Winemaking
For us, winemaking
begins in the vineyard.
From winter to early spring, we inspect each vine to determine its individual carrying capacity and prune accordingly, by hand. Organic fertilizers and nutrients are thoughtfully considered and applied as needed. In spring and early summer, canopy management is performed by hand where appropriate, keeping with what the vines have shown us they need. Harvest then occurs over multiple picks, driven by each varietal’s optimal ripening schedule, while navigating various elements such as heat waves, late summer storms, and an abundance of local wildlife from raccoons to bears, who often attempt to turn Horizon Vineyard into their own personal pantry.
We apply a number of techniques to our vineyard in service to teasing out the
highest possible quality fruit.
As an example, we groom and hand train shoots early in the season to grow into positions that provide the best combination of sun, shade, and air circulation to the developing fruit. During both the growing season and harvest, we carefully select and remove clusters (and often even individual berries) that don’t meet our standards or may jeopardize the vines’ potential to produce the best it has to offer. Prioritizing quality above quantity is key to making our wines bright, complex, intense, and expressive.
This same level of
care and attention
continues as the lifecycle migrates from vineyard to winery.
Daily monitoring of the fruit’s ripening gives way to harvests conducted entirely by hand, always occurring late at night or in the early morning hours to keep temperatures low and prevent early fermentation. From there the grapes are hand-sorted to further remove any clusters and berries that do not meet the standards and potential of what we ultimately want in the bottle. Processing of the fruit gives way to fermentation, where we meticulously monitor and track progress, blending real-time observations with the perspectives of our team’s generations of winemaking intuition.
Acute attention
continues throughout the rest of our winemaking process.
Every decision along the way is critical – from barrel selection to rotation and racking, aging strategies, sampling, tracking to prior vintages, blending trials, and eventually bottling decisions. Being lock step with winemaking twists and turns and recognizing what the evolving wine is telling us ensures the final product going into the glass is exactly what we intended.
We believe that respecting both the art and science of winemaking, and embracing the true potential of hand crafted produces exceptional wines that are true expressions of a place and time. We hope our passion, approach, and effort is reflected in every sip of Horizon that finds its way to you.