08/03/2010 Winemaker Cary Gott and I walked the Baconbrook Vineyard today.  We’re starting to see some change in color.  Veraison has started on Spring Mountain, but it’s not very far along.  I’d guesstimate <10%.  The mild weather in Northern California continues.  In fact, they are expecting a relatively cool week with heavy fog in the early morning and highs below normal.  At Baconbrook, we’re probably 1 1/2 weeks or so behind normal but that could change if we start stringing together some warm, sunny days.  One of the main lessons I’ve learned about farming is the only thing that is “normal” is that it is never normal.

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Photos taken July 20, 2010. I don’t know if it’s obvious from the photos, but Baconbrook seems a bit further along… as usual. BB’s clusters appear tighter too. Zero sign of veraison.

Butterdragon Hill

Baconbrook

Starting to see some berries.

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What do the grape clusters look like this week? 6/1/10

Baconbrook 6/1/10

Butterdragon Hill 6/2/10

Butterdragon Hill on 5/24/10

Baconbrook

Butterdragon Hill

Butterdragon Hill on 5/2/10

Starting to see a little bit of flowering

Baconbrook 4/20/10

Butterdragon Hill 4/22/10. Notice how much more growth this vineyard has than Baconbrook

The first post of excerpts from a photo log of our vineyards throughout the growing season. The complete log will be an album on our Facebook page.

3/10/10 Freshly pruned vine at Baconbrook

3/10/10 Freshly pruned vine at Butterdragon Hill