Rob’s Weekly Vineyard Update
Veraison is continuing, and in the Pinot Noir, perhaps 80%of the berries have turned a deep purple hue. The Pinot Gris is at around 50%, and the Blanc remains behind at 5. In the darker berries, the varietal flavors are beginning to appear as the sugar accumulates.
As veraison continues, so too does lignification, and the shoots which were once green are turning into wood, hardening off for the winter.
As this occurs, vines show their colors, and we’re able to pinpoint areas of the vineyard with perhaps shallower soil by noticing where vines are showing a bit of stress by the changing color of the basal leaves: pale yellows in the white varieties and blood red in the Pinot Noir.
We’ve finished dropping excess fruit, and we’re now simply waiting for the grapes to mature. We’re spending this downtime trapping gophers, and though we’re more successful and less entertaining than Bill Murray’s character in Caddy Shack, the comparison isn’t too far off.
Our neighbors have plowed the hay and grass fields all around us, and hawks sit on the fenceposts, scouting for easy prey. Elk stroll slowly through the fields to the south. Coyotes jog past in the fields to the west. The Blackberries alongside the creek are fat and juicy.
The vineyard is happy, healthy, and the grapes are getting sweeter and darker every day.
Tags: Oregon vineyard, Pinot Noir, Veraison
