My cab just arrived, gotta go!

That's it, all Vinoland's grape varieties are up and running.  Now, if the Cabernet vines can just put on a few inches of growth without damage from a severe frost, the 2012 vintage looks like a go.  Of course, it's early days yet, but with the production of more and more green tissue the grapevine increases it's cold hardiness.  The accumulation of soluble sugars, which actually begins the preceding autumn, acts as a type of antifreeze.  These reserves of carbohydrates, stored in the roots and the dormant buds of the grapevine, are what the winegrower, who has no frost protection system in place, relies on to avoid frost damage.

Among soluble sugars, raffinose appears to be the most important to cold hardiness.  The elevated concentration of this carbohydrate in the basal tissue of a grapevine, exactly where the new budettes appear, apparently increases the tolerance to freezing temperatures in Vitis species. The nascent leaves then begin the process of photosynthesis with gusto, producing additional soluble sugars that further help to stave off tissue death and, additionally, synthesise light energy to accelerate vegetative growth.  An amazing process.

Go little buddies!

Beginnings and ends.

This morning, after I had finished clearing up last night's tasting score-sheets, wine-sticky pencils, runaway corks and a seeming million grains of rice (that, inexplicably, the Vinodogs had not hoovered up) I, and the aforementioned canines, went for a walk.
Whilst enjoying our promenade I noticed that the nearby Far Niente Chardonnay vineyard is experiencing budbreak - the exact same timing as last year.  Far Niente's vineyard fans were running long before daybreak, but with the temps only getting down to 36 degrees F the little budettes were not in danger of frost damage.
I was going to go back and take a photograph of the Chardonnay vines this afternoon, but I noticed Vinoland's Syrah is well and truly on it's own way through budbreak, so I photographed one of my own little buddies instead.

Also today, I finished tying down all the Cabernet sauvignon canes. That means I am finished with pruning.  Whoo hoo!  I am sitting here with a glass of bubbly as I type.

Go grapes!

It's swell in Napa.

Wakey, wakey, rise and shine.  Guess what's happening in Napa?  A little more advanced than mere bud-swell, it is budbreak 2012. Vinoland's Orange muscat vines are up and running for the season, and will be closely followed, so far as I can tell, by the Pinot grigio vines.  Now, I just have to worry about frosty mornings.