2010 SEASON — Ninth Harvest

It's been a wet, wet winter, this eleventh leaf of the vineyard. The creek overflowed, as it does, depositing sand and pebbles over the floor, and the pruning has to be done between storms. Four men with electric pruners and tie machines move through the blocks easily, with less fatigue, and are able to spend more time with each plant.

Each vine is evaluated for cane growth dominance and the number of buds needed to balance fruit/canopy. Then, four short fruiting canes are pulled. To quote Fred Nunes, "You can't prune to a devigored state." Each vine tells what it needs. The vineyard ranges between 2.7 and 3.3 tons per acre depending on the block and clone.

The wind machines are back into place in the vineyard in the first part of March to protect from frost, though we cross our fingers for a mild spring as we wait for a good fruit set, and then more temperate weather until veraison when the berries turn color.

No frost. Yes! Rainfall is above normal with storms spread apart just enough to annoy the tractor driver (Fred), who just had to mud it through the first spray of sulfur, copper and a foliar nutrient made from seaweed. Now into May, the wind machines are pulled in and Fred's tractor work won't stop for awhile: mowing and chopping the cuttings, spraying, berm sweeping, spraying... while a crew of six women traverses the vineyard shoot thinning, and then positioning wires and canes.

Through June into July, weather was perfect, foggy mornings and mild sunny afternoons. Vines are very happy this year from the early rains, and the fruit set about 50% between storms—fewer berries per bunch but a few more bunches. Veraison happened through July. The ground held its water—no irrigation needed so far. It's a good year for the up/down canopy, which hangs the fruit out to dry so to speak (no rot).

We're into August and all looks good. Everyone is complaining about the cool weather but us. Our vines love it. But perfect weather can't be counted on, of course. On the 24th we got to 107 degrees, few degrees cooler than most of the area, but still...  All we can do to help the plants is irrigate them beforehand and watch them turn their leaves from the sun. The next day we're back into 70's & 80's. The grapes seem to have weathered the heat but for a couple of bunches here and there, which we'll drop.

The harvest date alone is just a number. With half the phenolics of other red wine grape varieties, the time that matters for distinguishing character in Pinot Noir is the number of days between veraison and harvest. As the sun often breaks first over Nunes Vineyard, leaving a cool ring of fog, buds burst earlier than many other vineyards in the Russian River Valley. With earlier veraison, there is more time for canes to lignify (turn woody), and for berries to develop all of their phenolics and ripen tannins before they are harvested.

Not to be picky, but the weather is perfect for us if it just stays in the 70's and 80's—and if we don't get early rains. The bulk of the harvest looks to be about the same time it usually is, right after Labor Day.

<< Last Season

Harvest Photos

Wind Machine  — A second new wind machine for frost added in 2009.

Canopy — The tall, thin canopy in Regal Block in August.

Pinot Noir — 114 Bunches in August in Dorothy's Block.