The beauty of the post-harvest period is that the tempo changes. There’s a feeling that “we made it.” The horses are back in the stable. There is time to reflect on the past season and assess it. What went well? What did not? Was it a timing issue?

But while this is a period when we can relax, it’s also a time of planning and preparation. We want to put the vineyard to sleep in a good way before the rainy weather begins. Since we never know what’s coming for sure, we have to prepare for heavy rains.

We’ve been flagging vines, marking those on which we observed slight, moderate or heavy leaf roll virus (which causes leaves to turn red and curl under). We question what we are seeing. Is it … More…

This is a big week for us, the big payoff for the year. We’ve had great weather and the fruit is beautiful.

The Calera Pinot Noir selection did come around in flavor intensity, and it was worth the wait. It came off yesterday, with sugar in the low 24 degrees Brix (approximate percentage of sugar) range.

We had a little bit of rain yesterday, too minor to do much, a drizzle more like a heavy dew. It may have softened the skins a little, so we’re ready to harvest the Donum block that we were waiting for today. All the Pinot Noir should come off this week, and we’ll probably take in our Chardonnay early next week.

Normally our vineyards ripen and are harvested in order of … More…