Well today is the day! And while the sun is just coming up, the 2010 harvest is in full swing as we pick our estate Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and deliver them to our crush pad, and hand sort each cluster.
I decided to celebrate harvest this year with some additional inspiration and cranked up a little Rolling Stones “Exile on Main Street” over the winery speakers so that our team – and grapes, of course – could enjoy the tunes from what I believe is one of the greatest albums ever made. This selection wasn’t by happenstance….you see, “Exile on Main Street” was released back in 1972 and was initially greeted with mixed reviews — but it has since become regarded by many (including me) as a true masterpiece.
I have a feeling the same thing will happen for us with the 2010 vintage in Napa Valley.
First a little about the album: The recording of Exile was a challenging and frustrating time for the Stones as they were forced to leave England because they owed more in taxes than they could pay … and with the government trying to seize their assets, the boys decided to relocate to the Côte d’Azur region of southern France and get some work done on their new album. Keith settled into a 19th century Villa baptized “Nellcôte” — and after not finding a suitable recording studio, the band decided to set up in the basement of the Villa with a remote recording truck and began work on their next album. Well by Mick’s own admission, “Exile was recorded under a lot of difficult circumstances, and in what was not a very good recording place.” In addition Keith was battling substance abuse, and for various other reasons and calamities, Mick, Bill and Charlie each missed many sessions, which caused the band to record in many altered forms. But in the end, unlike a lot of other albums, Exile is world onto its own, full of gritty rock and roll, American blues, country, soul and gospel — that has a unique “feel” that sounds like it was recorded not in some French basement, but more like in your basement, and to me that is what makes it so real and so special.
And what about our own “Exile” here on Silverado Trail? Now granted, we didn’t put ourselves on a self-imposed absence from our country, but this harvest did feel more like France (Bordeaux mind you, not the Côte d’Azur) rather than our typical Napa harvest. This year was unseasonably cool, averaging about 7 degrees below normal, forcing us to alter our vineyard practices in order to get more sunlight on the fruit. However the “coolness” did allow for nice even ripening — and thankfully, the late heat surge over the last couple of weeks helped our grapes reach ripeness while retaining higher acidity than normal. It is my belief this will result in more “structure and balance” to the wine causing it to age masterfully and become a true classic. So rather than just a mean thumping beat of fruit, this vintage we are also going to see some wicked slide guitar, rhythm funk and honky tonk piano thrown in for good measure. Mark my words, initially we’ll see mixed reviews from the so-called “critics” regarding the vintage, but then everyone will realize that 2010 was a masterpiece in the making.
And when the time is ready to pop open this unique vintage, come on over to my place, we will open some bottles, sit in the basement (cellar) and put on this great album I know of.
Rock on!
