Conway Family Wines

Harvest 2009 Perspective: Winemaker, Andrew Adam

It was a harvest of extremes. At times fruit was ripening at a rather casual pace and naturally as soon as we thought there is a pattern; Mother Nature humbled us by throwing a record heat wave, a mid-October freeze, and almost record setting rain in mid October as well. All part of a routine harvest! Those of us who chase the grape are frequently referred to as masochistic. This harvest proved that point of view; with our crew working un-godly hours, days off that could be counted on ½ of a hand and of course a round of respiratory virus and flu, but we came through happy and satisfied with what will be our final outcome! The multiple trips to Napa with Denise Georgi (our Grower Relations manager) paid off with some beautiful Napa cabernet fruit. 

At our estate vineyard, our vineyard Manager-Todd Ruffoni showed his trademark “calm under fire” by handling all of the winemaker’s fastidious requests in stride and delivered some dynamic estate fruit. The Syrah from the hillside blocks came in with nice flavors as well as our Estate Chardonnay blocks. This was the first year we had fruit from our estate Rancho Arroyo Grande Sauvignon Blanc block and our Viognier block. Both are developing as wonderful additions to the portfolio.         

Even though this is a bit of a stretch, each vintage makes us “parents” of those grapes. If we provide the right upbringing, proper nutrition and a safe home they should turn out just right!

Andrew Adam, Winemaker - Conway Family Wines

Harvest 2009 Perspective: Rancho Arroyo Grande Estate Vineyards

Todd Ruffoni, the Ranch Manager at Rancho Arroyo Grande, stated “Harvest started slow and finished fast.”  This was his initial statement when asked about the 2009 Harvest.  The cool weather caused a slow ripening with the Viognier and Syrah grapes and finished fast when the weather warmed.  The threat of rain hastened the harvest of some of the Chardonnay and Zinfandel in order to get as much of the ripe fruit in before the rain.  “…. even though the rain was much needed in California, it was too soon for the grape growers…” 

The vineyards at Rancho Arroyo Grande that produce our estate wines and our Deep Sea Wines, went through a major facelift the prior year and as expected, the tonnage was up from the previous year. Todd also thinks this year was overall, a great growing year.  The quality of the Chardonnay, Syrah and Zinfandel grapes is very promising for 2009.  All our estate fruit is harvested at night to obtain a fresher, fruitier, and crisper grape.

Todd Ruffoni, Rancho Arroyo Grande Ranch Manager for Conway Family Wines, oversees all 3,400 acres of ranch operations, including the management of 230 acres of vineyards, 30 acres of olive groves, numerous hayfields, cattle and horse operations.