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Been a tough season with lower yields with concentrated fruit. The season started off cold (spring freeze) and has been overall fairly wet this season in terms of rainfall compared to previous years. I can’t remember having to mow or hedge this many times in one season before. Part of the excess growth for the vines may also be due to the lower crop load we have this season because of the spring freeze. It will be interesting to see if vine vigor next season evens out more to its norm with adequate crop on the vine.
Disease wise the Red fruit we still have hanging are healthy and ripening about a week and a half to two weeks later than previous years. Many of the cluster ripening variation we saw earlier in the season seems to have closed the gap and evened out so to speak. Hopefully, that is the case which should help determine optimal harvest timing. Temperature is starting to cool off and we are seeing the cooler nighttime temps that are great for end of season maturity. The yields are lower this season overall, but the quality is looking good for the Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot that we have hanging.
