deepak

  • October 23rd, 2024

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    A picture is worth a thousand words. The images above are the high point of Harvest 2024. That is me with Pinot Noir grapes from the new Wine Club block. On the right is the Rosé we make from the latest Pinot Noir. On the left is the harvest of the Natalie Chardonnay vineyard.

    As you know, we have been working on replanting for a few years. The summary version – in 2022 we asked a local nursery to grow the baby vines in a greenhouse before planting them (with wine club members’ help) in the Nicholson Ranch vineyard in April 2023. This year, their third year, the young vines bore a small number of grapes. Grapes from young vines are generally more fruit-forward and have a softer texture – perfect for making a Pinot Noir rose. I am thrilled to taste the new vineyard’s grapes and wines. I look forward to sharing these with you next year.

    The new vines were harvested in the first half of September. The grapes on mature vines take a little longer to ripen—these grapes that make the reserve Pinot Noirs were harvested by the first week in October. The weather in September and October was challenging, fluctuating from a few days of heat with highs in the mid-90s to 100s to a few days moderating to the 70s and 80s. The hot days ripen the grapes faster and require quick decisions on harvesting.

    The Nicholson Ranch vineyard is divided into many blocks. Its slope and type of soil define each block. Are the vines on top of the hill, or a slope, or on the valley floor? Is the soil clay, volcanic, or sandy? Each combination of slope and soil will produce distinct flavor grapes. Each block ripens at a different time, some taking a week or two longer to attain the best flavors. When I taste the grapes, I am sensitive to each block individually. The hot days required me to use all my experience in the vineyard to harvest each block when each had the best flavor.

    Each block is then fermented and aged separately. After two years of aging, the differences between the wines for each block are more pronounced. The different blocks make a wonderful selection of Nicholson Ranch wines, each different from the other but distinctly Nicholson Ranch.

    This upcoming wine club release features the 2021 Dry Farmed Pinot Noir and the 2019 Cuvee Natalie Chardonnay, each from its own unique block. These wines, with their distinct flavors and characteristics, truly embody the magic of the Nicholson Ranch vineyard. I can’t wait for you to experience them.

    Happy Thanksgiving

    Deepak Gulrajani

  • August 21st, 2024

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    Dear Friends,

    We hope you had a great Summer and continue to enjoy the next few weeks of wonderful weather. August in Sonoma is very pleasant with highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s, great weather for the grapes to ripen. June and especially July were significantly warmer than last year, with July likely having some of the warmest weather I have seen in a long time. At this stage, the grapes are dark green and tough and able to handle the heat. The grapes started ripening in late July and over time will start softening up and develop sweet flavors. The cooler August has come at the right time for optimal ripening.

    As some of you have noticed I write more often about the weather as we get closer to harvest. The weather from now to September greatly influences the color, flavor, and texture of the wine. Either my son Zander or I go through the vineyard regularly to assess the progress of the vines. Soon we will sample the grapes and taste the juice. The sampling is methodical, going through each row in order, picking a grape from every tenth vine, some from the top of the cluster, some from the middle and some from the bottom. Zander collects the grapes and brings them to the winery. We press the juice and let it soak for an hour before tasting it in a wine glass. We assess the juice with the same acute attention as we would a fine wine. We look at the color, the aroma and taste. Does the Pinot Noir juice have the right shade of red, do the aromas evoke flowers, red berries and is it reminiscent of freshly brewed black tea. For Nicholson Ranch Pinot, tea is a key aroma to assess the ripeness. When we sip the juice does it have balance between the sweetness and acidity. All these sensory facets translate to the final wine, so getting it right for harvest is essential.

    On a parallel track I pay close attention to the short-term weather forecast. Cooler weather in the 70s will allow us to wait a few days before harvest. A sudden heat spike in the 90s or an unseasonal rainstorm will need a quicker decision. The harvest decision is the most significant decision a winemaker can make. In a vintage where we are blessed with cooler weather a winemaker has more leeway. When conditions are less than perfect the winemaker’s decision will make the difference from good to great.

    The 2021 Cactus Hill is the first wine from the 2021 vintage. The weather in 2021 had all the drama of a tougher vintage with a hot spell in early September followed by two, fortunately, small rainstorms. 2021 may have had some drama but this story has a Hollywood ending – a Cactus Hill that is as good if not better than any prior vintage we have produced.

    Before I end this note, I have a small ask – please refer the Nicholson Ranch wine club to friends and family. As a thank-you, for each new member you sign up you receive a $200 credit that you can use to pay for a wine club shipment or for purchasing additional wine. New members can sign up online on our website www.nicholsonranch.com. Just send us an email with the name of the new member and how you would like to use your credit. If you sign up more than one member, you receive additional $200 credits for each member you refer. A gift that keeps on giving.

    Cheers

    Deepak Gulrajani

  • March 27th, 2024

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    Dear Friends,

    Spring is here!  After an interminable number of rainy days, we finally have had a week (or more) of sunshine daily.  We surely need the rain in California, and I am very grateful to get a typical wet season.  But I miss the sunshine, and it could not have come at a better time.  The rain is excellent; it soaks into the soil, sustaining the thirsty vines throughout the year.  Sunshine in March, following the wet winter, is ideal, just as the young vines are waking up from their winter dormancy.  All in all, a great start to 2024.

    Spring is also when we focus on bottling the wines from earlier vintages.  This year, we will be bottling many Pinot Noirs from 2022 and NIRVANA from 2021.  All the big reds to be bottled, Nicholson Ranch Merlot and Syrah, and Gulrajani Super-Tuscans and Cabernets are from 2021.  Two parallel tracks are essential for bottling.  The first is what is in the bottle, the wine itself, which is both a sensory and an immersive experience.  The second, much more mundane and prosaic, is the glass bottle and the packaging.

    Let us get to the wine.  I taste every barrel to ensure the quality of each barrel and to select barrels to reserve for NIRVANA.  Tasting wine from barrels is one of the favorite parts of my role as a winemaker.  Besides the wine tasting great, the work completely absorbs my attention, letting me forget about all other concerns.  Going from barrel to barrel, I am so grateful for what each barrel does to the wine.  The barrel, as you know, adds aroma and flavor and, more subtly, adds texture and body.  A wine not aged in a barrel can have great fruit and floral aromas.  A wine flavored with oak (essence, powder, or oak chips) will show vanilla, toast, and spice. However, only true barrel aging will transform the texture and integrate the fruit and oak flavors to create a sensory experience of smell, taste, and texture, from the bouquet to the mouthfeel to the finish.  Only patient barrel aging can make a great wine that will go beyond the sensory experience and spark emotions of joy, contentment, and nostalgia.

    Now for the nuts and bolts of getting the wine into bottles and planning the bottling.  After ordering the bottles, foils, labels, and corks, I ensure the bottling truck has been reserved and confirmed well in advance. I measure and check order quantities not just twice but three times.  Fortunately, the agony and stress of supply-chain problems are mostly behind us.  Getting ready for bottling is stressful enough. Better planning leads to bottling the wine without heat and oxygen exposure, which would diminish the quality.  I aim to open a freshly bottled wine and feel the same emotions of joy and contentment that I get tasting the wine from barrels.  

    This wine release includes the 2020 NIRVANA, a wine aged for three years in French oak barrels, and sure to evoke strong emotions with the first whiff of its aromas.  A detailed description is below.  

    Cheers,

    Deepak Gulrajani
    Winemaker / Owner
    Nicholson Ranch

  • September 2022

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    Dear Friends,

    We are approaching another harvest, and it fills me with excitement and anxiety. Witnessing the joy of harvest and being an active participant in the annual cycle of the grapevine is exciting. Knowing the plants are completing their year’s work in producing magnificent fruit is incredible. Yet, I must balance my excitement with the vigilance of monitoring the weather. Currently, and for the next two weeks, we are having perfect summer weather- 85 degrees in the day and 55 at night. As we go into the fall, the daytime temperature usually cools down to 75 degrees and allows the fruit to ripen at a slow pace. This extended season allows the grapes to develop complex flavors. However, my concern is about heat and rain.

    In the past ten years, we have seen unexpected heat in the fall or sometimes even rain. Heat spikes take temperatures into the 90s and sometimes 100s, shorten the season, forcing us to harvest grapes before their prime. These spikes are rarely catastrophic since they affect only one section of the vineyard. Our vineyard has several grape varieties and several clones within each type that give a diversity of ripening times. Chardonnay will ripen first, followed by Pinot Noir and then the big reds. Amongst the Pinot clones, Cactus Hill ripens first, followed by Dry Farmed and 777. A heat spike event is most consequential to the block nearest the ripeness peak.

    Rain, on the other hand, can be disastrous. As the fruit ripens, the skins become softer and less resilient. Rain and humidity promote fungi that begin to rot the fruit. Rain in California arrives in late October after all the grapes are picked. Every other year, it rains unexpectedly in September or early October while grapes are still on the vine. A small amount of rain, less than a half inch, may not do much damage. But a more extensive rainfall will leave water on the leaves and the fruit—perfect conditions for mold to develop and destroy the crop.

    In each case, heat or rain, understanding the individual block of the vineyard and the level of resilience within the section is crucial in making thoughtful decisions. Having farmed Nicholson Ranch for over 25 years has allowed me to navigate the vagaries of each year and course correct appropriately. To this point, most of you will receive the 2019 Cactus Hill Pinot Noir. The 2019 vintage had two three-day heat events in September and a few days of a light drizzle. Despite, the uneven weather, the 2019 Cactus Hill has gone on to win the Best of Class award at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest competition for American wines.

    As we approach harvest, here’s hoping that it is filled with calm weather and is easy and smooth.

    Cheers,

    Deepak Gulrajani