Veraison Begins

First sign of veraison, 10 days earlier than last year.

Broke the Longest Hot Spell in Recent Memory, Seeds Hardening

This weekend the heat broke on a string of 90+ days, eight of them above 95F.  It is the hottest stretch in the past 10 years, at least.  The temps started spiking just after fruit set, when we had already pulled leaves on the morning side of the rows. No signs of heat or sunburn damage, though.

Assuming no major disaster ahead, it looks like an early harvest of a bumper crop.  A harder than usual quality/yield decision to make, though, given the very large and numerous multi-winged clusters and the likelihood we will be harvesting earlier than last year's unusually early harvest. We're at the point where the seeds are hardening, and this year the seeds in the wings and third clusters are hardening within 2-3 days of the primary cluster, resulting in the unusual probability of having no significant difference in ripeness between their berries at harvest.

In a normal to late year, the decision would be an easy one - drop the wings and third clusters in the next few weeks.  But if the grapes will be ripening in the relatively hot and dry late August/early September weather, perhaps as much fruit as possible should be carried to improve the chances of slowing down acid loss and sugar accumulation while the flavors develop.  And, if the berries from the wings and third clusters are ripening the same as those in the primary clusters, why drop fruit near harvest?  We'll see.

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Wadenswil

Pommard