Cold Start
Never have we experienced such a cold start to harvest. This bodes well for the whites, but we wonder if the reds will ripen before the end of October when any hope of continued ripening comes to a close.
Read MoreFirst Pick at Hardscrabble
After an interminable wait, today starts the big push. As expected, almost all the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay at both Hardscrabble and Avenius are ripe. Flavors, aromas and acidities all fell in line over the weekend.
Read MoreFirst Day of Crush
Yesterday was Linden’s first crush day. Logistically all went well. Some issues are always anticipated as there are a lot of moving parts that haven’t moved in 10 months. Happily, no surprises on this first day of crush.
Read MoreGo
Today is the first day of harvest. Never have we had a start date that has changed so often.
Read MoreDecision Day
This weekend’s weather was perfect: dry, cool, and sunny. Ripening is back on track and we have a weather forecast that is close to ideal.
Read MoreSmoke on the Water
At sunrise this morning the pond was smoking. Autumn’s first chill and summer warmed water combined to produce a fine wispy steam.
Read MoreGut Decisions
Today ends a miserable week of weather. Rain, fog, mist, and clouds have stalled ripening and contributed to some rot. To what degree I do not know because I have stayed out of the vineyard.
Read MoreReady, Set, Wait
We are ready for harvest. The August bottling has emptied barrels and tanks, crush equipment is running smoothly, and trucks, tractors and trailers operational. But the grapes are not ready.
Read MoreFirst Glimpse
Vintage 2020 is beginning to come into focus. Yesterday berry samples were taken, lab analysis run, and juice tasted. White grapes are first to ripen, so they command our full attention at this stage. The only definitive conclusion we can surmise is that 2020 will be a very late harvest.
Read MoreFocus Turns to Harvest
The vineyard is starting to dry out after a soggy start of the month. A new flush of growth has sent us back into the vines to hedge, mow and weed. Fortunately it looks like harvest will be at least a week late, possibly starting the week of September 7. This will give us more time to get all our crush and fermentation equipment cleaned and prepared.
Read MoreA Shabby Chic Vineyard
Conditions have reversed course from very dry to very wet. This is not what we want, but it is what we have.
Read MoreClimate change and 40 years of growing grapes in Virginia
In the 1980s it was referred to as global warming. This didn’t really seem all that bad considering that our recent winters had been “bud killing” cold and Cabernet Sauvignon struggled to ripen in the chill of late October. Unfortunately we were to discover that global warming was more than just an increase in temperature. In fact all the other consequences of climate change have given us the greatest problems.
Read MoreJust Enough Rain
Winegrowers prefer a dry July. New shoot growth slows just at the right time. The vines can then turn their attention to ripening the grapes rather than producing additional unnecessary leaves. But it can be too dry. And it has been too dry lately.
Read MoreHot and Dry
It has been exactly ten years (vintage 2010) since we’ve experienced such a dry mid-July. While anything could and probably will happen over the next several months, the vines are in position to produce some exceptional wines.
Read MoreMid-summer Vineyard Update
Memorial Day through the Fourth of July is our busiest stretch in the vineyard. Shoot positioning, leaf and lateral removal, top hedging, young vine de-fruiting, weeding, mowing and spraying all need to be accomplished with precise timing.
Read MoreThis Week in the Vines
I wish we could flatten the curve of what is about to happen in the vineyard. A very cold April and last week’s freeze put the brakes on vineyard work.
Read MoreTolerable
A word with a relative meaning given events over the past few months. The temperature was 29°F at dawn, which is borderline.
Read MoreOne Degree
Obsession is checking multiple weather sources every few hours, getting the same outcome, and knowing that it won’t change a thing anyway. One degree could be the difference between a full harvest and a fraction of a harvest.
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