We spent a day with Dr. Phil Freese recently. He’s formerly head of viticulture for Robert Mondavi Winery as well as professor of viticulture at the University of California. He and his wife, Zelma Long, who began her illustrious career making wine with Robert Mondavi and gained renown at Simi Winery, both consult with us.

We find their experience, expertise and the perspectives they bring very stimulating. Part of their role is to challenge us to continue to think creatively. One pitfall we try to guard against is falling into the same old ruts in our thinking and planning. Good enough is simply not good enough in the pursuit of the ultimate.

As we began our conversation, Phil commented on the smoke-filled skies from the many California wildfires during the past two months and … More…

Four days of 100-degree weather during the second week of July (the mercury reached 106 in the town of Sonoma on Tuesday the 8th) marked the fourth heat spike of the 2008 vintage. The first spike came in mid-May, accelerating the bloom period, and two others occurred on June 9th and 21st.

Fires continued to burn around the state of California, and the polluted air combined with the heat wave made working outside seem like standing in front of a blow dryer.

Just north of Sonoma on the Fourth of July, a hillside grass fire started with a spark from a mower and threatened residences as well as Hanzell Winery. Thanks to the swift response of firefighters, fixed-wing aircraft dropping slurry and a helicopter dropping water, the fire was put out after … More…

I have time for a quick update on where we are so far this year. The weather around bloom time was a little erratic – very warm in early May, then cool, then warm again. Those conditions did affect fruit set, and so all the blocks have some shatter (flowers that don’t become berries).

As a grower, I’m not so happy about lighter crop weight, but as a winemaker, Kenneth is excited because there will be a higher skin-to-juice ratio yielding more intensity. Shot berries can add to quality as long as it doesn’t get too hot in the vineyard. There have been no major heat spikes this year so far, just a couple of days in the high 90’s.

The vines are growing nicely. Without any rainfall, there aren’t … More…

Our flavors are beautiful this year, and for once flavors are ahead of sugars. That would not be true of a heavier crop left unthinned, where lower sugars are usually accompanied by lower flavor levels.

Because we are trying to produce small amounts of exceptional Pinot Noir, we thin down to one shoot per bud to ensure uniformity. But growers who want larger yields may hedge their bets and not do that. Also, some may say that they thin at veraison (when grapes soften and change color), but they only remove a few green clusters and second crop. Crop level is not our concern – we are likely to drop crop anyway – but we are very concerned with ripeness.

This year the vine ripeness is there by all indicators. The seeds are turning a nice brown, and lignification (green tissue maturing into brown or woody tissue) is occurring. The … More…

We are on the brink of September, and my very first blog entry concerns an important “day in the life” of a Pinot producer. At Joe Nugent’s fairly youthful vineyard (planted in 1997) in the Russian River Valley, we have a large crop, in contrast to the relatively poor sets we saw here in the previous three vintages.

Following a wet spring that did provide good conditions at bloom, an excellent set has given us big, full clusters with no shot berries. Grapevines are self-pollinating, but many factors affect fruit set, ranging from the vine’s health and vigor to the way we’ve pruned it, and weather has a direct bearing on crop size. During the period of bloom and set, it’s often too wet, too dry, too hot … More…