Aug 26, 2010
While folks in Northern California are actually starting to pick some fruit, we're still about 40-50 days from picking in Oregon. The mild spring and early summer weather led to late bloom and slow maturation. This means we'll begin picking in mid-October this year.
Because we're so late, and likely pushing up against rain at the end, accurate crop estimation and adjustment of fruit per vine is very important this year. Crop load differences of 2.5 tons per acre vs 3.2 tons per acre can be the difference between luscious, flavorful Pinot Noir and bland washed out fruit when we have to pick on Oct 30th.
Ideally, vines grow in balance. The fruit set matches the vine's ability to ripen grapes to an optimal balance of flavor, acids, and tannins. In cool years like 2010, however, we'll work to speed up ripening by dropping 10-30% of the fruit in August. When we're looking at picking in late October, reaching maturity 3-4 days earlier can make all the difference. So we take a bit of a hit on total crop in exchange for quality.
Here's a quick video demonstrating crop estimation in our Three Trees Lane vineyard:
