Finally, the vines are blooming. It's amazing, seeing as there has been no spring here in Napa! The Pinot grigio vines are well on their way, each flower cluster displaying a different stage of bloom. In the photograph you can see that some of the calyptra are brown and are ready to be pushed off by the growing embryo beneath. The Orange muscat vines are not too far behind, the Syrah is showing about 15% bloom, and even our developmentally challenged Clone 4 Cabernet sauvignon has a flower here and there. Better late than never.
It's going to an interesting vintage, probably a lot like that of 1998.
6 comments:
no spring you say, reminds me of what I just read of Dr.Vino blog post http://www.drvino.com/2010/06/02/alcohol-wine-reviews-nicolas-joly/ and what Joly says "Global warming is in my mind for here incomplete Some magnetism of the earth is changing. Spring is less pronounced, very slow to come with not much force up to May."
Mine look pretty good today
Vernal - what a lovely word!
Weston: We get years like this now and again. Next year it may be so hot, I will be wishing for an extended winter!
Thud: Watch out for the mildew!
Ron: Welcome back to Vinsanity! Vernal, it is a great word isn't it?
Fortunately grapevines have an amazing ability to catch up as long as we get more heat toward the end of the growing season. Each year offers winemakers a new challenge even if sometimes similar to past years. As much as it can be frustrating, it keeps things interesting and Vinogirl will be busy monitoring her vines.
Vinomaker, I know...Mother Nature has the amazing ability of bringing everything right back on track come September and October.
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