2004 Black & Blue Red Wine Napa Valley

The 2001 through 2004 period brought progressively hotter harvests, noted Michael Havens, and the crop in 2004 was very small due to the heat. There was already a lot of desiccated merlot even before the early September heat spike, he told me, adding that the dehydration was often accompanied by a concentration of acidity. He harvested everything in a relatively short 12 days. In 2005, in comparison, the harvest was "more spread out, more classic," taking six weeks. Although Havens describes the 2004s as "more luscious, crowd-pleasing wines," he believes the 2005s are more balanced and complete.

Michael Havens described his 2004 crop as "very small, due to shatter," and noted that although some fruit was picked during the early September heat spell, most came in later, under more temperate conditions. "We actually began to get shriveling of the merlot grapes before the veraison," he explained, "so we were already in a triage situation at the time of harvest:we had to decide what to pick and what to leave on the vines. The blocks of vines that normally do well in cool years really cratered, while some late blocks in Hudson Vineyard did very well. "In general, the 2004s will be "juicy crowd-pleasers," Havens concludes. Havens's special syrah bottling from the superb Hudson TT block is potentially among the finest examples of the variety to date from this producer, and a standout for California syrah.