“With the advent of color change in the vineyard, it looks like we are
going to have a harvest after all. After all of the rain, birds and bunch rot
have their way with us.”
- Excerpt
from the upcoming new release "The Grumpy Farmer" printed on recycled bath
tissue. Yep, he's on a roll.
Hello and
Welcome,
But here at Amalie Robert
Estate, harvest is starting to come into focus. We do have little pink berries
that are focusing our little grey cells on the approximate 70 ton fruit
extravaganza known as harvest. Really, it is pretty cool and better than
Christmas because we already know what we are getting!
Let's pick
up from last month and cover some leaf removal and crop estimation. As avid
readers of this space, you know the mouth feel of a wine is greatly influenced
by how the grapes are tended in the field.
Leaf pull is one of those key
levers we gently pull to expose some of our fruit to the morning sun. Through
our highly evolved, continuous improvement feedback loop, we have determined
that too much exposure is not a good thing in the finished wine. With partial
shading of our fruit, we can develop nuance and elegance in our finished wines.
Too much exposure and we find very harsh and bitter tannins await us in the
wine’s finish – as if taunting us to take another sip. It’s not attractive in
Pinot Noir. In fact, that is what Ca-"bern"-et is for.
Now, if
you see some vineyards that have stripped leaves on both sides of the canopy and
about halfway up the trellis, this usually means the vineyard was planted where
it does not belong. The leaves have been removed in hopes of drying off the
morning dew before Botrytis (aka bunch rot) can take hold and compromise the
fruit. Often times you can see these vines growing on flat land with little
chance for the cold, damp air to "drain" off. Cold air shares two main
characteristics with water - it flows downhill and it pools.
Up here on
the hillside, the cold, damp air runs off to the lowest elevation, leaving our
fruit to dry in the morning sun - denying the botrytis the moisture it needs to
grow. However, the cold damp air runs downhill and eventually pools on the
valley floor. If that is where your vineyard is, maybe it is time to think about
rotating into soybeans or wheat. The damp, cool air supplies moisture for
botrytis and can ruin the fruit before it is ripe.
So that is
why those vineyards have scant few leaves. They are hoping more sun exposure
will help save them from botrytis. If not, the grower must pick the fruit before
it is fully ripe or risk losing the crop altogether. Rosé anyone?
Conversely, if Mother Nature
keeps us dry and sunny, those overexposed berries may overdevelop skin tannins
that become very bitter in the wine. The point here is that a marginal vineyard
site dictates what the grower must do in order to continue producing
grapes.
Vineyard
site selection is a very strategic decision. We would like to think we have a
vineyard site that allows us the opportunity to hang our fruit into the fall and
provide the shading we need to develop interest and complexity in our Pinot
Noirs.
The crop
estimation this year was not what an analytical mind was hoping for. The numbers
were just a mess! We saw some samples where the average cluster weights were
supposed to be 200 grams, where we typically expect about 100 to 125 grams.
There is No Financial Way (NFW) these clusters are going to finish up
that big. Mother Nature was throwing us a curve ball and here's why.
To
estimate the crop load, we need to catch these berries at seed hardening and
then we figure they will about double in weight at harvest. The month of July
gave us a huge shot of rain that soaked into the soil. The vines, being the
opportunistic plants that they are, took full advantage of this event and pumped
all that water into the berries. That is why the clusters weighed in so heavy
this year.
With the berries being so
bloated, we thought there was more going on and we had to switch over to new
math. First of all, we think that the clusters are so tight that they will have
"push-outs." This is where the cluster has more berries than it can fit on the
stem. As the berries continue to swell, some will get forced off the stem, or be
"pushed out." If you are the last berry at the end of the stem, you are the
first to go as the other berries swell up. Just like trying to out run a lion.
You don't need to be the fastest person if you can trip the guy next to
you.
So, push-outs will help reduce
the cluster weights. Also, the vineyard has a pretty nice stand of permanent
grass in every other row. This Tall Fescue has some fairly deep roots and can be
quite the competitor for soil moisture. With Ernie's unprecedented 4th hedge, he
quit mowing the grass. The vines look good, but the vineyard floor is starting
to look disheveled. Now that is not all bad because taller grass uses up more
water. The sooner we can dry out the soil profile, the sooner we can see the
fruit develop our signature sedimentary soil aromas and flavors.
And
speaking of drying out the soil, September is where it all comes together. With
the Labor Day weekend upon us, we are expecting to see 90 degree days, warm
nighttime temperatures and a dry breeze. This follows on from our late August
weather quite nicely. We think of this weather pattern often - and
fondly.
We
typically refer to our canopy as a solar array, and it is. But it is also the
primary way we deplete our soil moisture. While we need enough soil moisture to
keep our leaves functioning, excess soil moisture holds us back.
Warm sunny
days with a warm dry breeze helps to trans-locate water from the soil profile up
to the leaves and out the stomata. The stomata are on the underside of the
leaves and provide a cooling effect when they open to allow water to escape and
evaporate. The more leaves you grow per acre, the faster you are drying out
your soil profile.
The final
cluster weights are in large part determined by the available soil moisture
which is a function of direct sunlight and a warm dry breeze. If there is
abundant soil moisture, the berries will compensate. If not they will begin to
desiccate. Also, the vine is programmed to survive in perpetuity. It does this
by partitioning nutrients in the fall for the upcoming spring growth. If the
vine needs water to help this process, and can’t get it from the roots, it takes
from the fruit.
Of course, there is the kinetic
activity of removing some berries from the vine aka thinning. For the berries,
this is called tough love and it just depends on which cluster you are attached
to. If you are unfortunate enough to be located on the wing, there is absolutely
no hope for you. Hasta la Vista baby!
On
September 21st the earth's orbit will impact the vines by reducing
their Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR) light source to less than 12 hours a
day. The vines will notice this and it is another stimulus that helps to
(hopefully) turn the vines’ focus to ripening their seeds so we can make wine.
To
summarize, we are betting on much lower levels of soil moisture between our
cluster weight estimation and harvest. We have set the stage to create this
condition by hedging only the shoot tips and stimulating as much leaf growth as
possible. We are also encouraging our grass to grow to help deplete the
available soil moisture. We are removing excess fruit and thinning of the late
to ripen wings. Mother Nature is on the case with warm temperatures and a dry
breeze. But Mother Nature is a fair weather friend and not to be taken for
granted.
Here are
the numbers:
We have
recorded about 582 degree days for the month of August, providing a total of
1,271 degree days since the beginning of the growing season on April 1st. This
compares with 466 degree days last August and a comparative total of 1,265
degree days for 2010. Statistically speaking, the growing season
to-date difference is insignificant, however, from a farming point of view we
say "Oh, Yeah!"
During
August, our highest high was 96.3 and our lowest high was 89.5. Our lowest low
was a brisk 40.2 and our highest low was 45.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
There was
no rainfall in August. Rainfall last August was 0.75 inches. Rainfall since
April 1st through August 30th remains 9.39 inches, and is 4.40 inches less than
last year's growing season to date rainfall of 13.78 inches.
The
average monthly humidity was 64.69% and the average dew point was 53.23
degrees.
Lastly, in
light of Labor Day, we would like to report on a condition that may afflict you
without you even knowing about it.
CDC Medical
Alert
The
Centre for Disease Control has issued a medical alert about a highly
contagious, potentially dangerous virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically. This virus is
called Weekly Overload Recreational Killer (WORK).
If you receive
WORK from your boss, any of your colleagues or anyone else via any means
whatsoever - DO NOT TOUCH IT!!! This virus will wipe out your private life
entirely. If you should come into contact with WORK you should
immediately leave the premises.
Take two good
friends to the nearest fine wine retailer and purchase one
or both of the antidotes - Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) and
Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). Take the antidote
repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your
system.
You should immediately forward
this medical alert to five friends. If you do not have five friends, you have
already been infected and WORK is, sadly, controlling your life. Get help
immediately!
Kindest
Regards,
Ernie
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