BUNCH THINNING

We spend a lot of time in the vineyard between now and harvest. One of the most important tasks we undertake is the removal of unwanted shoots and bunches. This morning I spent an hour or so walking through the Pinot Noir block taking bunches off weak shoots. These weak short shoots don't have enough leaf surface area to ripen these bunches so they are best removed. I took a video as I was doing it--apologies for the awful focus. It's a new camera and I certainly haven't mastered it yet. Hopefully, you will get the idea....

GOLD MEDAL QUALITY--2010 SQUITCHY LANE PINOT NOIR

The 2010 Squitchy Lane Pinot Noir keeps improving as it matures in the bottle. Here's what James Halliday had to say about it in the first edition of his new magazine, "The Wine Companion"

FLOWERING continued

Warm weather and plenty of moisture have provided beautiful growing conditions. The vines are really moving along and flowering is complete in the early varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Look at the growth on the vine below--the same one as in the previous post:

FLOWERING

Some warm weather has hastened flowering. Here's a shot of a Pinot Noir vine, one of the earliest to flower.

 You can see the small inflorescences just beginning to show the white flowers. There is a delightful scent of honey as you walk the rows. It's important to get stable weather during the flowering period so that all the flowers can get fertilised and grow into berries.
A close-up shot shows the flowers in more detail:

I have marked this vine and I will take regular photos to show the development of berries and bunches as the season progresses. Right now, it all looks pretty good.

OPTIMISM PREVAILS

Forget the pessimism in my last posting. The weather has improved, our vineyard operations have been timely and everything looks much more hopeful.
Flowering isn't far off now. I think the predicted warm weather over this coming weekend will push the vines along and we should see the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines starting to flower. Her's a shot of a Pinot Noir vine yesterday--you can see the small bunches forming.

These tiny buds will flower and then, if all goes well, set into berries. Cold weather, rain and wind can upset the flowering process so that berries don't set properly, leading to low yields and straggly bunches. This can be a particular problem in our Sauvignon Blanc vines. 
But if the weather is kind then soon the vineyard will be filled with a delicate scent from the flowering--it's not strong but it is persistent and because there are so many flowers on each vine, you can smell it while walking along the rows.
We are preparing the 2010 Red Square blend for bottling. It looks like being even softer and more approachable than the 2008. And it will have the benefit of a year in bottle before release.