Weather or Not

Last week’s summer was abruptly interrupted. For most of us the extremes are conversational or inconvenient. For farmers they can be disastrous. Winegrowers are farmers. The two weather events we worry most about are frost and hail. Both have been on the increase. In both cases, timing and severity can make or break the bounty of a vintage.

Now is frost worry time. The heat of the past few days has accelerated bud break. Only a very small percent of buds have opened at this writing, but in a week the vines will be highly vulnerable to a frost or freeze event. A hard May frost would be devastating. One or two degrees could make the difference between a full crop and a meager harvest.

Hail can wipe out a year’s worth of work in a matter of minutes. Or it can just rough up a few leaves. Again it depends on the timing and severity. A light to moderate hail storm early in the season (April or May) won’t do much damage because the grape berries have yet to form. In June the berries rapidly enlarge making them prone to bruising or splitting. The size and the velocity (associated with wind) of the hailstones determine the severity of the damage. Over the past decade we have experienced at least one hail event every season. Most have been minor. A few have reduced yields and required a lot of meticulous sorting. 25 years ago we lost 75% of our crop to a violent hailstorm. That experience never fades away from memory.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: April 8, 2023