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 foliage is healthy and the vines are still working hard, building sugars by metabolizing and not from dehydration. The 11-day heat wave, when the mercury hit 110 over the weekend of July 22-23, gave way to beautiful ripening weather with moderately warm days and cool nights.
This vintage is comfortable for us so far. With moderate temperatures, the vines don’t need as much water for transpiration and ripening is occurring in an orderly manner. This gives us time to walk the vineyards and pay close attention as we prepare for harvest. There’s not the sense of panic of some years.
Right now sugars are at 19 to 21.4 degrees Brix in Carneros. I think we can harvest by week after next without a heat spike, but I also believe the vines could withstand some heat, and it might even give them a little push. This could be a stellar vintage.
POST A COMMENT
RSS Feed
March 6th, 2008 at 2:07 am
You mention the flavors are ahead of the sugars - perfect time to pick and make a lower alcohol wine, no?
April 10th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Jim, there is another consideration. From a vineyard perspective, it seems winemakers always say they are waiting for flavors. But when they do have flavors, they may want to wait for more sugar. At 23.5 Brix, they may want a little more in order to get richer mouthfeel. Our comfort zone is up to 24.5, although we might go a bit higher in a year in which everything happens very quickly. For winemakers, richness and weight are important considerations as well.