May 2009
“Eric Sussman uses only wild yeasts for his primary and secondary fermentations and never fines or filters his wines. He also enjoys the luxury of owning his own bottling line, which is a real rarity for a winery of this size. “I don’t want to knock the contract bottlers,” he told me, “but when it’s bottling season you’re at the mercy of all their other clients and their needs. I like to have more control than that.” Sussman calls 2007 “a year of exceptional freshness,” in which a cool spring followed by a warm summer allowed for steady maturing of the grapes, and the cool fall meant a prolonged, leisurely harvest period that extended into the middle of October. He compares 2007 to 2005. “But ’07 has more power, sweetness and purity.””
–Josh Raynolds