July 18 - July 24, 2010 

	Wednesday July 21, 2010 I tasted the 2009 Block 4 over three nights. The first night, compared to the 2006, 2007 and 2008, I thought it was less intense. The second day and especially the third day I thought the great character of Block 4, that many of us love, showed through. I will taste it again in a few weeks. Overall I appreciated the 2009 Petite Sirah, the 2009 Zinfandel and the 2009 Lagrein the most. The Petite Sirah and Lagrein are very intense but that is what I like while the Zinfandel is full with great spice character already. Overall the 2009 vintage has made me very happy. There isn't a weak wine in the group. The other day I got a chance to walk the whole vineyard. I saw some Pinot Noir turning color and yesterday I saw a few berries of Zinfandel turning. At this time I think we are 1.5 to 2 weeks behind normal. That should mean the first zinfandel should be in a fermenter in the third week of September. That is 8 weeks away so things could change. We have been experiencing a lot of fog so if that stops we could see zinfandel at the end of the second week. As I have said before we will be harvesting some Pinot Noir for sparkling wine again this year. We are looking to harvest at 22 brix again for added flavor and mix with another less ripe varietal. That will lower the sugar to about 19 to 20%, just right for the Still wine. We should see those grapes come in about the First of September, 5 weeks from now. Now about the 2009 sparkling wine.....Matt disgorged a few bottles for me yesterday that are completely dry. I tried one last night and I think it has enough fruit and thus I think no sugar should be added. Matt had decided to disgorge many more bottles and add some sugar at various amounts and see how they taste. We are hoping to have the wine all ready by the end of August.
	Dave david@coffaro.com
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