Still Waiting on Spring Mountain

I feel like the rabbit out of Alice in Wonderland, the one with the pocket watch running up and down yelling “we’re late, we’re late”, because that’s what we are this year. We usually are harvesting Sauvignon Blanc no later than the first of September, but it looks like the 15^th this year. No panic, but I am wasting a lot of energy running up and down the mountain and not picking anything.

This photo is of our La Perla Sauvignon Blanc vineyard ~ two things to notice ~ the vine training is an ancient method called ‘vertical gobelet’ . Head trained, each vine has its own stake and the canes are tied into a goblet shape. This lets us control the canopy on all sides of the vine, removing leaves to expose clusters to morning sun and shading clusters from harsh afternoon rays. Since vines struggle on our steep hillsides with shallow soils, we make sure gobelet vines stay compact and only carry about 3 pounds of fruit per vine. (Of the 225 total planted acres on the Spring Mountain estate, 90 are trained to gobelet ).

Also notice the enormous Grandmother fig tree in the background. Its branches stretch wide and touch the ground. Even the figs are late this year!

I hope to have some news about grapes by the next update, so stay tuned.

Jac Cole, Winemaker
Spring Mountain Vineyard