My Vineyard Notes 2022 vs 2023 (Northern CA) - 1 month delayed

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NorCal said:
Just so happens I heard on the local news a vineyard owner in Amador saying, he has a big crop that is running later than last year. He just started veraison as well.
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The fruit being so late this year is pushing back things at our winery, normally we would have all the fruit in by the estimated harvest date for this year.
 
Here in Norcal I did a comparison of the last 3 years with regard to my Barbera Vines and Veraison. It is astonishing how far behind this year is from previous years.
The first picture is July 20th 2021, the second picture is July 21st 2022, and the third picture is today.
IMG-20230722-WA0007.jpgIMG-20230722-WA0008.jpgIMG-20230722-WA0012.jpg
 
Busabill said:
Here in Norcal I did a comparison of the last 3 years with regard to my Barbera Vines and Veraison. It is astonishing how far behind this year is from previous years.
The first picture is July 20th 2021, the second picture is July 21st 2022, and the third picture is today.
View attachment 103702View attachment 103703View attachment 103704
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Grapes where I am are nearly identical to your last photo and are about 1-1.5 months behind average for this time of the year. And grapes I would normally expect to be ready late august through mid September are likely to not be ready untill the first or second week of October.
 
Nebbiolo020 said:
Grapes where I am are nearly identical to your last photo and are about 1-1.5 months behind average for this time of the year. And grapes I would normally expect to be ready late august through mid September are likely to not be ready untill the first or second week of October.
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Yeah that's about what I'm thinking too for a time frame. Where are you located?
 
I revisited the vines today for a spray and light leaf pulling.

Wow, we are really behind. I see little development from last week. It is August and no veraison except for one cluster which is growing on an arm flagged for removal because of Eutypa dieback.
And I recant my declaration that bunch closure has happened.
 
GSMChris said:
Nice post from Tablas Creek this week… he says they are about a month behind normal still (even after a week of 100 degree days). No signs of Veraison which normally comes mid July for them.

I looked at my vineyard pretty carefully yesterday and zero signs of color anywhere.

https://tablascreek.typepad.com/tab...-almost-definitely-our-latest-ever-maybe.html
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Yeah we just heard back that harvest for our Cabernet is likely first or second week of October and it’s so late that I’m actually a little nervous and getting anxious and impatient lol.
 
Just did my first extensive random berry sampling for a Brix check in the Vineyard. Results:

Top Cabernet Sauvignon lot: 20 Brix
Lower Cabernet Sauvignon lot: 16.5 Brix
Zin: 15.5 Brix
Barbera: 17.9 Brix
Malbec: 19.9 Brix
PV: 15 Brix

This time last year I had already harvested.
These are my numbers from July 30th last year for context.

July 30 '22 brix check.
Top CS 21.5
Bottom CS 17
Zinfandel 19
Barbera 22.5
Malbec 22.5
PV 15
 
Busabill said:
Just did my first extensive random berry sampling for a Brix check in the Vineyard. Results:

Top Cabernet Sauvignon lot: 20 Brix
Lower Cabernet Sauvignon lot: 16.5 Brix
Zin: 15.5 Brix
Barbera: 17.9 Brix
Malbec: 19.9 Brix
PV: 15 Brix

This time last year I had already harvested.
These are my numbers from July 30th last year for context.

July 30 '22 brix check.
Top CS 21.5
Bottom CS 17
Zinfandel 19
Barbera 22.5
Malbec 22.5
PV 15
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it’s a late year, last year we had picked all fruit in the entire region by the time of the estimated harvest date for 2023. Veraison just started for a lot of grapes so I would project middle September to end of November for harvest with the latest grapes early November. It’s really late, we got a lot of rain then cold weather followed by a gradual warmup and I think it will be the best vintage in 20 years despite the harvest issues.
 
ChuckD said:
I hope this isn’t a stupid question but why? Is a slower, cooler growing season generally preferred over a short and hot season?
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Yes, flavor and aroma compounds have more time to develop and because the acid decreases slower as well in cooler slower years you tend to have crisper acidity and not have to add in tartaric because the ph is off. Cool long growing years tend to produce better wines when you get a lot of heat grapes ripen before the flavor and aroma compounds and you also face the issue of brix peaking acid decreasing and the wine overall is lesser quality.
 
Nebbiolo020 said:
Yes, flavor and aroma compounds have more time to develop and because the acid decreases slower as well in cooler slower years you tend to have crisper acidity and not have to add in tartaric because the ph is off. Cool long growing years tend to produce better wines when you get a lot of heat grapes ripen before the flavor and aroma compounds and you also face the issue of brix peaking acid decreasing and the wine overall is lesser quality.
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Thanks for the education. Good luck with your harvest and wine making this fall.
 
Nebbiolo020 said:
it’s a late year, last year we had picked all fruit in the entire region by the time of the estimated harvest date for 2023. Veraison just started for a lot of grapes so I would project middle September to end of November for harvest with the latest grapes early November. It’s really late, we got a lot of rain then cold weather followed by a gradual warmup and I think it will be the best vintage in 20 years despite the harvest issues.
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I do tend to agree, although the Harvest issue with dates is frustrating in general. I'm really hoping the delayed Harvest will help with my barbera, which typically has really low ph. Last year I had to let it go to 30 brix to try to get the pH to come up.
So what are your thoughts on watering this late in the season. Decrease it to try and hasten ripening?
 
Busabill said:
I do tend to agree, although the Harvest issue with dates is frustrating in general. I'm really hoping the delayed Harvest will help with my barbera, which typically has really low ph. Last year I had to let it go to 30 brix to try to get the pH to come up.
So what are your thoughts on watering this late in the season. Decrease it to try and hasten ripening?
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I would not water late in the season it might help but it will significantly decrease the quality of the fruit and reduce flavors and aromas. I unfortunately battle ph levels in the range of 3.8-4.5 yearly so rather than having to reduce acidic levels I’m adding acid back to increase acidity otherwise the wine will be flabby.
 

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