No pictures today — I can barely get myself interested in another set of shots of grapes only part way through veraison; dear readers must be bored to tears. Jean-Marie and I met at the Annadel Estate vineyard today to assess crop loads and make a plan to get us to harvest.
The good news is: one, there is color everywhere — every block has at least scattered veraison. Two, the crop load is moderate; perhaps lighter than we thought earlier in the year. Three, canopy growth has slowed dramatically even though we have started to irrigate. Four, compared to other North Coast vineyards we have minimal mildew. And five, we still haven’t trapped any adult European grape vine moths (EVGM) nor found any larvae in the clusters.
The bad news is: it is flipping August 19th and we still don’t have complete color anywhere, even in the young-vine cane-pruned Pinot. This is unprecedented in my experience. I’m not prone to panic but I admit I’m getting a little nervous and freaked out. Despite the rather modest crop levels, Jean-Marie and I agree that at the very least we need to get the crew in to start thinning out the clusters in the Pinot that have not colored up yet.
At the same time the guys are going to pass through the Rhône varieties and pull out any clusters that are inside the canopy, in contact with other clusters, or that have big “wings.” It’s too early to color-thin the Rhônes but I expect they will make another pass in a few weeks to do so. We are starting to farm like we are expecting rain before harvest.
One last bit of good news: the weather has been warmer, with the last couple of days making it into the low to mid 80s (though nighttime lows are still in the high 40s to 50°F). It is going to cool off for the weekend, but the forecast is for warming again into next week. Yippee. Then more cooling after Tuesday. Boo.
