« Vintner's Journal Home » Past Growing Seasons
October 04, 2007
The 2007 growing season is over.
It's been the 3rd driest year on record. A particularly mild winter and spring got everything going early. Everyone was expecting early harvest and that proved to be true.
Baconbrook's crop was about what we expected: we harvested 6.3 tons on Sept 25th. Brix was ideal at just over 25. It is currently fermenting like a champ.
Butterdragon kept getting put off. Suddenly, although the vineyard still looked strong, we started seeing quite a bit of dehydration. Panic mode (which seems to be the norm in farming at harvest time) set in. We harvested the 3 rows of Merlot on Sept 29. We brought in .82 tons of Merlot. Cary lowered the estimate of how much Cab we would be bringing in to Rombauer from 9 tons to 7. (Unlike in the past where we sold a set number of tons or half of our grapes to our grape buyer, this year the buyer had designated rows which meant anything not on those rows would go to us.) On October 1st, we trucked over 13.45 tons of Cab!! The crew at Rombauer certainly gave us a ribbing how our 7 tons became almost 14! Oh well. It remains to be seen if all that will make it into the final Butterdragon blend. I can say that although the brix was 27, the fruit tasted really great; particularly striking wa the taste of the skins. If we can avoid a stuck fermentation, it will probably be some monster juice.
Posted by matchvineyards at October 04, 2007 06:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 28, 2007
Budbreak 2007
Ahh, bud break.
It has happened at both vineyards though Butterdragon, as usual, is a tad bit further along. The shoots there are about 3/4 to 1 inch long. Just right to provide a tasty snack for deer who like the sweet, tender young shoots. Let's hope everyone remembers to close the gates.
Northern California is behind in rainfall though I don't think we're so short as it will cause problems later on. At least not for us and our wells. We'll see though.
After seeming like Spring had sprung, the temps have fallen again with unstable weather. Today has been like a regular "Winnie the Pooh blustery day." "They" say that snow levels are going down to 2000 feet. Won't affect us at our vineyards, but the temps in the Valley could dip down low enough to make some folks nervous, particularly since bud break has happened for most ranches. Generally, we don't have a lot of frost worries as the hillsides where our vineyards are located tend to stay above freezing. We keep our fingers crossed because, unlike Valley floor vineyards, we have no frost protection.
Posted by matchvineyards at March 28, 2007 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 25, 2006
Butterdragon Harvest 2006
Yesterday, at 7 AM about 40 guys from Barbour Vineyards began picking the 7 acres at Butterdragon. Temperatures were in the mid 40's and by the time they were done at 11 AM, it was around 60 degrees. I LOVE it when the grapes come in cool.
The fruit looked and tasted great though there was evidence of a bit more dehydration than we saw at Baconbrook on Saturday. Tonnage reflected this as we kept a total of 9.3 tons of Cab and a little under 1 ton of Merlot. This will mean production of 2006 Butterdragon will probably fall around average (~600 cases) rather than like the big harvest of 2005. This is fine with me. Crush went off without a hitch. With the small amount of Merlot, we were able to do a bin fermentation rather than putting it in a tank with the Cab. I like doing it this way. Although we've always ultimately blended in Butterdragon's Merlot, I like having separate lots as long as possible so we can track individual elements and make final blending decisions. You can't take it out once it's in. By 3 PM, we were ready to clean up and go home.
Always a relief to get another vintage into the barn.
PS. I'll post some pictures from both harvests soon.
Posted by matchvineyards at October 25, 2006 10:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 22, 2006
Baconbrook Harvest 2006
Yesterday morning at 7AM, Pina started harvesting Baconbrook. They were done before 10. Weights came in a bit light: we had almost 14 full half ton bins and the weight came out to 5.5 tons. Crushed around noon at Rombauer. With 5.5 tons, you can't blink or you'll miss it. We were done in probably half an hour.
The grapes looked fantastic. Little to no dessication, great flavors, brown seeds, softening skins. Tannins that had been described as hard a week or so ago were significantly softer. I think this last little heat umph of temps in the 80's brought it around.
Butterdragon on Tuesday.
Posted by matchvineyards at October 22, 2006 09:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 03, 2006
Nerves of steel??
There are still a lot of grapes out there in Napa. Just a few scattered tons have been harvested and in fact, most of the chardonnay and other early ripening varietals are still out.
Tomorrow we're expecting a significant amount of rain. What had been earlier predicted as a slight chance of a shower has now grown to "the first significant rain event" of the season. Santa Cruz mountains and down towards Monterey possibly as much as an inch. Napa Valley may get 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Nerves of steel needed in this business. Few have been ready to harvest and now there's some risk. Everyone should be okay -- especially thicker skinned varieties -- but I'm sure we'll all be holding our breath. Especially important is what happens AFTER the rain. We'll need some sun and warmth to dry things out.
Are things going to be late? Baconbrook's and Butterdragon's harvest dates still haven't even been penciled in. We usually try to do that 2 weeks out.
Posted by matchvineyards at October 03, 2006 09:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 26, 2006
Brix update
As of this morning...
Baconbrook
Block 1 - 24.3
Block 2 - 23.5
Butterdragon
Cab Sauv Clone 15 - 25.4
Clone 7 - 24.6
Clone 337 - 26.0
Merlot - 25.0
Although we're starting to get into "harvest" numbers, the flavors aren't there yet. So we wait.
Posted by matchvineyards at September 26, 2006 05:41 PM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2006
Harvest update
Hot dry winds in the Napa Valley today. Not a good thing, but the forecast is for a return to mild weather. If that is true, we're still probably close to two weeks from harvest.
Brix readings
Baconbrook (9/21/06 AM)
Block 1 - 23
Block 2 - 22.4
Butterdragon (9/20/06 AM)
Cab clone 337 - 24
clone 7 - 23
clone 15 - 23.6
Merlot - 23.8
Posted by matchvineyards at September 22, 2006 03:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 23, 2006
Walking the vineyards
Cary and I walked the vineyards today. It appears that the vineyards weathered the July heat wave really well.
Butterdragon Hill is a 7 acre vineyard that sits on a hillside above Highway 29. It is located between St. Helena and Calistoga near the Old Bale Mill. If you're familiar with the Valley, imagine the position and orientation of St. Clement, Grace, and Vineyard 29. Tha's what Butterdragon Hill is like.
The crop looks lighter than last year (a really big year). Bunches are well formed but berries are more widely spaced and smaller. This is usually a good sign for flavors.
Cab clone 337 - Veraison complete
Cab clone 7 - Veraison almost complete
Cab clone 15 - Veraison complete
Merlot - Veraison complete. Looks in good shape which is good news especially considering some vineyards have had trouble with their Merlot this year.
Bacobrook is less than 3 acres and sits in a saddle of a ridge on the west side of the Napa Valley. Part of the vineyard overlooks the town of St. Helena, part overlooks the small valley through which White Sulphur creek runs.
Napa Valley side block - Veraison complete. Looks absolutely awesome.
White Sulphur Springs side block - Veraison complete. Lighter crop, a bit more uneven.
Posted by matchvineyards at August 23, 2006 10:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 02, 2006
New trellis system for Baconbrook
We've decided to change the trellis system at Baconbrook. Right now we have a simple vertical trellis but will be installing a "Y" trellis to provide better canopy management and protect the fruit from sunburn during September heat waves. And that's how you spend $5000 on what seems like scrap metal.
Posted by matchvineyards at March 02, 2006 07:25 PM | Comments (0)
October 05, 2005
Harvest Report 2005
Another growing season draws to a close. We harvested Butterdragon Hill today. Baconbrook was harvested on Monday.
It's amazing how much energy and worry can go in to having grapes on the vine. Until 2000 when we planted a vineyard, I never worried about the weather beyond wondering whether I should carry an umbrella or not. But what a season! Five years, and I'm still waiting for a "normal" growing season. If you follow these sorts of things, you may remember that the weather in Northern California during the Spring and Summer of 2005 was anything but normal. Typically, our rainy season lasts from sometime in November to March or so. Not the case this year. We got a significant amount of rain in to June!
So how did it all go?
The extra rain thru an extended rainy season meant high farming costs. We had to deal with extreme vine growth and vigor. Vineyard management was a challenge as we tried to take advantage of the natural moisture in the soil (more desirable than irrigation) while avoiding growing simple, fat, watery berries or just a jungle of leaves. It seems we were successful. Although the crops were quite large, complex flavors developed slowly over the long, mild growing season. We're quite excited about our 2005 vintage.
I'll post final numbers on this harvest as soon as possible.
Posted by matchvineyards at October 05, 2005 08:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 31, 2005
Vineyard Updates
I spoke with both Barbour Vineyards (Butterdragon Hill) and Pina Vineyard Management (Baconbrook) over the last couple of days. Both of our vineyards are doing well and have weathered the extremely rainy spring.
Baconbrook is in full flower now and looks to have a heavy crop. We'll have a better fruit estimate in a couple of weeks. The cover crop is extremely high and needs mowing again. Normally, we try to only have to mow once but all the wet weather has created a jungle of grass as well as vine growth. Pina will go through and spray to prevent mildew again this week. This is a follow up spraying to one they did about 10 days ago.
Butterdragon Hill does not look to have a especially large crop but the clusters seem to be forming well and uniformly across the vineyard. Barbour went through tying and tucking the canes up in to the trellis system. This practice will allow for more even sunlight getting to the flowers and vines. Some vineyards in the valley have had issues this year with capping where the flowers are supposed to shed their protective caps but the process is interrupted by the young flower clusters being wet. Barbour has seen no evidence of capping at Butterdragon.
We've also added a second set of drip lines down the rows at Butterdragon Hill. This addition will allow us to irrigate the bottom of the vineyard separately from the top which should improve quality overall and give us the ability to manage our irrigation more effectively. The soils at the bottom of the hill are thinner than towards the top meaning that they typically retain less water. In previous vintages, it was all or nothing regarding irrigation. Now, if the bottom needs irrigating, but the top doesn't, we can better pinpoint the need.
The 10 day forecast for St. Helena is for sunny days with highs in the upper 70's and lows around 50. Perfect growing weather!
Posted by matchvineyards at May 31, 2005 02:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
