News and notices about the vineyard and winery
This is a slideshow of the Chef and of some of the participants at the Indian Cuisine demonstration at Santa Barbara Winery. With the coming of harvest we have to cancel al public events in the Barrel Room. We can, however, still accomodate small informal groups in the Tasting Room.
April was not a very kind month for our vineyard. We had several days of frost which caused severe damage to every variety. We are not alone, Sonoma and Napa also experienced frost damage, which is almost certain to result in a light harvest for 2008. A light harvest this year following a light harvest in 2007 will make the present grape shortage even more severe.
Grapes, as in most crops, have cycles of scarcity and over-production. In the case of grapes the cycle usually lasts 3 to 5 years — the time to plant and harvest producing vines. There will be a lot of planting the next few years, despite economic hard times. We are not exempt from this, hopefully not misplaced, optimism. We are planting another 30 acres of Pinot Noir in 2009, from land leased from our neighbor. Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills, we think, will always be a rare commodity.
The slideshow shows the progress of a particular vine in one of our blocks. From the looks of it, it is hard to believe that the vine suffered frost damage. It is flourishing, there are quite a few clusters, mostly second growth. Second growth grapes ripen later and tend to ripen unevenly and be smaller. Time will tell. The photos start with the latest and go backwards to bud break.
[Unless you have the pop-up blocker on you can enlarge the images by clicking them]
This week we are picking Chardonnay from our neighbor, Hilltop Ranch. Hilltop Ranch has 32 acres of Chardonnay which we have purchased for many years. As a good neighbor, we go through their property to access our vineyard on the north side of the river. This is an older vineyard, close to 30 years, and it has been upgraded in the past few years using a modern trellis system producing an excellent fruit.
Since they do not pick at night their second picking, about 7 tons, is stored in our large walk-in cooler overnight, while the first load picked early, also 7 tons, is processed at the winery.
All our white wines are made at the Santa Barbara Winery which as an urban winery poses unique problems but also advantages. The main problem, of course, is traffic but the advantages — services, power and delivery — compensate.
The slideshow — from picking to pressing. You can enlarge the image by clicking it (it may take a little practice).
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.lafondwinery.com/slideshowsbwinery/chardonnay/chardonnay.swf" width="500" height="400" wmode="transparent" /]
Recent Comments