April 19, 2008.
April has not been kind, the cold weather has caused some damage. In spite of the cold, the vine we selected for our growth cycle slideshow shows substantial growth in the last two weeks. The vines adjust, producing fewer clusters and delaying the harvest.
For a Slideshow of the Growth Cycle.
Click image to enlarge:
The Pinot Noir is now beginning to leaf and exposing its nascent clusters. This is a delicate time — we had frost last Sunday which damaged most of our Grenache — and a good time to take out the worry beads. Right now frost is the enemy — last year we had an early frost which damaged the Pinot Noir and substantially reduced the crop. Unfortunately there is not much we can do about it – the worry beads get a lot of action. The image is of a Pinot Noir Vine taken Friday March 21, 2008.
Click the image to enlarge:
We are preparing and staking about 16 acres of new vines. The first image is of last years planting. The vines have been cut back to two buds and will remain in the protective growth tubes until they reach the first wire on the post.
We are leasing 37 acres from our immediate neighbor, the Burning Creek Ranch, to plant Pinot Noir. Since we plant dormant vines, vines grown in the nursery for one year, we will not be planting until Spring of 2009. Meanwhile, we are analyzing the soil to best determine the root stock the Pinot Noir will sit on. We have selected six Pinot Noir Clones, all but one that we already grow.
And, finally, the hard work involved in setting up a vineyard.
Click images to enlarge:
March is when the vines begin pushing out. The slide show, except for the first image (Frebruary 28, 2008), is from last year. Our plan is to follow the growth cycle again this year. The photos can be enlarged by clicking, unfortunately it does not work on all computers. To see date of photo keep cursor on the image.
It is a regular fixture on our website which can be reached by clicking winery then vineyard. website
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.lafondwinery.com/slideshowlafondwinery/pinot-noir/pinot-noir-500.swf" width="500" height="410" wmode="transparent" /]
Today it felt like Spring. After several weeks of rain the Sky was clear and the day was warm. We should see budding in the Pinot Noir by late February. We had a very small harvest in 2007 due to an early frost which damaged the vines. With the ample rain we have had this winter we would normally be expecting a better than normal harvest this year.
The problem is that this years clusters were formed last spring and they may have been damaged by that frost. David Lafond, who is our bean counter — our cluster counter – predicts fewer clusters but larger than normal. The vines attempt to balance production and vigor.
We saw the first Poppy of the year which is always a good sign that Spring is not far behind. Here is a view of the vineyard today — still bleak — but the hills are green.
Rising in the middle of the western Santa Ynez Valley, the SantaRita Hills are the distinguishing feature of our AVA, home of Lafond Vineyard and a wonderful area to grow Pinot Noir. The long, very cool growing season of this area is exemplified by February budbreak and September harvest, a long period for vine physiology.
We feel this long growing season is what imparts the complexity of flavor and fruit intensity to our Pinot Noir A tremendous amount of effort has gone into fine tuning the vineyard to coax this fickle grape into producing the exotic, elusive flavors only pampered Pinot Noir will reveal.
Winemaker Bruce McGuire chooses very specific sites in the vineyard for each of his Pinot Noir selections. Several different Pinot Noir clones, some planted as early as 1983, add to the palette of flavor and texture from which to craft each Pinot Noir. In 2006, Bruce chose 6 clones from 16 vineyard lots (Lafond Vineyard and the nearby Arita Hills Vineyard) picked at ripness over a four week period.
Vintage 2006 saw crop yields a little lighter than 2005, with very good fruit concentration. The Pinot Noir harvest was also exactly a month later than in 2005. The wine was aged in French oak from Burgundy (25% new oak) and bottled in August 2007. The complexity of flavor found in Pinot Noir from Lafond Vineyard is a wonderful match with savory foods and a classic with grilled salmon or mushrooms.
Suggested Retail 26.00
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