I have been asked many times over the years if Rappahannock Cellars has any plans to expand the vineyards. My answer has always been a resounding, “NO!I have enough to keep up with as it is”. Well…time to eat my words.
In any other year, I would be sitting down now to write the harvest report just as the harvest season was ending. This year however, I feel I am a bit late in writing this post. You see, we’ve been finished for almost eight weeks now.
By way of an update; As the harvest season progressed and temperature became cooler the stink bugs began to migrate out of the vineyard in search of shelter for the coming winter months.
In a year such as we’ve had in 2010, one would think that conditions for an outstanding vintage would be a given. Warm, dry weather with an associated reduction of disease pressure and an apparent decline in Japanese Beetle populations have put us a little closer to the ideal growing conditions enjoyed by our West Coast brethren. We have however, a new threat to wine quality that goes beyond our normal climatic challenges in the Mid Atlantic – the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug.
Vineyard Update 9/29/10
It’s hard to believe that here we are, on the 29th of September, and I’m about to tell you that harvest is nearing its end. But here we are!
Today we picked the first grapes of the 2010 vintage. As usual, Seyval Blanc was the first variety to ripen. But we’re astonished at how early this year – it’s the earliest picking date in our winery’s history. Thus far, the earliest harvest for Seyval had been in 2009, and we picked on September 4th. All season you’ve heard us saying that the vineyard appeared to be running about two weeks ahead as a result of the hot, dry, weather. So far, these estimates are showing to be true.
After a winter such as this past one, with record setting snowfall and heavy rains, one would think drought conditions in the summer months would be improbable. And one would be correct; if one were not a grapevine. While the water table and other reserves of drinking water currently remain at stable levels, the lack of rain combined with record high temperatures have created ‘drought like’ conditions in most vineyards in the area.
As mentioned in my first quarterly update, the vines are at risk from frost during the spring months, and as fate would have it – that’s just what happened. On the morning of April 29th, we had a frost event. Of the three vineyards we farm, only one was seriously affected.
Spring is upon us, and things are moving right along in the vineyard. With unseasonably warm weather and wet soils from heavy precipitation this winter, the vineyard has responded with an early bud break. What does this mean?
Another harvest has come and gone and I finally have a chance to settle down and reflect on the past season. Although we started the year with an unusually warm winter, by in large 2008 was a typical Virginia season. We had average rain fall through most of the year, characterized by a cool and overcast spring, passing afternoon thundershowers through the summer months and threats of hurricanes in the late season.
