I’ve continued to take notes and track the 2008 season, which thus far has had as its “defining moments” severe frosts at the end of March and again during the third week of April.

Monday, May 5th:
Today Nabor and I stood in a low bowl on The Donum Estate and took in the vineyard landscape. He observed that while cold air normally flows in from the north, it came instead from the south during our recent frost, flowing like water and reaching a fairly high level in this bowl. Once it hit the hillsides, the cold air had nowhere to go but up.

Normally we see differences between vines up on ridges and those down in the swales. Water drains from the ridgelines quickly, and due to their elevation and exposure, vines … More…

I’ve been keeping the notes that follow about frost damage to indicate our decision-making process amid changing conditions over the period of several weeks.

Thursday, April 10th:
We’ve had a cold spring with some serious frost at the very end of March when temperatures were below freezing for five hours and got as low as 26 degrees F.
Because frost damage can cause unevenness in growth and ripening, it complicates our decision-making. If we’ve lost some crop already, for example, should we thin more crop?

Luckily, Pinot Noir is a later variety and a lot of our vines hadn’t pushed out yet. Our Carneros topography of rolling hills was helpful, because those vines that were out up to two inches were in upper blocks, while the cold air, being heavier, flows into the low swales in the vineyards. Also, our vines are mostly cane pruned, so the secondary buds might be more fruitful and … More…

As we sit here talking at Anne’s, the creek is rising and water is beginning to flow across the road that leads to her home. We need the rain and we have it, about 2.7 inches in less than 24 hours. Downtown Napa looks like it could flood soon. And there have been strong gusts of wind blowing tree limbs off onto the roads.The soil was dry and the water has been soaking in until now, at noon on Friday, it’s running off.

This rain is warm. My sweatshirt got wet, but I didn’t even notice it because I felt no cold. Even in Mexico, around Guadalajara, over the holidays it was quite warm, in the 70′s during the day. We stay awake almost … More…

Weather really determines a vintage. Each year we are fortunate to work with the same team on the same soil and plant material, although the vines are a year more mature. But the amount and timing of rainfall and the temperature really determine what we do, because our vineyard practices are tools to equalize or mitigate the effects of weather with the goal of the wine we want to make in mind.

Last month, January 2007, brought the lowest rainfall in three decades. As a result, our pruning progressed very rapidly this year. Productivity was up from a normal rate of 35 to 40 vines per pruner each hour to about 55 vines. While the sunshine may have created positive attitudes, the absence of a pound of muddy clay on each … More…