Monday’s rain this week was mercifully only about .25 inches in Leighton and the surrounding area. While rain prevented vineyard work on Monday, we were able to be out in our vineyards on Tuesday. And, that is important because we are facing a lot of fungus pressure and we need to spray fungicide in all of our vineyards immediately. We are also spraying herbicide under vines in our Maple Woods vineyard and will be combing vines at Newport Lane.
At this time of year, Adam, our Vineyard Manager, prepares his harvest forecast. This is a very detailed process starting with measurements of typical weights on individual grapes, the count of grapes in a typical bunch, the count of bunches on a typical vine, and the number of vines in each block. He makes allowances for the typical growth in the individual grapes before harvest, allows for harvest loss, and then estimates the total tonnage for each variety in each block. He compares those numbers with numbers from past years for a reality check. The resulting numbers help the cellar know how many tanks of each size they will need and which, if any, grape varieties we will try to source from other suppliers. It also influences marketing plans for the coming year.
But, no matter how carefully Adam counts and weighs and calculates, we don’t really know for sure what is going to happen until the harvest is in.
