The great advantages to being an estate winery
At the close of my second harvest at Van Duzer, I firmly believe that there are great advantages to being an estate winery over other winery systems. It is an ideal situation. It ensures that we keep the integrity and quality we strive for in the vineyard in the cool of the morning ready to process. We have our fruit at the crush pad and in tank within an hour of picking in most cases. Our great vineyard crew sorts clusters in the vineyard and leaves anything below VDV standards on the vine for the birds.
This is a new experience for me. My background is working for either larger wineries where the fruit is sourced or working for non-estate wineries were the fruit is coming from all over. In both situations, the winery has to rely on someone else's picking schedule. The fruit may show up late into the day or night and often heats up sitting on trucks in the hot sun or while traveling long distances.
Having such a high level of control over quality can only equate to good wines and this is the case at Van Duzer where it has been a great two vintages for me. Mark
Assistant Winemaker Mark Evich inspects newly arrived grapes on the crush pad in the cool of early morning.
