13 Feb 2022 Harvest Update

Cheers! To Harvest 2022

Here it is the end of January, and I am finally able to take a deep breath as I assess the wines from the 2022 harvest. As I reported earlier it was a large but late harvest that produced wines of what seems to be really good quality. Being that it was late, we are still in the process of getting through the first racking of barrels, although as of this week we should be 80% done. Just to compare with some early, hot vintages such as 2015 we were done with racking by the first of the year.

Referring to the size of the harvest, Brian Carter Cellars crushed 102 tons for ourselves and another 52 tons for customers, for a total of 154 tons. This was the largest crush we have had since 2016 when we did a whopping 255 tons total.

What is most exciting for me is the high quality of the vintage. Every year I go through the wines at the time of racking and give each lot a score.  I can’t remember so many consistently high scores in many years. Fruit forward whites and rosés, very dark reds with complexity and depth. Perhaps what is most surprising is the eminent drinkability of the red wines at this early stage. Keep your eye out for the 2022’s! The 2022 Abracadabra Rosé will be hitting the market in May and the Oriana not long after that.

Brian D. Carter
Winemaker