21 Aug Vineyard 101: Veraison
During July and early August, the vineyard is alive with life. The leaf canopy grows thick and lush, and the grapes begin to take on weight as they ripen. This year, early July brought substantial rainfall to the region, and we receved nearly an entire month of average July rainfall in the first 2 weeks. The excess rain created some challenges for us as it increased disease pressure and also caused weed and cover crop growth. Tom and the vineyard team spent a lot of days on the tractors mowing and using mechanical implements to clear weeds and keep air flowing through the vineyard. Fortunately, the rainfall moderated in the latter half of July and have had drier weather with some scattered rainfall. July also brought heat and sunshine in the latter part of the month, and this set us up for veraison in early August.
Below, our botanical drawings show close-up views of the transition to veraison. After bloom and fruit set – the grape berries are formed and cell division within the berries causes the grapes to grow rapidly and take on weight. Eventually, cell division ceases, and the subsequent berry growth is caused primarily by cell expansion.
About 5 – 7 weeks after fruit set, veraison begins in the vineyard. During veraison the firm, green berries begin to soften and change color as they expand and accumulate sugar. Veraison happens for both red and white grapes, but the color change is more dramatic on our red grapes. Hungry birds are quick to notice the color change, and will soon begin to peck at the fruit in search of a new source of food. For this reason, the first signs of veraison set off a flurry of activity in our vineyard as our crew rushes to roll out and secure the nets to keep the birds away from the grapes.
During the 4 – 6 weeks after veraison, sugar levels, grape skin pigments, and flavor compounds rise while acid levels fall. Ideally, harvest begins when the fruit has reached desired levels of ripeness.
This year, Tom recorded the start of veraison in the original Estate Vineyard on August 3rd (image below). The Pommard clone of Pinot Noir was the furthest along at this point, and some purple berries were also beginning to emerge for clones 667 and 777.
As this post goes to press, we have veraison through both the original and new estate vineyard. The team rolled out the nets just before veraison started and we are doing our best to keep the hungry birds at bay. Hoping for the weather to remain favorable so that this beautiful fruit reaches its best potential for the vintage!
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