The Quiet Vintage
Last week we finished our 2026 harvest. If you saw the news in April, or visited a winery on the East Coast since then, you probably have heard of the devastating spring freeze that damaged a majority of agricultural crops. Without harping on the fact that our winery was affected (as mentioned in previous blog posts), it is the reason that we are producing about 90% less wine this year than usual.
I’ve seen other wineries grapple with this reality, as we had. If I had to name this vintage, I would call it the “quiet vintage.” I was hoping for Sam to see a true harvest at Loew. That will have to wait until next year.
Most of the grapes we source are from nearby vineyards. In a normal vintage, we visit these vineyards on a weekly basis. During harvest, we may see another grape grower three or four times in a week. During these visits, we catch up on life, update each other on the progress of our respective fermentations, talk about the happenings in our tasting room, and plan our orders for future vintages. Our little corner of the wine industry has a lot of camaraderie.
I’m used to the noise of the crush pad in the early fall, where we process our fruit. The crusher and the must pump vibrate with a slight ring as the motor runs. The slight ring fuels my excitement as we monitor the crushed fruit getting pumped into the press ensuring that no bad berry finds its way into our wine. I’m used to the late nights where the day’s exhaustion still provides you a sense of pride amidst the insanity of processing grapes for over 14 hours (sometimes by hand). I’m used to starting each harvest morning evaluating multiple tanks of fermentations, tasting through each one predicting how the wine will turn out. I’m used to seeing crowds of customers gather around our press on a weekend, in awe of the juice falling into the press pan. During those moments, the romance of winemaking is palpable, even as I look over at them with my fully stained clothes and hands.
Beyond this, we are still creating exciting wines that challenge us. This year, Sam and I are producing a different take on our traditional Nouveau. Usually made with Barbera, this one will made with Cabernet Franc—bright, juicy, and easy to drink. Our job as winemakers isn’t to make the same wine every year. It is to make the best wine we can. Some years are serious and iconic winemaking years, and others are for experimenting on a commercial scale, with hope that the final result will resonate with the consumer as much as it does with us as winemakers.
On another note, a quieter harvest has reminded me how much joy you bring to this place. Our customers make our harvest feel less “quiet.” You are the people who gather around the press, ask what is fermenting, and turn the work we do in the cellar into shared moments. As always, we welcome your visit to the winery this fall. Come taste what’s in the glass now, hear about the wines we’re making, and spend a little time with us.