Part Three: The First Harvest
20 Years of Cinnabar: 1983-2003
After planting Cinnabar's first 23 acres in June of 1984, Owner Tom Mudd and Vineyard Manager Ron Mosley waited until September of 1986 for the young vines to bear fruit. The bench-grafted vines underwent tremendous transformation those first two years.
Vineyard
& Estate Manager Ron Mosley
Ron recalls that the summer of '84 was especially warm. "I was sitting on the top of the hill at midnight waiting for the irrigation system to finish its cycle," he says. "It was so quiet that I could hear water drops hitting the ground."
Following that first growing season, the young vines were pruned down to one vertical cane with only two buds. They remained that way through winter.
Both buds pushed in the spring of '85, but only the better candidate was spared. In June, the remaining shoot was vertically trained to the stake and later cut at the cordon (fruiting) wire once it grew to be "pinky" thick.
Buds, leaves and lateral shoots sprouted from the vertical shoot that summer. In early July, the vine was topped (trimmed) and all laterals were removed except for the two that were growing just below the fruiting wires. They were pointed upward at 45 angles and grew to four feet in length before they were laid down on the cordon wires.
During the winter of 1985-86, the vines were pruned so that only buds were left on each cordon (arm).
Owner Tom Mudd
The bottom buds were removed the next spring and vertical shoots soon grew from the top buds. Shoots produce two grape clusters on average, but one was removed mid-season to balance the young vines.
"The 1986 growing season was very warm with a wonderful Indian summer," recalls Ron. "Birds devoured all the chardonnay, so there was none to pick."
The first harvest was literally a family affair. Tom, his wife Melissa, her brother Chad, Ron, his wife Cathy and their sons Caleb (3 years old), Ian (one year old) brought in a total of four tons.
"Chad dropped his Timex in a tank of fermenting cabernet," says Tom. "He had to wait 10 days for fermentation to finish before he could retrieve it. Mimicking the commercials, the watch was still ticking when he found it!"
The ad hoc crew made 250 cases of 100% cabernet sauvignon. The 93-points that it received from wine critic Robert Parker put Cinnabar on the map and helped launch the brand.
