01 Nov Raise a glass to our biggest harvest yet!

Harvest Newsletter

November 1, 2022

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Hello Friends of Mesa Del Sol,

Just like the changing of the seasons, our fall newsletter brings some exciting happenings at Mesa Del Sol.

Fall is a great time to renew old friendships. Whether you’re planning a “Friendsgiving” or a Girls’ Weekend, Mesa Del Sol is the perfect venue to share in gratitude, great wine, and good food. Stacey shares her latest retreat with college roommates to get you inspired.

As for our gratitudes, we reaped a grape harvest beyond our wildest dreams in 2022. Read more about our bountiful harvest in “I heard it through the grapevine.”

Another very highly anticipated change to our winery is our new winemaker, Tyler Russell. Mesa Del Sol is honored to have Tyler. Look inside and learn more about Tyler’s impressive winemaking style.

To end the holidays on a high note, Mesa Del Sol will be rolling out our exclusive wine club in early 2023. More news to follow.

As you prepare your homes for the holidays, be sure to stock up your cellars with Mesa Del Sol wines.

Wishing you and yours a very healthy and happy holiday season.

Cheers!

Gary & Stacey

Fall is in the air at the estate

As we bid farewell to the heat of summer, we embrace the cooler, slower months of fall.

The holidays will be here before you know it, and guests continue to book the estate weekly. With so much to enjoy, it’s never boring around here. The end of October brought a “Girls’ Weekend” when Stacey hosted her former UCLA roomies.

Friends for 40 years, the gals enjoyed a special Mesa Del Sol wine tasting around the ever-popular “Lazy Susan” with exquisite cuisine prepared by a personal chef. Saturday morning shook the wine-drinking cobwebs out with light yoga and a crystal singing bowl sound bath under the 300-year-old oak tree, while professional masseuses offered a therapeutic massage.

At Mesa Del Sol, you need never leave the estate to enjoy a fun-filled time. If you feel like venturing out though, come and hike the trails to the gorge at Las Padres National Forest, a short 5-mile jaunt up the road. As the Arroyo Seco river starts to rise, bring your rafts, (wetsuits too, brrrr), and plan a float party down the river.

At sunset, we like to enjoy a glass of our wine at the “Stone Wall” overlooking the Arroyo Seco Canyon. In the golden days of autumn, the pink and amber glow against the canyon wall is truly a sight to behold! A nice ending to the day.

Upon reserving your stay, we encourage you to book appointments as soon as possible with our preferred vendors to make your stay as fun or relaxing as you like!

I heard it through the grapevine

They say that superb grape vines grow out of great struggle. Well then, little Mesa Del Sol’s vines were quite mighty this year. Despite a late frost in March and rumors down the “grapevine” to expect a late harvest, Mesa Del Sol vineyard proved those rumors wrong.

With extremes in weather, it was anyone’s guess as to when our harvest would take place and what kind of results we’d have. August and September brought an excessive heat wave, and boy was it HOT, with temperatures reaching 110 to 115 degrees some days! We were truly humbled by our hardworking crew to stick it out with us and complete our harvest. The heat sped up the grape transitioning phase (veraison) and sugar (Brix) count, signaling an earlier harvest just as we predicted.

Now that the numbers are in, we can proudly say that Mesa Del Sol produced an above-average yield. Indeed, it was the largest harvest in the history of the vineyard with a total production of 12.57 tons or 1.67 tons/acre!

Who believes in rumors anyway?

Introducing winemaker Tyler Russell

We are so excited to announce that Mesa Del Sol has a new winemaker!

Hailing from nearby Paso Robles, Tyler Russell, is a name to know in the wine industry. We met Tyler after we purchased Mesa Del Sol and learned that he had been buying Mesa Del Sol grapes to make his own wines for quite some time. After visiting him in Paso Robles and tasting the superb quality, depth in flavor, and elegant style of his wines, we were so impressed that we felt Tyler would be the perfect fit as our winemaker. Not only is he knowledgeable and excellent at what he does, but he is also such a nice guy with an amazing story:

“It all started for Tyler, (a California native), while working in a wine shop in Upstate New York. While stocking shelves and conversing with customers about wine, Tyler quickly discovered that he had a role to play in this industry. In his early 20s, after a few years working in the shop and eventually becoming the buyer, Tyler’s interest in wine production grew too large to ignore. From there he packed his bags and headed to Paso Robles to pursue his dreams. It didn’t take long for him to get a tasting room gig at Dover Canyon Winery where he was shown the ropes of the trade and honed his skills. After Dover Canyon, Tyler began methodically crafting his winemaking and cellar skills at other Paso Robles wineries including Justin, Zenaida, and Calcareous, all while doing a side hustle by investing his energy into his own project, Nelle Winery, which produced its first wines in 2006. 

In 2014 Tyler joined forces with business partner David Taylor to create Tyler David Wine Works. Together they grew the Nelle label and also created the Cordant Winery label. Tyler then spent the next 5 years honing his craft, sourcing grapes throughout the picturesque Central Coast California and making many highly rated and sought-after wines along the way.

By 2021, ready for another change, Tyler began to focus on his own winemaking endeavors, including consulting with other wine brands on the Central Coast. He now has his own winery facility in the beloved Tin City Development in Paso Robles, CA.”

We can’t wait for you to experience Tyler’s magic with the Mesa Del Sol 2022 vintage to be released in Spring 2024!

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That’s all for now folks. Stay tuned for more news and special offers in the coming months.

The best is yet to come!

Gary & Stacey 

Mesa Del Sol Vineyards