulous work in the vineyard and planning in the cellar finally met. Filling this day with joy and gratefulness is our focus. This particular day the first pick was in the far west sonoma coast Thorn Ridge Vineyard. The drive there under the stars was quiet but intense. The next hours danced by with fog, sunshine, melodies in the vineyard. The yield was heartbreakingly small, the drought played a role in this mostly dry-farmed vineyard. For a minute we thought about passing on this small amount of pinot grapes but knew size didn't matter here. The quality of each cluster was exceptional.
After leaving the vineyard and arriving to the crush pad, we popped the cork on a mag of Champ Divin Crémant du Jura Brut Zéro to toast to the new bounty & share with our cellar crew. The bubbles were spectacular! Yes, this is one of the empty bottles you can see up on our "Inspiration Wall" in the Anderson Valley too.
The rest of the day was busy, we also picked our 2015 Knight Valley Sauvignon Blanc which was a large pick. We close our eyes today and can still hear the tractors in the vineyards, the clink of glasses after toasting, a little foot tapping to some classic soul by Curtis Mayfield "Superfly" and of course picture the smiles on our faces after that long buy glorious day.
Thrilled to present you all with our new release, the 2015 Thorn Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir is frankly... spectacular wine.
This is Our Story.
Eric and Ali