Jordan Wine Country Table - Vol. 15, 2020 - 11

Even though the fire was still six miles from the winery,
the wind was blowing from east to west, so we couldn't
keep the ambient smoke from entering the cellar.
We were judicious about limiting the time each tank
was open to ensure that smoke did not get into the tanks
and taint the wine.
A few days later, there was another high wind advisory,
and winds were expected to be even stronger than before.
With a fire still burning in the rural mountains of Alexander
Valley, authorities took no risks, and a mandatory evacuation
was issued for all of Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor.
Jordan Winery was in the evacuation zone. These are all
towns where the majority of our employees live, including
myself. We all evacuated to different parts of the Bay Area-
John Jordan and I were both at different hotels in San
Francisco-but Tim Spence and his family decided to stay
on property (while evacuated from their Windsor home). He
kept the generators running and assisted first responders,
giving them a place to rest and showing them the lake and
the different private roads on the property that could aid in
fighting wildfires. The first night was a real nail-biter, as the
fire threw embers all the way to West Soda Rock Lane, a
dirt road that borders Jordan Estate to the east. However,
the firefighters fought back, and the fire continued to
burn southeast,
of Healdsburg.
never
reaching Jordan or
the town
Evacuated with my family, I grew incredibly anxious. I knew
we had done everything we could to avoid smoke taint in the
wines, but we had two actively fermenting tanks that were
in serious need of a pump-over to cool down the cap and
blow off carbon dioxide-the byproduct of fermentation.
Tim offered to help pump-over the tanks, and I was grateful
for his help. We spoke on the phone and went over the quick
logistics of how to conduct a pump-over, which Tim had
watched a million times during his three decades of working
at Jordan, but never had done himself. When Tim texted
me that both tanks had been pumped-over, I replied, " How
do they smell? " Tim's response? " Delicious. " That was all
I needed to hear! After three days of being glued to my
iPhone while Tim pumped the tanks over for winemaking,
I was able to obtain an agricultural pass for four of us to
enter the evacuation zone and return to the winery: Assistant
Winemaker John Duckett, our South African intern, cellar
worker Dennis Luz and me. When we arrived at the winery,
I quickly went through all of the tanks and assessed them,
and they all smelled fantastic, albeit begging for a pumpover.
A day later, the mandatory evacuations were lifted,
and our incredible cellar team returned to work and began
pressing non-stop until we finished.
The 2019 vintage was quite the baptism for my first year
as lead winemaker. It will definitely be a harvest I will never
forget for many reasons, but when I think of the vintage as
a whole, I can't help but smile with a great sense of relief.
I am relieved that our growers are safe with minimal damage
to their properties. I am relieved that I have my first harvest
as head winemaker under my belt, and most importantly,
I am thrilled that the wines are absolutely delicious.
11
Jordan Wine Country Table - Vol. 15, 2020

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