Growing Grapes
"Wine begins in the vineyard"
That’s an old wine country adage...and it’s true.
That’s why winemaker Parke Hafner is out among the vines so often, to be sure that we bring high quality grapes to our winemaking process.
The vineyard year begins in Spring. From the bare brown vines comes the magic of a new year. Tiny green leaves appear, growing to full size with astounding speed in just a few weeks. Miniature grape clusters accompany the leaves and soon form blooms and then grapes.
Weather is crucial. Hail, heavy rain, extreme heat or cold will damage the crop. No wonder farming is called the world's oldest form of gambling.
And there are bugs, of course. In 2007 we released over one million predatory “good” mites to fight bad mites and the good bugs won!
As Summer approaches, David Huebel, our vineyard manager and the vineyard team begin moving trellis wires to lift the fast-growing shoots. This lets wind and sun into the vines to help ensure the grapes will ripen evenly with full aromas.
Days grow busier: Training fast-growing shoots, removing leaves, thinning crops, all to increase wine quality. Summers in the vineyard demand close attention and continuous handwork.
As harvest nears, Parke and David walk the vineyard. The Chardonnay grapes ripen first, usually around Labor Day, although Nature keeps us guessing every year. Several weeks later, the Cabernet grapes are ready.
This is an endeavor of the senses, so Parke and David taste many grapes, checking for flavor and ripeness. When the grapes meet Parke's goals, the harvester goes to work. It shakes the ripe grapes from the vines and into conveyers that carry them into tanks on the harvester. Shortly afterwards, the harvester unloads the grapes into gondolas for quick delivery to the winery.
Irrigation follows the harvest as the vines catch at least another month's growth. That critical last month stores nutrients for the Winter and next year's crop. The tractor begins to cultivate the vineyard rows and seed next year’s cover crop which will enrich and protect the top soil.
As Winter approaches, the vines go dormant and out comes our pruning machine. It shortens the main shoots that produced the grapes whose juice was fermented into the year’s wines. The wines of that year are called “the vintage.”
Then, the shortened shoots are ready for precision hand pruning by our vineyard team. Pruning 80,000 vines takes time and patience, but we have our eyes on the goal: to finish in March, so that we are ready to welcome Spring, and a new vineyard year.
These photographs condense 365 days of careful, hard work by our vineyard crew and the unpredictable actions of Mother Nature. Follow the life of the grapes and life in the vineyard, plus other news, in “What’s New” on our Home Page.
