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
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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.
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It’s pretty unbelievable that we are a full week into November. Harvest is coming to an end, and we are now getting ready for the holidays. Many of you will be entertaining friends and family and are probably starting to think about which wines will be best suited for your holiday meal. With the variety of flavors present in Thanksgiving dinner, you should look for versatility as well as intensity and complexity to stand up to the culinary competition. You want a wine with a solid acidic backbone to cut the rich flavors and aromas that uniquely present themselves on Thanksgiving Day.
In my opinion Pinot Noir is the most food friendly wine because of its complex red berry flavors and aromas, its mild tannins, moderate alcohol, and lengthy acidity. Its light to medium body and hints of subtle oakiness help make it “the little black dress” of wine and food pairing (as theatrically quoted by our Assistant Winemaker Ryan Ralston).
When choosing a white wine I would recommend a light and delicate Riesling. Its intrinsic acidity showcases and enhances the complex and slightly sweet flavors of turkey, cranberry sauce, root vegetables, sweet potatoes and yams. When choosing a Riesling note that its diversity comes from the range of sweetness (measured by residual sugar) of the varietal. Vegetables that are sweet or imply sweetness are a lovely pair with Reisling.
Another thing to keep in mind when entertaining is the temperature at which you serve your wines. White wines are best served chilled but not glacially cold. Red wines, especially those that are lighter to medium bodied, are best when served at a cool cellar temperature (60-65 degrees). Because of the slightly higher alcohol and acidity that our terroir provides, Pinots will benefit from being served at below room temperature. The higher acidity and freshness of our wines complement sweeter lighter flavored meats and pair well with a mass majority of anything served.
Joanie Hudson, Assistant Tasting Room Manager, Santa Barbara Winery
Pinot Noir is pressed just before fermentation is complete with residual sugar about 3 or 4 percent. At this stage the solids, the must, are treated very delicately and pumps are not used to prevent damaging the skins and releasing undesireable components.
This is a short video — from fermenting tank to wine press.
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A short video taken from the Tasting Room at Lafond Winery, a view shared by many visitors to the winery.
Workers first remove leaves and sometimes rocks and even the occasional shears before the grapes pass through the stemmer. From there they pass over a vibrating screen which allows dried and shot berries to fall through. After that, a longer sorting table where small stems, called jacks, are removed. And from there they are collected in a picking box amd loaded to the fermenter.
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