As the calendar turns to November, our estate Margarita Vineyard is quieting down. The grapes have been picked, the crews have packed up, and the vine leaves are alight with autumnal hues.
It’s a different story at the winery, however. There are still fermentations to finish, grape skins to be pressed, and wines to be barreled down. And so far, the early returns are promising. “It’s all going smoothly,” says Founding Winemaker Mike Sinor. “The flavors are great, the acids held, and we’re pretty bullish about what’s to come.”
In many ways, the 2024 harvest at Margarita Vineyard was rooted in the ancient practices of winemaking dating back thousands of years—grapes grown from the earth, picked by hand, and fermented by yeasts. Yet in other ways, it was powered by the latest wine industry technologies, all designed to help us make the best wines possible. You could call it the ultimate combination of soulfulness and innovation.
On that note, with the 2024 growing season fresh in our minds, let’s recap how it all went down…
A Time to Shine
The winter season in Paso Robles saw ample rainfall, followed by a moderate spring. A warm summer was punctuated by a brief heat spike in early September, followed by perfect temperatures in the mid 80s. “We had very few days over 100 degrees this summer, so while it was warm, the pace of ripening was nice and steady,” Mike says.
The harvest started in late August with early picks of Pinot Noir for our rosé program, as well as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for our sparkling wine program. Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot followed shortly after, with later-ripening grapes such as Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon taking their sweet time.
The crop was lighter than normal this year—a script that was actually written back in the spring of 2023. Indeed, each spring, the vines internally program themselves for the following year’s yields. So when wet, windy weather struck in the spring of 2023, it signaled the vines to set a lighter load in 2024. Wild, but true!
As always, our most prized grapes were all hand-picked in the pre-dawn hours, allowing the fruit to be delivered to the winery in perfectly fresh, pure and cool condition. We call this getting the fruit “in the barn,” where the magic of fermentation happens.
In Mike’s words, “I would say this is the most beautiful the vineyard has ever looked at harvest time.” He credits Vineyard Manager Wes Boneso for dialing up excellent viticulture this year. Additionally, an oversupply in the wine industry allowed us the absolute freedom to prune and shape things to perfection.
Purity of Place
Excitement was also high in the technology department. This was the first harvest action for our new state-of-the-art Monarch MK-V electric tractors, which are powered by the vineyard’s on-site solar plant. Mike says these tractors were particularly effective for the hand-picking crews, lasting several days on a single charge while pulling the master bins.
Meanwhile, in the winery, Winemaker Stewart Cameron fired up our all-new Rotovib 20 grape destemmer and sorter. “This is a super-gentle machine that enables us to sort out anything we don’t want in the fermentation bins and tanks, such as jacks and stems and leaves,” Mike says. “It yields ultra-clean fruit, which will enhance the purity of place in our wines.”
There’s still a long way to go before we can uncork the wines of 2024, but now you know the story of how they came to fruition. These wines promise to be worth the wait!