At Barnstormer, we’re well underway with this year’s promising 2023 vintages! We have already pulled in Merlot, Riesling and looking ahead to Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Blaufränkisch. With the May 18th frost wiping out anywhere from 15% – 70% of the crop this year (depending on the location of the vineyard and sustained below freezing temperatures during that cold morning), our yields are down but we are seeing some high quality fruit coming onto our crush pad.
With 20 wines being made here each vintage, the cellar is steadily growing more lively and energetic, as we navigate the perfect picking window for each block (across 8 vineyard sites this vintage, including our home farm). It is commonly estimated that 200-300 decisions are made from the start of each growing season to when we bottle, for each wine that is made. That is a lot of attention to detail each vintage, to create the 4,000 cases of wine that we produce.
In total, we harvest around 65 tons of grapes annually to fill out our portfolio of wine production. Harvest has a certain energy where it is mentally encompassing, the stakes are high (we can only make wine once a year), the days can be long and sleep is highly valued. We also put most other things in life on hold for 6-8 weeks while we make this all happen! There is abundant appreciation for what we get to create each year, wine / culinary breaks to fuel us through and a deep sense of community as 120+ other FLX wineries navigate their own complexities of harvest, with a steady hum of communication between winemaker, growers and neighboring wineries. We are excited to share with you all, what we craft from the 2023 vintage.
There are dozens of hands that go into the creation of each bottle of wine as well, so next time you open one from a hand crafted producer, remember to take a moment to reflect on how much effort goes into the winemaking process from grape to glass. Cheers!