Greeting from Hossfeld Vineyards!
It is a glorious May morning up here at Hossfeld and the sunshine couldn't be any more welcomed. After a decent rainfall picking up in December, from January to March we got a whopping twenty-five and a half inches in Soda Canyon, sometimes in gushes of four inches a day! Our vines have responded and a very late-breaking budburst is upon us. To give some perspective, in 2015 we were well into bloom at this time of the year! This could lead to a later harvest and, if Mother Nature is willing, a long and steady ripening period as such as we saw in 2018.
The 2018 Malbec and the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon are both in barrel and beginning to mature. Their season was defined by a slow ripening process with wonderful acid retention. While we usually have lower juice pH than average of the Valley (a benefit for aging), in 2018 we saw low pH coupled with the color and flavor intensity of a riper vintage. The nights were very cool throughout September and October without too much heat during the day. It was a very lengthy growing season that will prove to show the primary benefit of hillside wine: allowing for a showcase of the season. This is always our main winemaking focus.
We've had lots of newsworthy events over the last couple of months, which we're excited to share with you!
We bottled our first Hossfeld Estate Cabernet Sauvignon in late January of 2019. This wine was produced from the Hossfeld Coliseum Block from the 2016 vintage and we couldn't ask for a better first release. With lots of mountain charm from a stellar Napa Valley vintage, this wine is truly a must-have for any appreciator of the Hossfeld Coliseum.
Our 2016 Hossfeld Malbec was bottled in late 2017 and has achieved excellence with a little age. This hard-to-find red has an aromatic vibrancy and depth of palate that you will not find in other wines not called, "Cabernet."
Both of these wines will be made available in late 2019, so stay tuned for updates and remember to register on our mailing list if you haven't already. Tech sheets on each wine will be up on the website soon!
We have been working hard on our label design and that hard work has finally paid off! Early in April we began running the labels for all of the wines that we have made. Designed with meticulous attention by the renowned artist Michael McDermott, our label relates the core of both our grapegrowing and winemaking ventures: a rustic journey to an elevated experience. We are very excited to be finally putting a label on our efforts. We hope that you enjoy the culmination of the journey as much as we have!
April has also brought us the long-awaited replanting of the vineyard blocks lost to the Atlas Fire of 2017. While challenging, this is a major step forward in the continuation of our legacy as second generation grapegrowers. The fire was devastating, but is also an opportunity to make the vineyard even better than it was before. We will keep you updated on the progression of the replant and thank you for your kind words and encouragement.
The pursuit of farming is what brings the Hossfeld vineyard to your glass, so we thank you for raising it.
The Hossfeld Family