The Clusters Peek Out

27 Apr The Clusters Peek Out

The vineyard has some additional excitement this week – the first clusters of 2012 began to emerge.  While these clusters are smaller than your pinky fingernail, we’re thrilled to see this development knowing how much effort has gone into the vineyard thus far.  We still have quite a bit of the season ahead of us, but this is a promising sign of things yet to come.

Uneven Development

Depending on the area of the vineyard and the clone, some shoots are already out 2″ while on other vines, the buds are just beginning to swell.  We figured that by planting seven different clones of Pinot Noir and four different clones of Riesling on our site we would avoid an “all eggs in one basket” approach and benefit from the clonal differences.  Some clones may ripen earlier than others, while some may benefit from a warmer summer, and others may push buds first.  These “clones” that I’m referring to are not GMOs, but rather mutations that been observed in the plants for centuries.  Pinot Noir is one of the most susceptible grape varieties to mutation (there are hundreds of clones of Pinot Noir) and has been linked to the white varieties of Pinot Gris (or Pinot Grigio) and Pinot Blanc.  As you can imagine, there are pros and cons to each of the clones depending on the growing season.

Cooler Temps on the Way

As we hold our breath as we look at the weather forecast and see some cooler temperatures over the next couple of nights, we’re hopeful that these low temps will be the last of our growing season.  The forecast for next week has temps in the 60’s and 70’s, which should put the vines in a much more comfortable place and point us in the right direction.