2004 Three Vineyards

Harvest Notes: 2004 was a challenging year in the vineyards. A late October 2003 freeze (temperatures in the single digits above zero fahrenheit in the coldest areas) before the vines were fully dormant followed by an early January freeze (temperatures in the negative teens in the coldest areas) caused some bud damage. This led to inconsistent bud break in April, although consistent temperatures without excessive wind and rain made for nice set. We made several trips through the vineyards to maintain good fruit balance and to remove less ripe fruit. Mid-July through August was hot with only a couple of daytime highs below 95 F, which added more stress to already stressed vines. Early September turned cool with a few nights in the low 40s. This caused the basal leaves of some vines in some areas to begin yellowing and dessicating prematurely. More typical fall ripening conditions of warm days and cool nights began in mid-September and continued through October. Our philosophy of picking at optimum flavor maturity delayed picking the  warmer site fruit until the third week of September and cooler site fruit the second week of November.