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2008 Harvest Review:
A Challenging but Exceptional Harvest
 “In my many harvests this was one of the most unusual and fast,” reflected Tom Montgomery, B.R Cohn’s winemaker. We had early and severe frost, reaching record low temperatures of 23 degrees at night, in our Silver Label Cabernet vineyards in Mendocino. The damage from the frost didn’t hit the B.R. Cohn Olive Hill Estate Vineyards because of our unique microclimate with soils that are warmed by underground hot springs. However, the heat wave that hit us during bloom did damage fruit set and left us with lower yield in the Olive Hill Cabernet Vineyard. We always keep our crop levels low to produce quality Cabernet at B.R. Cohn. So this natural thinning reduced it even more, producing small clusters and berries with super concentrated aroma and flavor. Look for the 2008 vintage to produce an intense, well extracted and age worthy Cabernet from the B.R. Cohn Olive Hill Estate Vineyard.
The early heat wave at the end of August pushed the Sonoma Valley to ripeness quickly. This resulted in harvesting the grapes at a rapid pace, filling the winery fermentors in 9 days this year. That’s fast! The production staff led by Alejandro Lopez, Cellar Master, worked tireously to make sure everything went smoothly. The winemaking staff stayed focused and on track during this intense period and pushed through. Myles McMonigle did a great job at his first harvest as B.R. Cohn Enologist, working alongside Assistant Winemaker, Blaine Brazil.
Harvest was almost reverse of the normal ripening pattern. Mendocino County grapes, which we use for our Silver Label Cabernet blend, typically ripen early. This year they ripened 2-3 weeks late. Our Sonoma Valley vineyards, where we pick our Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah, were 2-3 weeks earlier than normal. Threatening rains during the second week of October, didn’t amount to much. While you experienced a warm Indian summer, the jet stream and weather patterns changed abruptly. What could have been disastrous weather, luckily, didn’t materialize. The beautiful Indian summer helped us to bring in excellent quality fruit. We finished with a lot of great wines.
New for this year is a late harvest Sémillon from Greg Herrick’s Russian River Vineyard. These grapes were picked last, and will produce a Sauternes style desert wine. This will feature luscious honey, peach, and apricot aromas and flavors. Alcohol will be 10%, with around 10% residual sugar. This fragrant sweet wine will serve well with strong cheeses and deserts. It should be available in our tasting room and to wine club members by October 2009.
Bruce Cohn, Proprietor & Tom Montgomery, Winemaker
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