THREE COOL THINGS AS WE WRAP HARVEST 2024
Get ready to ring the bell—the 2024 harvest is nearly complete at Opolo! Our reds are fully harvested, and we just have to pick a bit of late-ripening Edna Valley Albariño before we call it a day.
This was one of the warmest Octobers on record in Paso Robles, with a heat wave early in the month followed by sustained temperatures into the 80s during the next two weeks. In anticipation of the heat wave, Winemaker James Schreiner made the call to start picking our Willow Creek District estates and to keep at it, which proved to be a winning bet. “If we’d waited, we would have seen a decrease in color and tannins,” James says. “This vintage is going to be a tale of when you picked. I’m loving what I’m seeing here at Opolo—these are heavily concentrated wines, and they’re reminding me of 2019 and 2021, which were excellent years.”
Meanwhile, in the cellar, James and Assistant Winemaker Skye Bruce were up to some new tricks. Here are three of the coolest sights in the Opolo cellar during the 2024 crush:
1 – MOURVÈDRE THREE WAYS
The winemakers went crazy with our Mourvèdre from To The Moon Vineyard. First, they made a dedicated rosé lot that began with a two-day cold soak on the skins. They also co-fermented another lot with Syrah in a traditional open-top bin. And finally, they fermented yet another lot in four headless French oak barrels with whole clusters at the bottom and whole berries on top—which Skye foot treaded nightly! The rosé lot is destined for a GSM Rosé, while the others are targeted for our red GSM blend. The co-fermented lot will enhance color and tannin, while the barrel lot will add a savory spice dimension.
2 – SOAKING IT UP
James and Skye conducted what’s known as “extended maceration” on a block of estate Cabernet Sauvignon destined for the Willow Creek District Reserve wines. Extended maceration is the act of letting the new wine soak on the skins for an extra 10 or 12 days after fermentation. It’s a labor-intensive effort designed to bring savory notes to the wine.
3 – NOTHING BUT THE BEST
We brought in a state-of-the-art optical sorting machine for our red Reserve wine picks. This sorter culls every bit of leaf or stem or other foreign material from the grapes at high speed, leaving us with nothing but the purest berries for optimal quality. A full 100 tons of our Willow Creek District fruit got this red-carpet treatment.
Cheers to another amazing harvest!