A Season in IGs

Mid way through October.

I honestly start to get giddy.  The end is in sight.

 Two more weeks of bringing in fruit. Two weeks. 2!

2013 Season has flown by.  I mark each year with the passing of the growth stages in the vineyard.  From the first leaf tip showing to the fruit being harvested and sent to the winery, I find so much beauty in the work I do.

The spring of 2013 was warm!

 Mid 80's in April gave way to rapid shoot growth with bloom much earlier than past years.  

The anticipation!

A hot summer meant an early verasion.

The berries get soft.

The red grapes go from little peas to beautiful red and purple grapes

Then fall comes along.  

Harvest is hard work. 

But twice a week I drive around with our winemaker, tasting berries, making enology decisions while analysing fruit quality and the fermentation it is destine for.  

Bloom, beautiful and fragrant.

ITS HERE! ITS HERE!

We have reached my second favorite time of the year in the vineyards!  The intoxicating aroma, the tiny calyptra (Flower petals below, they are five fused petals which detach from the flower, curl a tad and fall off), the long days in the warm sun. 

The very beginning of bloom! The caps are so swollen!

Grapes are self pollinated so Bees are mostly seen in the inter row feeding on Yellow Mustard or Meadow Salsify.  

I enjoy the beauty in every stage of the vineyard, but this is very amazing.  I suggest visiting vineyards in many stages, yes when the grapes are ripe for the tasting, one loves to visit the vineyard.  But there is beauty out there all year round!

Spring is here!

After a long winter of snow, frozen fog creating beautiful ice sculptures from the grape vines, getting stuck in the mud, and mostly being stuck in the office, spring is here and it is not holding back!

Although it can be cold, the sun is usually out! And with the few days in May above 90 degrees have pushed the grapes ahead of the growth seen to this point in the last 5 years! Woohoo! All growers need great news this season, most had to weather a back to back botrytis year (2010) and a powdery mildew year (2011).

 

2012 is off to a great start! Cheers!