We had a few days that exceeded the 100-degree mark around the Fourth of July, but other than that, this summer has been consistently cool as we approach 50% veraison (softening, coloring of berries). The vines look beautiful and we’re just cruising along at this point.

Someone asked me a good question the other day – how do we determine the size and shape of vineyard blocks?

The short answer is that we try to establish “like units” of ground that can be farmed similarly and efficiently. Of course, there are obvious determinants like topography. But for me, everything starts with the soil. You can always add to the soil, but you can’t take away from it. So the first and best way for me to divide a vineyard site into smaller units is to consider how the soil will impact water use.

Different sub-soils can translate to major site variations. Heavy clay retains water and gravelly soils drain rapidly; they perform much differently. We learn as much as we can about our site before laying out the blocks, but we always learn more subtleties in the process of working with the vineyard.

We use water as a tool, like a gas pedal, and with it we can carefully drive each block, or portions thereof. Fortunately, our irrigation sets are flexible within a dynamic system, so we can always tweak what we’re doing by turning a row on or off within a set.

We observe blocks from many perspectives. We walk through them, look at photos from space, read data from instruments. But there are no absolutes. Each decision always involves many variables.

For example, if our pressure bomb readings measure leaf water potential at 11 and the forecast is for cool weather, we won’t irrigate. And after a cool day or two, the reading may drop to 10. So we’re fine. But if we read 11 on a cool day with a hot day coming, then we irrigate, because the hot weather can easily push the reading to 13 or 14.

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