Must(cat) you do that?

Apparently, it must.  Despite all the rain we have been having, the Orange muscat vines have decided that they need to get a move on.  Although bud swell is not determined by atmospheric moisture, but rather by soil temperature, it has been rather cool of late, so I wasn't expecting the vines to be so enthused.  Wrong.  Again!
The atmospheric moisture came with an earnest all day today.  I tried to prune in the Syrah vines, but finally gave up as I was spending more time sheltering in the barn, from rain and hail, than actually out in the vineyard pruning.  It was when Vinodog 2 found something to incessantly bark at, in Vinomaker's lumber supply, that I decided to call it a day.  It was then that I discovered...

Hail, filaree!

I spent most of the day finishing off tying down the Syrah canes.  And dodging hailstones.
Beginning with my morning perambulation with V2 (when we both had to run and take cover to avoid being peppered with hail), I was interrupted, about every six vines, by another heavy salvo. The hailstones were very tiny, but plentiful.  It was also very chilly, so the hailstones lingered in small drifts against walls, fences and tree trunks. And cupped in the leaves of weeds that grow in rosettes, e.g., dandelion, catsear, bristly oxtongue and this whitestem filaree (Erodium moschatum).  Brrr.
I didn't have a lot of fun as I worked, but I did eventually finish the Syrah, yay!  Now, on to the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Earth Day, 2016.

Since getting back from England, I have been busy working in the vineyard, working my day job and generally catching up with stuff.  It has rained most of the day today (even had a bit of hailstone this morning), so I have had a rather mellow day mainly spent indoors.
I did venture out into the vineyard, a little while ago, to see how the vines had fared in the gusting winds.  Syrah shoots are so succulent this time of year that they are susceptible to snapping and breaking in breezy weather: especially when I haven't had time to stuff all the shoots up and under the trellis wires.  I am happy to report that everything looks splendid in my immediate, humble patch of the Blue Planet.
I have managed to stay dry, which is more than can be said for the ladybird I found ambling about on a Cabernet Sauvignon vine, apparently unconcerned with being slightly water-logged. Rather it than me.

Hail, Mother Nature!

With the flick of a switch, and coinciding with the end of Daylight Saving Time, autumn has well and truly arrived in the Napa Valley. Halloween's daytime warm 82° temps, gave way to heavy rain on the night of November 1st; then thunder, lightning and hailstone on November 2nd. Cosily warm in the tasting room at TWWIAGE, me and a number of my coworkers gathered and watched Mother Nature's rather protracted spectacle of rampant precipitation. Yountville, just south of Oakville, seemed to be hardest hit during the storm, as there were widespread power outages.  There was still plenty of hail along the Silverado Trail, just north of the Yountville Crossroad, when I drove to work the next morning.
The past few days have been rather cool, so tonight I gave in and fired up the wood stove: it felt good.  It also felt like winter is just around the corner.

A rosé coloured glass.

Looks can be deceiving.  What seems to be a pleasantly sunny, late spring day on Liverpool Bay was in fact one of the coldest, windiest days I have ever experienced at home. Stepping around the corner of a building to take this photograph I had to really lean into the wind for fear of being blown over.  Even a glass of a so-so rosé of Tempranillo at a nearby establishment could not fully chase the English weather-blues away.  Well, that's not strictly true.  The sight of a familiar coastline stretching out before me was a tonic for my seaside-deprived eyes...at least it was when the wind wasn't whipping my hair into my eyeballs.  Ouch!

May flowers.

Cold, almost winter-like weather conditions the past few days have not been much fun. Hail, lots of rain, and very little sun have dampened the spirits of most Napans. The white grape varieties that should be flowering any day now (if the sun ever comes back out), could be adversely affected if there is another hail event. Extra shifts at work, two papers to write for school, a final to prepare for, curly hair, and bored Vinodogs...boo hiss!

At least I have a smattering of cheery wild flowers in the vineyard, which smile and wink at me between showers, that are helping to snap me out of my general malaise.

April hail showers!

The day started off beautifully. I enjoyed checking the progress of the Orange muscat vines in warm sunshine, marvelling at the 4 inches of growth, and baby flower clusters, they had grown in just one week - sunshine and warmth will do that. Then, at 4.30 pm, Mother Nature turned gangster! Hail the size of dimes, I swear I have never seen hail that big before. Thank goodness the vines aren't actually flowering yet otherwise they would have been battered to death!

What the...?

...it's May 22nd! Frost this morning: Hail this afternoon. Someone should tell Mother Nature that it's supposed to be spring in California!