Journal | July 22, 2024
Lag Phase
Our Cabernet Sauvignon cluster is now in “lag phase”. When grape berries develop, there are three distinct physiological phases from bloom to harvest. In June and most of July, the berries enlarge quickly due to the cells dividing. They accumulate a lot of acid, but very little sugar (sour grapes). But about seven weeks after bloom the cells cease dividing and pause. This second stage is called lag phase.
Lag phase is the ideal time to fine tune crop yields by removing some clusters or parts of clusters. If executed before this stage the remaining berries would compensate the vine’s loss by increased cell division. This could mean larger berries, and tighter clusters: not good for quality.
This year our Cabernet Sauvignon produced an over abundance of numerous and large clusters. The vines are out of balance, meaning that there is too much crop for the vines to properly ripen. If we don’t remove some of the clusters now, the wine would be thin, and lack concentration. Cluster thinning is done by hand. It is an art form as one first evaluates each individual vine’s ability to ripen its crop (leaf color, size and length of shoots, water stress). Then the crop is adjusted accordingly.
In a week or two the final phase (ripening) will commence. This is when the berries turn color and begin to accumulate sugar and flavor.
Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Hardscrabble Journal: July 22, 2024