This year on the Rubissow vineyard estate we did what the best French winemakers do in deciding when to harvest. We grabbed a hold of the trunk of the vine, shook it, and if more than three berries (as we call our blueberry sized grapes) fell to the ground, it was time to pick. More berries fell this year than we would have liked - it was an unusually damp fall influenced by tropical El Nino weather patterns off the ocean coast.

The rains of fall 2009 did influence our picking decisions. Over four inches of rain drenched our corner of Mt. Veeder the week of Oct 12, followed by a nice dry week and then the clincher–a one day downpour in which it seemed more like the gods were dumping buckets of water on the Napa Valley than raindrops. It came down in sheets.

Luckily for us, we managed to bring in seven tons of thinner-skinned Merlot and one ton of Malbec before the first rain. The Malbec is absolutely delicious, perhaps one of our best tasting harvests of this important blending fruit. Winemaker Tim says 15 days into fermentation it has amazing. . . inky dark, brambly fruit, intensely rich and complex.

The balance of our fruit, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, is thicker skinned and usually able to throw off inclement weather during the ripening season. Nonetheless, knowing the rain was on its way, we sent the guys to thin the heavier bearing pockets of the vineyard in mid-October. There are places on our small hill estate where the soil is deeper, the groundwater more plentiful year round, and the grape varieties bigger and juicier. It was in these spots that our crew dropped thousands of dollars of fruit to the ground to save the rest. We wanted to make sure there were no tangled clusters or crowded bunches where the damp might settle and produce rot as we eked out another week of ripening.

In between anticipating and responding to the deluge from the sky, we delighted in harvesting several beautiful batches of Cabernet. In one two-ton pick we collected all the tops of our steepest blocks where fruit ripens faster–making a complex field blend in our picking bin of five different cabernet clones of both California and French origins.  In another pick, we brought in the best of Cabernet Main block - which has had to fight to grow on its mountain terrain since the day it was planted and which neither deluge nor drought seem to bother. This ever lovely fruit, combined with some of the drier ends and hilltops of our rolling Francisca block by the main homestead–promise to make some fine cabernet for our 2009 estate blend.

Waiting for mature fruit, even when weather threatens, has its rewards. The wines are showing elegance and finesse early. They are less dramatically fruit forward than 2004 or 2008, but balanced and complex, much like 2005 and 2007. The farm once again has provided us, through diligent husbandry and exquisite terroir, with distinctive wines that could come from nowhere else.