2009 Growing Season: So Far, "Just About Perfect"
From Talley Vineyards' great "Winegrower's Log":
Our growing season has been just about perfect this year with foggy mornings and daily high temperatures in the mid 70s. In Arroyo Grande, we’ve been spared the excessive heat that others have felt over the past couple of weeks, and this has allowed our crop to develop under ideal conditions with very little stress on the vines. We had some unseasonable rain in June that gave us enough moisture for some late season tillage to open the soil and expose the vine roots to more air. The crop size looks to be slightly above average, which is a relief after the short years of 2007 and 2008. Though it’s hard to make any definitive statements about quality until we get the grapes into the winery, things look good with a nice balance between crop level and canopy, very little mildew and no noticeable botrytis.
Vineyard Manager Kevin Wilkinson predicts that harvest will begin sometime during the week of August 24.
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Our growing season has been just about perfect this year with foggy mornings and daily high temperatures in the mid 70s. In Arroyo Grande, we’ve been spared the excessive heat that others have felt over the past couple of weeks, and this has allowed our crop to develop under ideal conditions with very little stress on the vines. We had some unseasonable rain in June that gave us enough moisture for some late season tillage to open the soil and expose the vine roots to more air. The crop size looks to be slightly above average, which is a relief after the short years of 2007 and 2008. Though it’s hard to make any definitive statements about quality until we get the grapes into the winery, things look good with a nice balance between crop level and canopy, very little mildew and no noticeable botrytis.
Vineyard Manager Kevin Wilkinson predicts that harvest will begin sometime during the week of August 24.
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posted by SloCountyWineries.com Staff at
3:28 PM
