a tired dog!Fielding Hills Winery Winery Wines Vineyards History Ratings Ordering Where to Buy Weblinks Newsletter /Events
2004 Vintage
We just released all the 2004 Varietials- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, RiverBend Red, and Cab Franc (click for spec sheets).
9/2006: The 2004 vintage release dinners are set. 9/22/06 at Ray's Boathouse in Seattle, and October 7, 2006 in Wenatchee at the Wenatchee Golf & Country Club. Click here for an order form, and/or call Karen at 509-884-2221 to reserve a spot or for more information.
5/19/2006: Bottled the 2004 vintage. Huge thank you to all those
who helped. Jenny P. took lots of pictures and I have posted most of them here.
Funny looking back at these
notes. My impression at bottling is the Syrah is perhaps our best effort
ever, the Cab Franc, Merlot and RBR are all very good and at least equal to the
'03. This leaves the Cab Sav which was making me pretty nervous:
alone it was a little thin and not as full bodied as our cabs in the past, but
the final blend worked out great and the wine is great. Certainly in the
range of previous efforts. We will again have release dinners this fall.
We are close to confirming a date with Ray's Boathouse in late September.
Seating will be limited to 65. The release dinner in Wenatchee will be on
October 7, 2006 again at the Wenatchee Golf & Country Club. If you
want more info you can contact Karen.
a tired dog!
2/2005: Racked the 04. All is tasting well. The Cab Franc is disappointing. But I recall the '03 was not particularly impressive at this point a year ago.
2/1/2005: WSU-IAREC
degree day accumulation 1998 thru 2004
This image shows the 6 year history of growing temperatures which are critical
for producing premium wine grapes.
12/15/04: M/L samples came back showing complete. Will do first racking soon.
12/1/04: The new wine still working on M/L. Samples will be sent to the lab soon to check for completion.
11/1/04: In the rain and snow, my wife (Karen), my Dad (Jim), and I put the 2004 Cab Sav into 19 barrels! This was a long day! All the 2004 harvest is now through primary fermentation and in barrels for secondary (or M/L) fermentation. Overall the grapes/wine is very nice.
10/22/04: Crushed 9 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon. Flavor profile is great, brix a little lower than expected. Our vineyard consultant tells us he believes this was the best crop yet (all varieties).
10/13/04: Barreled the Merlot- 6 barrels
10/10/4: Barreled the Cab Franc- 2 barrels
10/5/04: Crushed 2.8 tons of Merlot
10/4/04: Mike & Brian looking at the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon crop at
RiverBend Vineyard
10/3/04: Crushed 1 ton of Cabernet Franc
10/1/04: Crushed 4.4 tons of Syrah