2010 SEASON — Ninth Harvest (eleventh leaf)

It was a wet, wet winter. The creek overflowed, depositing sand and pebbles over the vineyard floor, and we pruned 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.

Vines were evaluated for cane growth dominance and the number of buds needed to balance fruit/canopy, and four short fruiting canes were pulled. To quote Fred, "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 were placed in the vineyard in the first part of March to protect from frost. We want a mild spring as we wait for a good fruit set, and then more temperate weather until veraison when the berries turn color...

And we got it! No frost! Rainfall was above normal with storms spread apart just enough to annoy the tractor driver (Fred), who just had to mud on through. In May, we stored the wind machines for the season, worked the tractor non-stop while a crew of six women traversed the vineyard shoot thinning, and then positioning wires and canes.

Through June into July, weather was perfect, foggy mornings and mild sunny afternoons. Vines were energetic from the early rains, and the fruit set about 50%—fewer berries per bunch but a few more bunches. Veraison (turning purple) happened through July, and the soil held its water. It was a good year for the up/down canopy, which hangs the fruit out to dry so to speak (no rot).

So—a long cool summer and August 24th! It got to 107 degrees, and we were a little cooler than most. We irrigated a few days ahead of the heat and then watched the vines turn their leaves from the sun. The next day was back into 70's & 80's. The grapes weathered the heat but for a couple of bunches here and there, which we dropped.

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.

We harvested between September 14th and September 22, about the same time as usual, right after Labor Day, plus the eight or ten days we were late all season.

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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.