VINEYARD NOTES
Pruning for 2010 We have begun pruning our vines for production in 2010. It takes our small crew (vineyard foreman, wife and cousin who have a total of 30 years vineyard experience between them) about three months to finish. All of our vineyards are spur pruned and most cordon trained with the exception of the Zinfandel which is head trained.
Yes, it is confusing when we talk about pruning style versus training style. There are important points to consider. 1) Where do the vines have their most fruitful buds? Some varieties have fruitful buds at the beginning of the new cane which can be trained into a spur and some are more fruitful at the middle or towards the end of a cane. If the beginning of the cane is fruitful, you can prune to a spur every year. If the cane is more fruitful at the middle of towards the end, you will need to cane prune. More later!
After Harvest 2009 We had an almost perfect harvest season in 2009 due to a cooler normal Spring and Summer, as well as significant fog from the California coast, that created slow yet steady ripening during the Fall. We did have late rains, not untypical in the timing, but that were much heavier than normal. Luckily, all of our grapes had been picked by that time, although that last week before the rains began was really hectic as the last Malbec and Petite verdot were harvested.
Due to a three year drought in Northern California, the berries harvested were slightly smaller than normal. This translated into flavors that were more intense, rich and flavorful. Why? Berry skins contain the flavor compounds that make red wine - the more skin to less juice concentrates flavors.
Our own custom crushed Meritage blend is in barrels and finishing up the Malo-lactic fermentation. We will be racking and SO2 adjusting in two weeks and then letting the wines gracefully age in those barrels until next year!
