I sat down with Marco DiGiulio this week and we talked about the weather. Not that we didn’t have anything else to talk about, but now that we’re well into the growing season, I wanted to hear his thoughts on how this year’s harvest is shaping up.
Marco, what has happened so far this year in the vineyards?
We’ve had a wet, cool spring and one of the coolest summers in a long time. The mild spring weather gave us excellent blooms and higher than normal fruit set, which means we’ll have a good-sized crop this year. The late rains have resulted in a lot of vegetative growth which will provide a good opportunity for canopy management to encourage ripening. I was in the vineyard recently and there’s already some véraison (color change) occuring.
Are there any challenges in this year’s crop?
Sauvignon Blanc grapes
Every year is a little different and we need to be flexible when it comes to the weather here in the valley. The extra growth may have required additional pruning, but the bulk of the fruit thinning will happen when they do a color drop. That’s when they drop the clusters that are still green when most of the other fruit is already changing color. This reduces the crop yield but allows the remaining grapes to ripen more uniformly. The cooler summer weather means that harvest may be delayed a couple of weeks to allow the fruit to ripen fully. We generally harvest our Sauvignon Blanc in late August, but this year it may not come in until mid-September.
What are your biggest concerns this year?
Like I said, every year has it’s challenges. This year, I have two main concerns. Delaying the harvest means we’ll be picking later in the fall. Some of our Cabernet and our Russian River Valley Chardonnay are the last to be picked. The later we wait, the more unpredictable the weather becomes, which could be a challenge. I’m also concerned that we could have a compressed harvest, that is, all the fruit will come in, all at once, and we won’t have available tank space for it. However, we’re already planning ahead and I have contingencies in case that should happen.
With good vineyard management and proper planning, some great wine can be produced even from the most difficult growing season. Overall, the 2010 season has some challenges but is shaping up to be a pretty good vintage.
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