The 2004 vintage main feature was a relentless heat spike that hit in late August. There always seems to be a heat spike each vintage that lasts for 3 or 4 days. As long as you don't panic and wait it out, the weather generally cools down, the sugars drop a bit, and things go on as normal. Not in 2004 - where the heat spike went on for weeks. That caused sugar levels to soar, and had us scrambling to pick fruit as fast as we could. We ended up with some pretty high sugar fruit, so the alcohols in 2004 were some of the highest we'd ever seen. We tried really hard to make sure our acid levels were good to help provide some balance. We think we were pretty successful at that. As such, the wines never developed that pruney, overripe characteristic. They aren't the kind of wines to age, so drinking them within 3-4 years is probably best.

The theme for the 2004 labels is "Vineyard Pets". We asked each grower to supply me with a photo of a pet or pets that they'd like to be used on the label. Hide this content.