Columbia Crest Grape Harvest Yields Quality Fruit; Winemaker Reports Excellent Flavor.PATERSON, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 1996--Columbia Crest Estate Vineyards and Winery concluded its 1996 grape harvest granting high marks to fruit quality and recording yields just higher than projected. Columbia Crest winemaker Doug Gore analyzed fruit samples throughout the grape crush and found excellent flavor and character development. "We brought in super lots, particularly of merlot, chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon Cab·er·net Sauvignon n. 1. A variety of black grape used to make red wine, notably in Bordeaux and the Napa Valley. 2. A dry red wine made from this grape. [French. . The aromas and flavor profiles are really good, and the reds, in particular have excellent colors and tannin tannin, tannic acid, or gallotannic acid, astringent vegetable product found in a wide variety of plants. Sources include the bark of oak, hemlock, chestnut, and mangrove; the leaves of certain sumacs; and plant galls. structures." Gore says that weather conditions early in the 1996 growing season growing season, period during which plant growth takes place. In temperate climates the growing season is limited by seasonal changes in temperature and is defined as the period between the last killing frost of spring and the first killing frost of autumn, at which posed some challenges for vineyard managers. A week-long freeze in February and cooler conditions during fruit set contributed to a grape yield that is about 60 percent of a typical year for Columbia Crest. Ideal weather for fruit maturation occurred throughout July and August, and this warm, dry period, followed by mid-80 degree daytime temperatures during September, brought the fruit to peak ripeness. "The ripening ripening said of meat. See curing. period was extended by a couple of weeks which gave the grapes some additional time to hang on the vine and develop flavor profiles and sugar," says Gore. Harvest began on Sept. 15 and concluded Oct. 24. Columbia Crest's yield is slightly higher than initially projected due to the proximity of its Estate Vineyards to the Columbia River Columbia River River, southwestern Canada and northwestern U.S. Rising in the Canadian Rockies, it flows through Washington state, entering the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Ore.; it has a total length of 1,240 mi (2,000 km). . The location helped to moderate weather conditions early in the growing season. Says Gore, "Year after year Columbia Crest's Estate Vineyards prove to be an ideal location for growing grapes. The fruit matured nicely, and we harvested good crop levels, about three to four tons per acre." Grapes harvested from the Estate Vineyards are featured in Columbia Crest's new Estate line which debuted in October 1996 with a 1995 chardonnay, 1993 merlot and 1993 cabernet sauvignon. A 1996 sauvignon blanc will be added to the line in 1997. "We tasted and smelled some remarkable fruit throughout the growing season," says Gore. "We're excited about what this vintage holds for Columbia Crest." Columbia Crest is the chief producer of premium wine in Washington state and a leader in the field of vineyard research, including experimenting with irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. management, pest control pest control n → control m de plagas pest control n → lutte f contre les nuisibles pest control pest n and virus-free root stock cultivation. CONTACT: Kari Leitch, 206/488-4673 |
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