After a week of heat in the mid- to high-90s in Carneros, and 100-plus temperatures in Sonoma, I find it interesting that we haven’t picked very much, and we will probably wait until the week after next to harvest most of our crop.

Others have had to pick, but not us. Our sugars were at 21 to 22 degrees Brix (approximate percentage of sugar) when the heat came and now we’re at about 23. We saw a little bit of dehydration, but on the whole there weren’t huge shifts, the canopies are healthy and the fruit is beautiful. We walked our Russian River vineyard on Tuesday, and it looks wonderful, too. Our two Dijon Pinot Noir selections are holding nicely in the high 23 Brix range.

Nabor commented that when the fruit is at 21 to 22, it’s so healthy and intact that it can withstand heat, perhaps because the skins are still strong and resilient, whereas at a riper stage, the fruit is ready to break down and can’t take the heat.

The beauty of this Labor Day heat spell was that the humidity was not too low; it only dipped below 30% on one day. We had taken neutron probe (soil water content) and pressure bomb (leaf water status) readings and knew heat was forecast, so we gave the vines a small amount of water. We don’t apply water during the final week before harvest, but outside of that week, the overall health and function of the vine is paramount for ripening.

The Dijon clones typically seem a little higher in Brix in our Carneros vineyards as well, but we’re still in waiting mode. Rumors are that yields are coming in low, up to a third below normal. If the weather holds – and the next week to ten days is supposed to be perfect, in the low 80s – we should have gorgeous fruit. Waiting makes us a little nervous, so we just take another sample!

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