At Olson Ogden Winery, they don't make just average juice, they make great wines, mostly Syrah and since 2005 Pinot Noir.

They prove it by offering their 'behind the scenes' notes on the 2007 Harvest on Olson Ogden Wines, their fresh off the press Blog.

Here is an excerpt of the first observations by Tim on September 24th:

"Our first fruit of the vintage arrived Saturday. We crushed two tons of Pinot from one of our Russian River vineyards, it looked quite good. The pickers did an excellent job as the grapes were free of MOG (material other than grapes) with few leaves. All the right physiological signs were there. The flavors were rich and fruity, the tannins were resolved and many of the berries had a little wilting. The seeds were mostly brown as were many of the stems. I think we nailed the pick time on this fruit and I couldn’t be happier. In many ways, 2007 is reminding me of 2004.  Our decision to hold out for cool weather and more hang time has paid off once again."

John was kind enough to send me this shot taken on Saturday (September 29) in their Top Secret Wine Lab.

My first encounter (back in November of 2005) with Olson Ogden Wines was: Olson Ogden 2003 Syrah is the pick for wines produced in less than 250 cases.

It was written for Wine Blogging Wednesday #15.

Jordan Mackay also looks at When To Pick on Chow.