To compound matters even more, much of Northern California has been in a state of drought since last summer. The vineyards themselves have been struggling since early spring of last year. As late as May of 2008, Sonoma and Mendocino counties were hit with a heavy frosts that wiped out grean growth, and effectively cut crop yields significantly for the years fall harvest. Less shoots on vines means less fruit which means less wine. Less wine of course for the growers and producers means hard times on the pocket books. While many professionals (especially in Europe) in the wine industry believe that a vine must "struggle" or face hardship to bear fruit capable of producing premium wine, it is also true that a vine can only be pushed too far. Without adequate balance of natural resources, principally sunlight, nitrogen and water, a vine will underperform and produce fruit not up to boot.
Examples of each could be found last year down under. In Australia, also hurting badly for water, a surplus of warm sunny days and lack of rainfall in some areas, caused a majority of the grape clusters to shrivel up and rot on the vines.
In the case of neighboring country New Zealand, it the polar opposite. As the verdant and rigidly manicured vines of Marlborough filled and sagged with heavy clusters of Sauvignon Blanc, the rains came pissing down mid-harvest. Our assistant winemaker Big Dave, a boisterous, Aussie juggernaut, lamented "Mate, this is just the pits. There is a ton (more like 6 metric tonnes/acre) of grapes on those vines and they are going to rot faster than we can haul them into the cellar." Mother nature dealt her royal flush and we suited up to weather the effect: a Sauvilanche. Grapes came flying off the vines, tank space became non-existant and we smashed 12 hour crush records. Even though the majority of grapes were saved, the rains had dealt a harsh blow, plumpening grapes with water and lowering sugar levels.
No worries mate, you can doctor that right up in the New World.
My first day on the job in the Sonoma, we walked the rows of the stark naked vines staring out over the valley pierced by Chalk Hill Road, the plants upon first glance appeared to be compliantly enjoying their mid-winter rest. Upon closer examination, however, the vines were suffering miserably. Making a calculated prune on a double cordon trained vine, the evidence spoke for itself: the fresh cut beared a dry wound. To put it more simply, there was no green tissue in the shortened canes, demonstrating that little to no water was entering the plant. In effect the plants were already starting to choke and with time the spurs and cordons would begin to die away. If the conditons continued plants could suffer from poor fruit yields, while some could even parish.
Typically, during and after pruning season the vines go through a period known as Bleed, whereby recently pruned vines ooze a slimy water based substance from their wounds. Much of the time a plant will "bleed" more if it is pruned late or if it has been a warm spring and the plant has begun to "push" early. Unfortunately the new pruning wounds showed no signs of bleeding or green tissue. The fact that the cuts were bone dry gave everyone in the vineyard a scare. "We're not too worried about it," remarked one onlooker, "we have deep wells and access to plent of water." But even drip irrigation is not going to be enough for a vine to grow and prosper; a vine's root system must burrough and dig its tendrils and root hairs deep into the soil to deliver the proper nutrients and strength to its upper half. Cheating will only bring a plant along so far.
Last Thursday, the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley breathed its first sigh of relief. Rain came, at first sporadically, then continued off and on throughout the weekend. Taking a brief pause in the beginning of the week it has held strong, replenishing the green pastures, draining into the underground water table and filling up holding ponds, a neccessity for large, isolated vineyards.
In life though there is always a give and take. When it rains, even sprinkles, it can be dangerous to prune vines, leaving them exposed to the deadly fungus Eutypa which invades plants through open wounds. Once inside, Eutypa eats away at the vine, slowing growth and eventually leading to the vines death. In efforts to avoid the fungal infection wounds are covered with an anti-fungal spray or paint and other jobs are delegated. Friday was one of those days.
Half hour into pruning we were blasted with a shower. "O.K. Chavos, were gonna switch it up. let's wrap!" shouted Alberto, commanding and corraling his crew. We hurriedly shuttled over to the convoy of parked vehicles to put on rubber ducky suits. Five minutes later we were back in the block, twine wrapped around our shoulders and twist ties protruding from our pockets. "Vaaamoooonoooss!" hollered Alberto, egging the crew on to get down to the new task at hand.
"Vaaamoooonos, pues!" echoed Burro, a machinery operator who boasts that he will outwork anyone in his crew.
Tying, like pruning, is an excercise in, not only balance, but also dexterity. Buds must be counted based on each vines previous year's performance and wrapped skillfully along the bottom trellising wire. One, two and....a half twists, cut the last node and twist tie. The canes are fragile and like stiff muscles often times need to be massaged to make the near ninety degree bend at the wire. A delicate process that the crew does effortlessly singing and bickering away under the erratic cloudbursts.
Energy is one thing that Albertos crew doesn't lack. In the field, the spirit of the crew is palpable throughout the overcast day. Each new downpour is greeted with a series of shouts "Jabon! Jabon! Jabon!," jestering at the fact that the heavens had given us all a complimentary shower. Two days ago I was reluctant to get out of my sleeping bag in the wee hours of dawn, listening to the rain bang away on the convex roof windows. I groaned and rolled over, wondering if the sun would ever return to replenish my vitamin E stores. Yesterday, I couldn't help but be happy, if not ecstatic to be out, laboring away in the rain.
Anything for strong, healthy vines.
Endnote: I just returned to the bottle store today and because of the surplus, 2008 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has been discounted greatly. Spy Valley, Dog Pointe and Kim Crawford were all around $11 dollars. Not a bad deal, eh? Load up for summer, but do be weary not all of 'em are gonna be standouts.
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