A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM CHRISTIAN MOUEIX
Having just arrived in Napa Valley from France, I wanted to share my personal impressions about our 2020 vintage and how we have fared through these devastating fires. The team at Ulysses is safe and healthy and our thoughts are with our friends whose properties have been devastated by the fires. We will remain vigilant in the support of our community and encourage you to do the same.
Fortunately, we began our harvest on September 15 and finished on the morning of September 27, just as the Glass Fire was starting but before the smoke reached us. The LNU Fire, which started on August 17, raised some concern around potential smoke taint. To evaluate our risk, we undertook micro fermentations and sent the wines to two labs in California and France for analysis; the results, thankfully revealed no smoke taint. Moreover, we had rinsed our vineyard grapes four times before the harvest to eliminate dust and possible ashes.
Now that we have nearly completed our full-scale alcoholic fermentations, we have not perceived smoke taint in any of our 2020 wines. I have had a chance to taste all the vats myself. The wines are very fruity, rich and full. We are optimistic that we will be able to produce a good vintage, however, once more, quantities will be very small.
We look forward to sharing the 2020 vintage with you in the future.
From all of us at Ulysses we wish you good health,
Christian Moueix