As we said in our previous report, "so far, so good!" The weather has been just about perfect - remarkably mild and comfortable for both the vines and the people.

The season seems to be running just a little early, in contrast to 2006. Some of the local sparkling wine producers anticipate beginning their harvest early this month (grapes for sparkling wine are harvested earlier than table-wine grapes)! The lack of spring rain means we had to start irrigating a little earlier than usual but the upside is that mold, mildew and pest problems are at the minimum, so our Winemaker, Geoff Gorsuch, can focus his attention on leaf, shoot and cluster thinning. He removed some clusters both before and after fruit set to increase flavor intensity down the road. Leaf and shoot thinning is ongoing to improve light exposure and increase ventilation. "The crop level is normal, the weather's been great. So far, it's a dream vintage!"

We saw the first hint of veraison, the color change, in our Cabernet around the middle of July. It tells us that the vine's energy is shifting from vegetative growth into fruit ripening. As the berries begin to color up and soften, the sugar rises, the acid decreases and the grapes reach their full (rather small) size. When veraison is complete, it's time to begin gathering grape samples to measure the sugar, acid and pH. Our 9.5 acre site is divided into 11 sections according to differences in variety, clone of the variety, rootstock hybrid and spacing. Each section is its own entity and must be sampled separately. Geoff walks the section and picks a representative sample of grapes, tosses them in a zip-lock bag and then analyzes the juice back at the winery.

Weeks after veraison, when the grapes reach about 20% sugar, he begins tasting for flavor maturity (table grapes are usually about 15-20% sugar). Eventually, he'll pick each section at somewhere between about 22% and 26% sugar, and flavor development will determine his decision. Seed maturity is important too, so he bites into the seeds to see if they're soft, green and tannic or crunchy and mature. He continues monitoring the acid and pH for the sake of balance and stability. Tasting and analysis become more and more frequent as the section gets closer to maturity.

When conditions are ideal, the sugar, acid and pH are all in line with the flavor maturity. It's the mark of a good year! The challenge comes when either heat, cold or rain throw off the balance and make Geoff's decision more difficult.

If harvest is early, as predicted, we may kick it off with the Sauvignon Blanc and/or Chenin Blanc very late this month. Once it gets rolling we'll be harvesting steadily for about 6 to 8 weeks give or take, finishing with Cabernet Sauvignon. It all depends upon the weather, so we'll keep you posted! Please click here to check our progress on our annual harvest calendar-a play-by-by of our harvest from start to finish! Click here for the June 1 update.