And last, but not least...

...veraison in the Cabernet Sauvignon vines has begun, albeit very sporadic.  Caught in all their blushing glory late yesterday afternoon, this particular cluster of grapes includes a few shot berries, the odd dead flower part and lots of pesky powdery mildew cleistothecia.  Lovely, (not).

Hens and chicks.

Hurrah!  Veraison in the Syrah.  I actually noticed the onset of veraison yesterday and it's quite irregular, but it's happening.  I also noticed that there is quite a bit of poor fruit set, or millerandage, in the Syrah (not shown in this photograph).  Sometimes referred to  as 'hens and chicks', I am used to seeing this phenomenon in the Orange muscat vines, but not usually in the Syrah.
Millerandage is a problem that affects fruit set in grapes and can be caused by a number of things; unfavourable climatic conditions, difficult fertilization, genetics, etc.  With millerandage, flowers that fail to fertilize remain on the cluster, (unlike with coulure, another form of poor fruit set, in which the flowers abscise and fall off), becoming small, seedless berries commonly known as shot berries.  Methinks the culprit was most likely wind, as I think this has been a rather windy spring/summer in the valley. Whoosh!  Bye-bye, crop.

Syrah Veraison: 2014.

And here it is: veraison in the Syrah vines.  There is a lot going on in this photograph besides veraison; a little bit of sulphur residue on the grapes, some very prominent stylar scars, there are some shot berries, a smattering of thrips damage and a couple of undetached calyptra.
I worked all day in the vineyard today, mainly in the Cabernet sauvignon vines.  I did some hedging, some leaf-pulling, some lateral-removal (especially those with second crop) and some training (and tying up) of the juvenile grapevines planted this season. 
As is usual, I was distracted by a number of things; baby towhees, grasshoppers, Vinodog 2, lizards...and the best crop of blackberries I have seen in years.  I love eating berries right off the plant.  It's not exactly like foraging for food when they simply fall into your palm because they are so ripe.  I must have eaten at least 10 ounces of delicious sun-warmed, finger-staining, purple-black berries - I just couldn't stop myself.  Yum!