Our 2024 Harvest: In Memoriam of Travis Proctor
Harvest has always been a time of excitement and energy for me. For sure there is that this year and there are other reasons to look at the goodness of people and celebrate the achievements of those around us. Gratitude comes sometimes from the most unexpected of places, even in a time of deep stress and grief.
The grief of which I write is the passing of our production manager and my long-time friend, Travis Proctor. He passed away the evening of our first day of harvest at our estate vineyard, Harmony Lane. Travis’s departure is a blow to his young family that cannot be described. Our loss as a business can be at least partially measured by the long hours we are now having to undertake in order to make the harvest work for our new winery and custom crush facility, of which Travis was the heart, soul and hope of our new endeavor.
Our winemaking team right before harvest: Greg La Follette, Evan Damiano and Travis Proctor
This is where the gratitude part comes in. In Travis’s absence and in the face of such sorrow, I have seen friends and family rise to the challenge of filling a gulf we cannot possibly fill in its entirety. First and foremost is the leadership of our winemaker, Evan Damiano, who has inserted himself into an impossible position of both running the operation and doing the day-to-day winemaking. Not only has Evan shown exemplary leadership in a time of great stress, he has shown compassion and humanity to those around him, and to his friend Travis. He has proposed creating a special wine in honor of Travis, with funding going to wife Jean and son Oliver. Stay tuned for this special bottling….
Jackson and Evan sorting our Harmony Lane Estate Pinot Noir
Other long-time friends have come forward to help. Rick Davis, with whom I’ve worked since the early 1990s, is lending his years of expertise to the cause. Jackson McCormick, whose feet you might recall as being the treader-in-chief of our 2018 van der Kamp Pinot Meunier (along with his mom and dad on their anniversary) is doing double-duty in the cellar. We have so many more friends and family, growers, purveyors, coopers and other industry and non-industry people, many fielded by our managing business partner, Kevin Lee, that listing them all would take a long time, but you folks know who you are. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
The 2024 harvest itself has been exceptional in its early onset and mild conditions. There were some hot spells in late August that accelerated the harvest, including 3 days in a row of 100+ degree days at our estate vineyard near Occidental, which was unprecedented. Springtime conditions allowed for very even flowering but a little too much moisture in the soil during late rains. This led to some grand growth which needed more management in the vineyard. An early cold spell and some rain just before harvest accelerated vines’ signaling to the grapes that it was time to pick.
Every harvest has its peculiarities. This has been one of the most difficult harvest I have ever faced, and I am filled with gratitude in the face of sadness. I have gratitude for Travis’s friendship and vision in launching this vintage, and grateful for the people who have stepped forward to see his vision come to fruition. Harvest 2024 will be known by the Marchelle family and friends as a reaffirmation of what drives us and gives us reason to move forward, for friends and family.
Viva la Familia,
Greg La Follette