2008 Harvest Report by Owner and Winemaker Aron Hess of Daedalus Cellars:
I think my struggle is that we're beginning to sound like a broken-record with this unending stream of "great" vintages. This, I guess, is the bounty of the NW.
If not for unusually long, warmer-than-average autumn, this harvest would have been a disaster, much like 1999.
The prolonged fall did allow for exceptional hang-time and full physiological maturity.
The smallish crop--down perhaps 25%--arrived in perfect condition.
Fruit quality required no compromises: we used no sulfur, cold-soaked for 12 to 30+ days; our longest fermentation lasted 48 days. Of course, we added no yeast or anything else.
The juice was of nearly perfect balance: potentially alcohols mostly under 14%--though admittedly still a bit high for my tastes, bright acidity and pHs that should provide long, lovely lives.
Long hang-time and full, gentle extraction has yielded classically structured wine of ample, refined structure, complexity, and incredible length.
