S1 EP0012 - In the Vineyard

Well, 2021 continues to provide us with warm weather, adequate rainfall, and beautiful days.&#160; After a severe thunderstorm that moved through the region on Monday, June 21, bringing with it heavy winds and pouring rain, we experienced a burst of cool temperatures.&#160; With a high of only 66 degrees yesterday, our warming pattern returns, with highs in the 80&#8217;s today, and an expectation of 90 by Friday.&#160; Our growing degree days are moving ahead as well, with a total of 756 as of June 22.&#160; To put that in context, for the same date in 2020, we were at 722.&#160; In 2019, we had only clocked 619, and in the warm dry vintage of 2016, we were also at 722.&#160; We are skewing slightly warmer than usual, and so far, the vineyards are looking great.<br/><br/>Since our last vineyard update two weeks ago, everything in our vineyard and in all the vineyards I&#8217;ve seen, has moved quickly through bloom, and fruit is beginning to set.&#160; Bloom is a precarious time.&#160; Grape flowers do not need to be pollinated to produce fruit, and so we aren&#8217;t worried specifically about pollination, but we do hold our breath a little bit during that period because any extreme weather events can create a situation that damages the tender flowers, and may potentially impact fruit set.&#160; Things like hail, extreme downpours and heavy winds didn&#8217;t cause us any problems this year.&#160;<br/><br/>We are now in the first stage of berry development.&#160; This is the period we refer to as fruit set, and is a period of about two months, where cell division is extremely active as the berry grows in size.&#160; It is during this period that the berries are accumulating their crucial acids such as tartaric and malic acid, and other important physiological components such as tannins.&#160; Over the next several months, we&#8217;ll monitor the berry size development through fruit set, lag phase, and veraison.&#160;&#160;<br/><br/>Everything in our vineyard is moving along wonderfully.&#160; The Chenin Blanc i