Ready, Set, Go! - 03/08/08
OK my fellow wine enthusiasts I am ready to take you on a journey through the wine making process for our 2008 vintage. we will begin with the field work which I will attempt to explain as thoroughly as possible. I am going under the assumption that you know absolutely nothing about viticulture much like myself only 5 short years ago. My experience to that point was limited to the consumption of the finished product and most of the wine lovers I run into generally fall into this category.
The winter season is primarily the vine pruning time, an arduous task having a telling effect on the yields of each vintage. Our vines are approximately 25 years old and the previous vintner had used the cane pruning method. Over the past 4 years we have been converting to the spur pruning method which is generally associated with lower yields and higher quality grapes. For a detailed explanation on the different pruning methods I recommend The Wine Doctor {go to wine advice then choose vine training} With either method the number of nods left on each vine will control the yields to a certain extent. In theory the fewer the nodes the fewer the grapes, the fewer the grapes the more concentrated the juice, the more concentrated the juice the better the wine. We have been producing about 2 to 2.5 tons per acre which is 4 times less than the previous owner used to get from the same vines.In addition to the winter pruning we were also able to finish changing the trellis system throughout the vineyards 40 acres of red varietals. The trellis system is often referred to as the vine training system. With our new system it is much easier for us to maintain the proper leaf to grape ratio while providing ample amounts of sunshine to our grapes. This leads to the development of more fully mature well balanced fruit. I am sure you all remember this from biology class because we all knew that one day that photosynthesis chapter was going to be important to us {yeah right} The leaves supplying the energy for the grapes are referred to as the canopy. As a result of our new trellises our canopies start fairly low to the ground by choice {about 2ft} and grow to about 6 or 7 ft according to the varietal. as of today we are all trimmed up and attached to the trellis systems supporting wires so we just sit back and wait for mother nature to make the next move. We were hit with an unusual spell of warm weather in mid February which lead many to believe we would have an early bud break but the cooler weather came back and things are looking to be back to a more normal schedule. An early bud break would have increased our chances to be damaged by frost. In summary, after 3 vintages I am convinced that my belief that wine is made primarily in the field was an accurate assumption and our efforts there have already rewarded us.
We will soon be blending {in France they do not blend they assemble}
our 2006 vintage and I will be explaining a little bit about that
process on my next entry. Looking forward to a great 2008!
your guy in the field
p.s. soon all the experts will be descending on bordeaux to barrel
taste the 2008 vintage. There is really no need to wait because I am
predicting from my in the field perspective that the 2008 bordeauxs
are well below average.
viva "THE SOUTH OF FRANCE"