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The 2004 vintage main feature was a relentless heat spike that hit in late August. There always seems to be a heat spike each vintage that lasts for 3 or 4 days. As long as you don't panic and wait it out, the weather generally cools down, the sugars drop a bit, and things go on as normal. Not in 2004 - where the heat spike went on for weeks. That caused sugar levels to soar, and had us scrambling to pick fruit as fast as we could. We ended up with some pretty high sugar fruit, so the alcohols in 2004 were some of the highest we'd ever seen. We tried really hard to make sure our acid levels were good to help provide some balance. We think we were pretty successful at that. As such, the wines never developed that pruney, overripe characteristic. They aren't the kind of wines to age, so drinking them within 3-4 years is probably best.

The theme for the 2004 labels is "Vineyard Pets". We asked each grower to supply me with a photo of a pet or pets that they'd like to be used on the label. Hide this content.

More about Label_2004_Brosseau

Chalone AVA
200 Cases

Kelsey, the Brosseau’s dog.

More about Label_2004_Cargasacchi

Santa Rita Hills
125 Cases

The Cargasacchi’s two horses, Ali Baba and Sweat Pea, running past one another (it’s hard to make out since the motion blurred the photo).

More about Label_2004_ClosPepe

Santa Rita Hills
700 Cases

Indy - one of the many race dogs that Wes and Chanda have rescued.

More about Label_2004_Durell

Sonoma Coast
300 Cases

Steve Hill’s dog, Tick.

More about Label_2004_Garys

Santa Lucia Highlands
700 Cases

Jocko - Gary and Rosella’s dog.

More about Label_2004_KeeferRanch

Green Valley of Russian River Valley
300 Cases

Marcy’s dog Maxwell - when he was a puppy.

More about Label_2004_Llama

California
200 Cases

I was driving along HWY 246 the other day when I saw a sign that said "Llama Farm". I said to myself, "shouldn’t that say Llama Ranch?" I decided to pull off the road to investigate.

I met an elderly gentleman at the gate to the property and asked about his sign. He said, "It’s not a ranch, it’s a farm. We plant the bulbs in spring, their fuzzy little heads peek through the ground in mid-summer, and come October they’re running around ready to go."

Hmmmmmm... I guess you do learn something every day.

More about Label_2004_Naylor

Chalone AVA
75 Cases

Duncan’s dogs.

More about Label_2004_RanchoOntiveros

Santa Maria Valley
600 Cases

Some of James Ontiveros’ horses.

More about Label_2004_Rosellas

Santa Lucia Highlands
750 Cases

Tiger and Jocko. We should have done this photo in color since Rosella dressed Tiger in a purple shirt (purple is our winery color).