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Weather & Climate

A collection of 289 posts

Harvest continues under ideal conditions, with high quality and above-average yields

The first half of October is typically our busiest stretch of harvest, and 2012 was no exception. Between October 1st and 15th, we brought in 107 tons off of our estate and another 60 tons of purchased fruit for the Patelin de Tablas line. That's something like 30%

When a little harvest rain is no big deal

This week saw the first truly fall-like weather of the year. And what a relief. We'd been picking at what felt like full speed for nearly three weeks, under terrific conditions but without a break. In the first 10 days of October, we brought in an incredible 98

Harvest update: perfect ripening conditions dominate late September, but we see signs of fall

The second half of September continued to point our way toward a productive, top-notch harvest. Asking for cool (but not cold) nights and warm (but not hot) days, and ample sunshine, is almost a cliche in wine country, but that's exactly what we got, providing excellent ripening conditions

Harvest, weeks one and two: zero to sixty in no time flat

Most vintages, harvest starts slowly, with a few bins the first day, then a little break, then a selective pick off another block, then another break, then finally a larger picking, then another break. Not this year. We started on September 4th with our first lot of Viognier for the

Looking forward to an El Nino winter in 2012-2013

With two weeks of near-100° weather recently in our rear view mirror, and harvest not even yet begun, it's strange to already be thinking about winter weather. But in my email inbox today I received a special alert from the Western Weather Group, the agricultural weather specialists whose

Veraison 2012

So far, this year's weather has been pretty much perfect. Lots of days in the 80's and low 90's, lots of nights in the 50's. Very few days where the highs were in the 70's, and only a few where

What a difference a week makes

I haven't been giving out blow-by-blow accounts of this summer's weather, for two reasons. First, you probably don't care much, and anyway the impacts of mid-summer weather on the quality of that year's harvest are minor. Second, it's been remarkably

Flowering 2012

Now six weeks into the growing season, it's clear that 2012 is going to follow a different path than 2010 or 2011. As opposed to being en route to a harvest roughly a month behind normal, as we were last year, we're on a normal track.

Celebrating May 15th: the unofficial end to frost season

I've been delaying writing this post so as not to jinx our progress, but I think that we're far enough into May that I can do so safely. So, here goes. We seem to have made it through spring without any damage from frost. This achievement

Budbreak Photos from around the Vineyard

Budbreak may be late this year, but now that it's started, it's happening in a hurry. After last week's cool, wet weather, it's turned warm and sunny, with the last two days in the 70s and even warmer temperatures forecast for later