Summer and fall bring events left and right here at J.L. Kiff Vineyard! From music in the vineyard, to the Big Pig Party and Yoga in the Vineyard fundraisers, plus our annual harvest Rosé Pick, we hope you will join us. If you live farther away, consider a trip to wine country! October is a great time to see harvest in action.
Speaking of harvest, our grapes are at ‘lag-phase’ right now. For more about that, read to the end of the email.
We’ll be back in touch soon!
Warmly,
Joel and Laurie
In the Vineyard
The vineyard is at ‘lag phase’ now, which means the small green grapes won’t grow in size for about ten days. However, a lot is happening inside those grapes! They are shifting from cell division to maturation, when the seeds start to develop and chemicals in the grapes trigger color change and softening. Once the Pinot Noir grapes start turning color, that marks the end of lag phase. This coloring of the grapes is called ‘veraison’ and it signals a nice milestone: when the vines become (mostly) impervious to powdery mildew and we can stop spraying sulfur every other week. Whew! Veraison is also when everyone starts to really get excited about harvest and it’s almost time to start power washing the fermenters to get them ready! This year, Pinot Noir harvest is on track to begin around mid-September.
A note about this past spring, which was unusually dry. The nice thing about dryness and heat in the spring, is that powdery mildew growth slows under these conditions. However, lack of water becomes a concern, since the summer has also been dry. But our vines have gone through ten years of dry farming now, so it’s possible they have developed enough root mass and depth that water stress won’t be an issue. As always, we will watch and learn!
The singing of the crickets fills the vineyard nights, usually starting mid-August. But this year, oh, cricket! They started July 22. We probably have something to learn from them, too.
The vineyard is at ‘lag phase’ now, which means the small green grapes won’t grow in size for about ten days. However, a lot is happening inside those grapes! They are shifting from cell division to maturation, when the seeds start to develop and chemicals in the grapes trigger color change and softening. Once the Pinot Noir grapes start turning color, that marks the end of lag phase. This coloring of the grapes is called ‘veraison’ and it signals a nice milestone: when the vines become (mostly) impervious to powdery mildew and we can stop spraying sulfur every other week. Whew! Veraison is also when everyone starts to really get excited about harvest and it’s almost time to start power washing the fermenters to get them ready! This year, Pinot Noir harvest is on track to begin around mid-September.
A note about this past spring, which was unusually dry. The nice thing about dryness and heat in the spring, is that powdery mildew growth slows under these conditions. However, lack of water becomes a concern, since the summer has also been dry. But our vines have gone through ten years of dry farming now, so it’s possible they have developed enough root mass and depth that water stress won’t be an issue. As always, we will watch and learn!
The singing of the crickets fills the vineyard nights, usually starting mid-August. But this year, oh, cricket! They started July 22. We probably have something to learn from them, too.
