In farming, there is always work to be done and changes to be made. A vineyard typically has a life cycle of about 25 years, so Winemaker Parke Hafner and Vineyard Manager David Huebel are constantly looking at long term plans for the vineyard. After Harvest 2018, we removed 10 acres of vines and began the process of replanting Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot. A yearlong project, Parke, David and the vineyard team can now catch their breath with the new vines in the ground and growing happily. We interviewed Parke and David to get their perspectives on the replant and share the process with you.

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What began as a simple request has become a 34-year tradition. A friend of a friend asked me if we would host a young French enology student during harvest. Because Sarah and I were interns in France in 1981, the answer was easy… yes, of course! Fast forward 34 years and we have our 35th intern, Pierre Bardinet. Pierre comes from a winemaking family in St. Emilion, so he brings a fun perspective. He has become part of our family, and our dogs, Annie and Millie, especially adore him since he takes them to the pool and plays in the caves with them. To say that we will miss Pierre when he leaves is an understatement, but we know we will see him again, either here or in France.

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Before bottling any wine, we hold cork trials to determine which corks we will purchase. It's a time-consuming process. We request samples from a number of different cork manufacturers. Our goal is to decide which corks are the most neutral in aroma. It can be very difficult to differentiate between samples. This is why the cork trials are a group effort - Sarah, Ricardo and I each smell and rate the corks, hoping that we come to a similar consensus. Learn more about the process in my article. 

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Here at Hafner Vineyard, we grow three red Bordeaux varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot) and from those varieties we make two distinctly different wines - Cabernet Sauvignon and Next Red, our Malbec based blend. We thought it would be interesting to share why we decided to make these two wines, how they are different and what typical aromas we find in each. 

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Every July, our household and cellar team grow by one. We hire a young Frenchman as our winery intern for the harvest. He is between his second and third year at an agricultural university in Toulouse. He lives at our home with us and comes to work each day. We started this program in 1985, so Arthur Rebiere is our 34th intern. His internship is coming to an end, but he has made the most of his time here - exploring San Francisco, the Pacific coastline and Sonoma County. He and our dogs have become best friends. 

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