It's really a three-month process for me, with about eight weeks of actual picking. Then 10 days after each round of crushing, fermentation is the focus. Out in the simmering vineyards, the fifth-generation Bundschu scion is growing into the many hats he'll juggle throughout the year. At harvest, the one that fits Jeff Bundschu best involves assessing vines, noting vigor, checking for telltale signs of rot or sun burn. They talk split canopies, clones, upright pruning and sugars in the burning sun.
Word is that the white grapes are down.
It's been hot, but the heat was late, so there was actually a short season. We both seek out an oasis of shade as he spins the family saga that began 137 years ago. By the 1870s wine from the family acreage we're standing on was producing a staggering 150,000 cases annually. And the grapes were taken to the city by barge along Sonoma Creek. After Prohibition, the family land continued to grow fruit, cattle and some wine grapes.