This is one of my favorite times of year here in Monterey County, maybe because I like suspense. This is bloomtime for the “earlier” varieties of winegrapes such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc. The challenge here in this region and in this climate, though, is getting the right weather to achieve relatively good “set” or good pollination and fertilization of each berry on the cluster (the grape flowers are bisexual, by the way, and are self-pollinating, so bees are out of the picture). We tend to have extremely variable weather in the spring which can include late frosts, heat waves, gusty winds, rain and even hail. This poses a challenge to get good, consistent set.

These are photos from Chula Vina today, and I’ve attempted to capture the infant clusters, on the verge of blooming. This is Pinot Noir—Dijion clone 115 to be exact—and is at the bottom of the hill in this vineyard. This block tends to be last to do most everything. The blocks further up the hill are just starting to bloom, and the Chardonnay—at the very top ‘o the hill—is just finishing.

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Speaking of Chula Vina Chardonnay, here’s a nice review on Appellation America of our 2005 offering. Unfortunately, we are nearly sold-out. The 2006 should be released this November, and dare-I-say just might be the best yet…..

Wondering who does our graphic and package design? We get compliments all the time on our label design, product photos and advertisements and because of that feel I should mention one of the folks behind the scenes. The wonder woman behind all of that design is none other than Ginny Westcott. She has an incredible talent and great sense of style (and is also a joy to work with)!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 4:09 pm and is filed under In the Vineyard. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.