The Vineyard

Another cool wet spring gave way to a warm and sunny August and September. Flowering and set proceeded without issues. The red and white grapes began to change color(Verasion) and finished a few days later than normal. If the weather holds we will be harvesting earlier than last year and about a week later than average.

With the extended hang time, we are looking forward to an exceptional year for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Viognier. Merlot has been a challange. For the first time, last year's early November cold snap did some damage to the Merlot. The result of the early cold was some primary bud damage and a very un-even growing season. We decided on an aggressive thinning program to even-up the Merlot. We expect a much smaller harvest and a good resulting wine.

This spring we removed 1/3 acre of Merlot and planted more Chardonnay and Viognier. The wet spring was perfect for starting new vines and they have done very well.It will be a couple of years but, eventually we will have more of our popular Chardonnay-Viognier blend.