Sonoma County Harvest and A Favorite Tasting Room

Happy. Friday. This week has started off with a 15 hour video shoot day and was hectic from then on. I have to work at 8 am on Sunday for another shoot; all of the work is fun and exciting, but it still means I don’t sleep well and am the worst at exercising and eating. I am psyched for a Saturday of sleeping in and iFest fun!

It feels like our Healdsburg vacation was a lifetime ago, but we’re still reminiscing on one of the coolest experiences, getting a  peek at Sonoma harvest 2014. Due to the weather, harvest came very early this year, and it unexpectedly occurred during our visit. We were fortunate that some of our favorite winemakers, the owners of Cartograph Wines, allowed us to tag along on a 4:00 a.n. pick.

We set our alarms for 3 the night before, but neither of us slept, both excited and afraid we would sleep through it. We got dressed silently and then drove the short drive to the Floodgate Vineyard, where lots of beautiful Pinot Noir grapes would be plucked off of the vine by a lightning fast and incredibly hardworking crew.

I didn’t feel tired at all, and it was much warmer than we expected. Once everyone had arrived, we headed down to the vineyard and followed along as the grapes were picked and dumped into big bins. Our way was lit by a tractor light and headlamps, which were super handy. It didn’t feel very dark at all; somehow I expected it to be a little scary, being out in a field in the middle of the night. Instead. it felt lovely and cozy, and the stars were absolutely stunning.

We were allowed to help out by picking out leaves and sticks and grapes that had turned into raisins or were suffering from botrytis. It was amazing how quickly the lot was picked (no thanks to us!) and what a long day everyone had ahead. Once the grapes are transported to the crush facility, the winemakers wait for a time slot to further sort their fruit and get it ready for crush. We were done before 6 am and immediately went back to bed; the winemakers, on the other hand, had about a 14 hour day ahead, between getting these grapes started and doing other winery and tasting room work. A LOT goes into those beautiful wine club wines we love to drink, and after this glimpse into that work, we will cherish each sip a little more.

Cartograph has a beautiful new tasting room in Healdsburg. It’s airy and chic yet super comfortable, and their staff is awesome. We may have talked their ears off on more than one occasion, our excitement plus their wine making us a little chattier than usual. We couldn’t help it; it’s a great place that people want to be, filled with great wines and the friendliest winemakers you could meet.

We have some club wine coming soon, which I will surely be reviewing. In the meantime, you can read about Cartograph wine in this Wine I am Loving Lately post. Cheers to Sonoma County Harvest 2014 and to the weekend!