Spring Vineyard Update

Our current Spring season is looking very promising and surprisingly good, with regular rainfall but little damage.  At this time of year, especially if we are experiencing wet conditions, we can have quite damaging storms, where strong winds and hail take a severe toll on the vines, especially the early varieties like Chardonnay.  Fortunately, so far we have avoided wind and hail damage and the vines look to be in rude good health.

The timing of the rain has not been ideal for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with quite a bit falling during the first week of November, when both varieties were flowering.  We suspect their bunch weights may be affected and so won’t be surprised if their yields are down by perhaps 5 – 10 percent.  The other varieties have so far been luckier.

These conditions make the life of a machinery operator something of a challenge because fungicide applications can’t be made in the rain and so we have had to time our spray runs very carefully.  So far we have been able to keep the program on track.

On balance, we have seen similar seasons before, especially in the early 1990s.  According to Keith’s slowly fading memory, there is commonality with 1990-91 and more particularly, 1991-92.  If the 2012 turns out as well as either of those, there’ll be no complaints.