Everything has broken bud at the Estate vineyard, at last–even the late-breaking Counoise. That’s young, cane-pruned Pinot 96 in the image above, where shoots are already out about two inches. We finally managed to get a little rainfall accumulation last week, nearly an inch last Thursday. You can also see in the image above that [...]
Archive for the ‘Journal’ Category
Calling Budbreak — Finally
Sailing Into The Seas of Spring
I can’t believe it is already March. February came and went and I barely noticed it. My lack of attention was due in part to having a recurring respiratory infection (didn’t I have that same thing the first couple of months of 2005 or 2006?) and then the flu. But really, very little has actually [...]
Dead Of Winter
Yesterday marked the first day since early January that we have had any rain here in Sonoma Valley. So far, with less than an inch of accumulated precipitation, this month is the driest January at our vineyard since I started keeping records in 1998. Only 2007 even comes close. As in 2007, we also have [...]
Finishing Our 2012 Harvest
We are picking our last grapes of the season this morning: Grenache and Counoise. It is supposed to start raining this afternoon—probably about an inch, locally. For those that need to wait it out, the grapes can probably handle it. But our stuff is ready and ripe. I take a certain satisfaction in picking our [...]
End Of The “Perfect” 2012 Harvest
The next couple of days are the last time this season that the fruit at our Estate will look this good. Monday it will start raining, with another rainy front forecast for Wednesday and another for Friday (thought the latest forecast update suggests these later two storms may slide to the north of us). A [...]
2012 Harvest: Halftime
Welcome to the 2012 Harvest Halftime Show… Yes, that’s right—it’s the second week of October and I think we are about halfway through the harvest. So far I have brought in 32 tons of Pinot Noir from our Estate vineyard, and drips and dabs of a few other varieties, mostly for customers. By comparison, this [...]
Distractedness & Benign Neglect
I’ve been distracted. The shot above shows one thing that’s been demanding my attention—I’ve been bird-dogging the construction of new drains at the winery space; drains that have to be done before I can do any bottling or pick any grapes this vintage. This is Critical Path #1: no picking unless the drains are fully [...]
Necessary Pre-Harvest Shopping
My industry friends will recognize these! The other day my vineyard manager asked “so are you going to buy more Macros for harvest?” Yes. Yes, I am. And more T-bins, too. I find it a little amazing that I have been doing this long enough that the price of a Macro-bin has more than doubled [...]
Start Of Veraison 2012
We have finally had a few days with temperatures near 100° F. I figure we need some of this kind of weather to move the crop toward ripening. I spent an hour and a half this morning walking the Estate vineyard looking for signs of veraison. I found it it a few vines of the [...]
Practical Advice On Managing Wine Alcohol Levels
The other day I came across this fact sheet: “Reducing Alcohol Levels In Wine” published by the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI). Directed at the professional winegrower, this is the best agenda-free piece on wine alcohol levels I have read, period. It’s worth the interested reader’s time. All of my own efforts to manage alcohol [...]
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