Hello and Welcome,
This is the climate update for August
2009.
All in all, I must say 2009 has been a
pretty nice year. The vineyard still looks very green and healthy, the summer
cover crops have contributed their all and are now resting below an inch or so
of tilled soil, and the weather has been fairly moderate. I will drill in some
Oats and Field Peas between the rows and that should put the vineyard floor in
good stead for a well deserved winter rest.
Here is what I know for sure, as much as
you can know anything for sure in agriculture. We have
recorded about 534 degree days for the month of August, providing a total of
1,634 degree days since the beginning of the growing season on April 1st. This
compares with 448 degree days last August and a comparative total of 1,481
degree days for 2008. Tack on another 300 for September, and we are in striking
distance.
During
August, our highest high was 103.4 and our lowest high was 100.2. Our lowest low
was 45.4 and our highest low was 47.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The rainfall for
August was 0.35 inches and was 1.35 inches below last August's rain of 1.70.
Rainfall since April 1st through August 30th was 8.28 inches, and is 3.85 inches
greater than last year's growing season to date rainfall of 4.43 inches.
Regarding last month's question: Do the
clusters at the end of the vine make better wine than the clusters toward the
head? The answer is the best wine is made from the clusters that make it to the
winery! Since we can never really know for sure, here are some thoughts on the
subject:
-
As long as the vine is healthy, the cane is not too long and not overburdened, then the fruit should be relatively uniform along the cane. If any of these conditions are degraded, the fruit in the center of the cane may have lower quality.
- The fruit at the end of the cane is typically better quality due to the vine's natural growth habit. The end shoots typically are more vigorous as they are looking to climb - they are vines after all. This means the end shoots are drawing greater energy from the vine in hopes for growing into an ideal location to produce fruit (aka ripen seeds.) The clusters on these end shoots are the beneficiaries of the increased vascular tissue activity.
- Another view is that we want to space the fruit out along the cane. Early in the year this can be done by cutting large clusters in half. The result is the top half of the cluster remains on the vine and the clusters are evenly spread across the cane. I think this is easier to do with large clustered varieties such as Dolcetto or Syrah.
Also, whatever clusters remain,
removal of the wings or "fruiting tendrils" may improve wine quality. This is
due to the notion that wings flower about a week after the main cluster. The
wing is Mother Nature's back-up plan in case of bad weather during the critical
bloom stage. This means the wing needs an extra week or so to ripen. However,
the cluster will be harvested long before the grapes on the wing fully
develop flavor and aroma.
So, there we have it.
As I sit at my desk writing, I
can see that the nearly inch of rain we just received is followed by a strong
breeze and partly sunny skies. The forecast is for warm dry days and cool
nights. Perhaps the wind is at our backs and the sun is warming our faces - it
could be worse. Here is a link to a weather page that is no worse than any I
have found: http://wxmaps.org/pix/pdxgfs.png
September is the time of reflection
on the year's events that have shaped this vintage. We look forward to
September's sunny days and cool nights when Mother Nature puts her finishing
touches on the vintage. Of course, we are doing our part by thinning off excess
crop and late ripening wings.
Ernie
