notes from the winemaker

The crews have been working for the last week hedging and making our first pass of lateral removal and leaf thinning. Ordinarily I don’t ask for much leaf removal in the fruit zone but Jean-Marie and I think this year it might be a good idea, given the amount of crop out there. We plan to delay crop thinning until after veraison and need to get make sure we get good penetration of our early prophylactic spray for Botrytis. There will be lots more canopy work as the season progresses.

We have had surprisingly mild weather: while the east of the country swelters, the mid- to high-80s we have experienced for the last 10 days are forecast to persist for the next 10 days.

Things at the vineyard are hardly as final as my title would suggest, but I’m a little anxious because the forecast is calling for a cold, rainy low pressure system to swing through on Monday—and that sort of weather is never welcome during bloom.

And we are right in the middle of bloom. In the Pinot, many of the clusters have set and berries are beginning to size. Weather should not be a problem for Pinot. But Tannat and a little Mourvedre at the top of the slope, Marsanne and Rousanne, and even the partners’ Cabernet, have all started to bloom. Rain and a big swing in temperature might decimate the set, or worse.

Fortunately the Syrah, Grenache, Counoise and most of the Mourvedre are still closed up tight. A close look shows that the pollen on the flower stamens is starting to mature under the calyptra—the little caps that cover and protect the nascent flowers. Grape flowers often self-fertilize before cap fall, so these varieties might be fine so long as the rain doesn’t promote the growth of Botrytis. We’ve put out a prophylactic spray in any case.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying one of the sublime joys of being a grower—I get to wander the vineyard in the stillness of the early morning hours and stop to smell the flowers, literally. Grape flowers may not have petals, but they do have perfume—and each grape variety has its own subtly distinctive aroma.

I’m calling the start of bloom at our Estate vineyard. This is what I saw uniformly throughout the block of HVS Pinot today. In fact, pretty much all the blocks of cane-pruned heritage selection Pinot looked like this. The precocious Dijon clone 943 was not far behind, and bloom was starting in the cordon-pruned Dijon clones 115, 667 and 777.

In contrast none of the Rhône varieties have popped, nor has the Tannat. About a month ago, budbreak in the Tanant was uncharacteristically ahead of all the other varieties but with respect to bloom it has taken its proper place in the scheme of things. At this point it looks as though the Grenache could bloom before the other varieties. The Counoise is still bringing up to the rear.

My best guess at this point is that based on the number and size of flower clusters, the Pinot and Grenache could yield heavier than average this year. The Syrah and Mourvedre will be lighter than average. The Tannat and Counoise look to have thrown an average set of flower clusters.

The crew was out today finishing up crown and trunk suckering. They are starting to lift the lower trellis wires, and doing some shoot thinning for excess density. I’m looking for just two fruitful canes per spur position on the cordons, and just one upward-pointing shoot per bud on the canes.

Anybody recognize this? Hint: it’s not Pinot, or a Rhône variety. We will see if it can actually set this much crop—this variety tends to shatter and shell if the weather cools suddenly.

Aye, and there’s the rub; the weather forecast calls for a late-season cold front to blow through Friday. Temperatures, which have been in the 80s, won’t get out of the low 60s, and there is a chance of showers, thunderstorms, and even hail.

It’s been a while since I posted a vineyard update; I’ve been focused on processing our current wine club shipment for the last couple weeks. Plenty has been happening at the vineyard, including our first sulfur applications, cover crop mowing, and lots of crown suckering. We’ve had a couple drizzly days, but no rain to speak of. In fact, the weather has been really nice—alternating warm and cool (rather than hot and cold) every three or four days, with pleasant breezes. Let’s hope it continues—knock wood.

I am getting a bit tingly about the nascent crop I am seeing out there: Above is Pinot clone 943. I’ve been so used to seeing these vines throw clusters like tiny hand grenades that this is quite a surprise—they are long and straggly for a change. This is potentially the largest Pinot crop I’ve seen at our vineyard since 2006, and the most uniform ever.

Several weeks ago I thought the Grenache was preparing to throw a short crop. No longer: We are going to have plenty of thinning options. I’m thankful to see a potential increase in yield for the Pinot and Grenache after two very short years. The Syrah and the Mourvedre appear to be throwing an “average” crop. The Tannat and Counoise look a little light, as of today. Next steps at the vineyard:

• continued sulfur applications, timed according to disease modeling,
• complete all crown and trunk suckering,
• start the first pass of shoot thinning for density and position, and
• start lifting the lower trellis wires into position as the shoot thinning is completed.

It is hard for me to believe the vineyard is already over a decade old. I’m seeing a little Eutypa in the Mourvedre which we need to manage. Since the very heavy crop load in 2006 we have seen some early decline in Syrah—a vine here, a vine there. The worst affected block was the Tablas Creek A selection on 420A rootstock. The 420A is slower than other stocks to develop a deep permanent root structure, so the timing of the heavy 2006 crop was especially unfortunate for this block, where the vine root system simply was not developed well enough to keep up with the demands. We have been grubbing out the dead vines and replanting for a couple years: This is what came out of the TC/420A block this year.

Overall I am guardedly optimistic that the 2012 growing season is going to be better than 2010 and 2011 were. I’m not alone in this assessment. Kimberly Hatcher of Morgado Cellars sent me in an email the other day:

I am so excited about this weather and how all of the vineyards are looking. I feel so strongly that 2012 is going to be an awesome vintage…

A friend posted on Facebook the other day: “In Hungarians’ eyes an optimist is a person who is poorly informed.” I’m feeling like I could be a bit “poorly informed” regarding this season; perhaps Ms. Hatcher is a little more so.