#Exploded View (expanding) by Jim Campbell

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HALL Wines, St. Helena (No. 5)

HALL’s harvest is always in multiple stages. The blocks (sections of vines that are all planted in the same type of soil with the same vines) in each of our vineyards are rather complex. Within the same vine variety, we will strategically graft specific rootstocks (the lower portion of the root of the vine) with specific clones of a vine variety and plant them in the soil and microclimate that we think will result in the very best fruit. Since the soil within a single vineyard can vary dramatically, we may have many different small blocks in each vineyard.

Many different plantings make our vineyard management much more intensive. Our various types of vines mature at different times. Certain blocks of Merlot just happen to mature early while certain blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon seem to want to hang around forever.

How do we know when to pick? Our winemaking team, led by Winemaker, Megan Gunderson, tastes and walks every vineyard many times, watching for flavor development. Harvest usually occurs sometime between mid-September and late-October depending on the growing season. During that time of year, we sample each block of vines in each vineyard to determine if they are ready for picking.

In addition to analyzing by sight, smell, and taste, we check the sugar and acidity levels in our lab.

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