Harvest 2023 - Vineyard Balancing & Canopy Management

I’ve written before

about the phenomenon of vanity vineyards here in the Napa Valley...

where it’s not uncommon for a homeowner to plant half an acre of vines for aesthetic reasons, hoping to cash in each harvest by selling a quarter or half a ton of grapes. Here’s the problem: unless you how to manage a vineyard, you’ll need to hire a vineyard management company, which is expensive, and good luck getting them to return your phone call if you only have a few rows of vines; it’s not worth their cost in gas and labor. If you’re lucky, you’ll find someone who charges you a monthly fee for occasional work - when they can spare the labor.

We get those desperate e-mails toward the end of every harvest from heartsick vanity vineyard owners looking for a buyer for 1 ton of grapes still on the vine. Why can’t they find a buyer? A famous vineyard nearby gets $10k a ton, or so they’ve heard. Here’s what we don’t tell them: it’s because your grapes stink. The vineyard may have potential, but it likely has not been farmed well; it has been neglected, overwatered, underwatered, overpruned; it needs feeding; the canes are mildewed. People focus on terroir because it’s sexy, but really farming is key.

Not so long ago, we made a good trade with a vineyard owner who was tired of marketing his own custom-crushed wine. Selling wine is tough. Selling his grapes was proving just as difficult. The vineyard location was great, the vineyard had real potential, but the vines were not looking happy. Kristof took over the farming, doing much of the work himself, by hand, in exchange for the fruit - motivation to inject the vineyard with lots of loving care. In short order, it has become balanced, happy, and a producer of world class fruit.

In the vineyard this morning, Kristof was worried about the fog and moisture clinging to leaves. There’s chatter about the potential for 2023 to be a standout vintage because of the wet winter and long, cool growing season, which promotes good acidity. But he’s still waiting on flavor development before picking the Cabernet Sauvignon for PELLA 2023. Here’s what people are not talking about: what an expensive harvest it has been. We started by dropping 1/3 of our grapes for optimal ripening because of the weather. We lost 1/3 of our grapes off the bat, not including labor involved in dropping fruit; Kristof needed help from a trusted vineyard worker or two.

Today’s job was more vineyard balancing, just the two of us working. We put on our gloves and stripped all the leaves below the wire, creating space for airflow and sunlight - and optimal ripening. Ultimately, Kristof will make his pick decision by taste.

The last photo in the series shows the aftermath of our work (a work in progress) - beautiful. You can almost feel those grapes’ gratitude, for more space to breathe, for the warmth of the wan noonday sunlight on their waxy skins.