View from Spring Mountain Vineyard by Ron Rosenbrand, Vineyard Manager

May 2012 Vineyard Update After a very wet and cold March and April, May was beautifully warm to hot. Day time temperatures were mostly in the 80’s and 90’s. We only had one rainy day with only 0.25 inches of rain. This brought the season total to 37.30 inches. This is some 9 inches below normal for the season, but we are in good shape for irrigation water for this year. The warm temperatures pushed vine growth along tremendously. Bloom started two and a half weeks earlier than last year and the year before. The entire bloom process went from start to finish in about 12 days. We are checking fruit set currently and should have a good feel for the degree of success soon. Early indications are quite positive. This earlier bloom puts us on a much more normal pace. If the summer temperatures are fairly normal, harvest times should do the same and we could expect to complete harvest by the end of October. How nice would that be for a change?
Another very noticeable thing in the vineyard is the increase in the number of clusters on the vines this year. We expected an increase in the trellis-converted blocks, but we are also seeing increases in Vertical Gobelet blocks. As always, as long as the weather doesn’t create a major problem, total tonnage this year should be up from the past 4 years.

May has been a very busy month out in the vineyard as is the case every year. But when you have warm weather it pushes us along even faster. During the month, we completed all the suckering and have been very busy mowing down cover crop, undertaking mildew control, tying and training of the vertical gobelet vines, shoot tucking and positioning in the vertical-shoot-positioned trellising, field-grafting some 7000 vines to Malbec, Chardonnay and converting clones in Pinot Noir. The warm weather has helped those grafts take successfully and they are currently taking off. Soon, we’ll start working on leaf removal to get some sunlight on those developing clusters and help get them acclimated to direct sun exposure before the real summer heat begins.
We have begun our insect releases for various vineyard pests including releasing lady bugs for leaf hoppers. The bluebirds have once again taken over the bird houses along with the swallows. There are many, many babies out there which have a tremendous appetite. We have a researcher from UC Berkeley working with the bluebirds. She is doing extensive studies on insect populations and the blue bird’s diet. We will have some great information when she completes this 12 week study. We also have another group of researchers from UC Berkeley studying three different flowering cover crops and the beneficial insects that are attracted to these flowers. This study is in the second of three years. They are also studying bat populations, the species of bats that we have here at SMV and their diet. Interesting stuff. We’ll keep you updated on the results.

Protecting Our New Buds from Frost

Spring is such a wonderful time of year; a time when we all feel a sense of renewal, at least until Daylight Savings comes and then we all just feel tired. As wonderful as it is to feel the warm breeze after some long, cold, (and usually wet) winter months, spring can be a very stressful time around here thanks to the looming threat of frost.

Frost… a word that strikes fear in the heart of every farmer. Without getting too technical (because I went to culinary school therefore I can’t be too technical) the temperature drops causing ice to form in the plant’s cells which causes them to burst, killing the bud. These new born buds are very susceptible to frost damage because they are made up of very young tissue. In fact new vines can also be damaged by heavy frost because they have yet to build their own natural insulation.

There are, however, a few methods farmers (or if you want to use the fancy term, viticulturists) have found useful for protecting our future bottles of wine.

Wind Machines

A very common method in Napa Valley is air mixing with wind machines (they look like airplane propellers mounted on top of sticks, actually some look like old plane engines). One huge drawback is they are very loud, imagine a helicopter landing on your house, but they do a good job. Once the temps drop to just above freezing the fans are turned on (by some very unlucky individual as it happens in the wee hours of the morning) and the cold air is mixed with warmer air raising the temperature and inhibiting the formation of frost. If you have a property that isn’t affected by frost very often you can hire a helicopter to buzz your vineyard all night, it will have the same effect, although I am not totally sure that is kosher in Napa County.

Another method used is overhead sprinkler systems. I know that seems a bit strange, if is cold enough to freeze how is water going to help? Amazingly it does! Think about a glass of ice water. Even though there is ice in there the water never gets colder than 32 degrees. As long as there is a constant flow of water the buds will be okay, but it does take a lot of water, about 50 gallons a minute per acre. A winery needs large water reserves for this method.

Smudge Pots

Although their use was restricted in the 1970s smudge pots were once a very popular method of frost protection. The large iron pots were placed in the vineyard and filled with fuel oil and ignited once the temperature dropped. The heat from the fire would keep frost from forming. They were restricted (not banned) because of air pollution concerns and also fell out of favor as fuel prices increased, but are still used by a few wineries in Napa.

Those are the main active methods of frost prevention, there are also passive methods such as soil management, trellis height, delayed pruning, protective covering, or most importantly picking the correct site for a vineyard. Using a combination of active and passive methods will help those little buds, but no matter what we do frost season will always be a stressful time around here.

Rebecca Martin, Chase Cellars

Earth Day Meditations from Peju Province Winery

Wine is the consummation of human nature-love. People care so passionately about the quality of the fruit produced to make the wine that the care we take of the vines is unsurpassed in its attentiveness and devotion. In wine, the whole concept of terroir communicates how winegrowing encourages humans to be attuned to the Earth, the systems at work and the interconnectedness of it all. How often do you think about how the climactic conditions your banana withstood affected its flavor(s)? We care more now as a collective society than we did in the recent past about where things come from and how they came to be, but we’re probably not quite there yet in terms of thinking holistically about all of our choices. Anyway, terroir is more than just the soil, the microclimate and the location. It is the mark made by all the aspects of the Earth around that vine. Think: the ‘nurture’ influence on humans in the nature/nurture duality. No two wines will ever be the same and what's more fun than discovering the subtle differences with your palate?

In Rutherford our soil is full of sandy loam. Blocks farther from the Napa River at the back edge of our property produce the most concentrated fruit, as they have to burrow deeper to find a water source.  The little section of vine which grows under the shadow of the Eucalyptus tree behind the winery takes a bit more time to ripen than the rest. The south facing vines ripen more quickly than the north facing vines. There are an infinite variety of observations to make. And again, one discovers these facts through one’s senses. Tasting the grapes and paying attention. Wine is an ode to the human capacity to smell, to taste, to feel, to see, to discover and to enjoy.

I grew up in a society that spends more of childhood in a classroom learning about nature from a book than discovering it at the source itself.  Maybe that’s why being in nature is so precious to me. I experienced its majesty for the first time in early adulthood. It’s been captivating, wondrous and new every time ever since.

I write to you now with my belly in the dirt, splayed out in the middle of the vines, listening to the birds chirp, watching the grasses and the just-sprouted leaves on the vines move in tandem as the wind whispers through them. A spider scurries across my notebook; ants scuttle over tiny clumps of dirt and teeny rocks and miniature sticks along an unknowable but evidently determined path to fulfill their purpose. Contemplating our own ‘purpose’ can feel like an inscrutable burden of our elite human consciousness, but for me, being in nature makes me feel closer to it- whatever it is. The ‘purpose’ of being alive. And it feels almost simple. When the birds sing and perch on the vines and flutter around each other in instinctual patterns, and the wind blows warm, dry air through my hair and across my face, and when as far as the eye can see, plants move like jazz music in the infinite patterns created by the wind. I feel still and at peace. The American conception of what is happiness is a confusing one at times, but nature is always there to remind us of what is real. Perhaps the fact is simply that we exist.

In gratitude, I pledge to be better about using my travel coffee mug (did you know these are called ‘tumblers’?) rather than turning a blind eye to the number of to-go cups I rack up in one week. And I plan to fight against the New Year’s Resolution Syndrome and actually still be in the habit of using said tumbler a few months down the road. Check in with me.

Peju farms certified organically in Rutherford and sustainably elsewhere with CCOF certification on the horizon, has 10,000 square feet of solar panels contributing 36% of our annual energy, composts, recycles, offers incentives to employees to buy hybrid cars, and is generally committed to continually converting our daily practices to always improve on our sustainability. We started using biodegradable flatware when silverware is not a viable option this year. Every little bit really does count. What will you do differently? Starting TODAY!

I'm back at the computer now, but it was nice to take a moment with the Earth to honor her on her  special day. It’s a pretty rich sense of belonging to feel once you tap in to the fact that you are very much a part of this Earth and a part of the whole system and that we are all in this together.

Watched a beautiful movie recently which communicated this visually. ‘Life in a Day.’ Directed by Kevin Macdonald. Produced by Ridley Scott. Distributed by National Geographic Films. Made from 4,500 hours of footage submitted in 80,000 submissions from 192 nations. Watch it.

Thank you, Earth and Nature.

Thank you, Life!

Now go outside and enjoy being alive!

Cheers,

Britt (e-mail me or post a response!) for Peju Province Winery
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Bud-break in Rutherford

Pruning vs Pre-pruning

Last year we decided to change things up in the vineyard. Sure the vines have been around for a hundred plus years, but it just felt right.  In effort to bring the viticulture into the 21st century we hired Jim Munk of A Cut Above Viticulture Services, he has been working with zinfandel for years so it is a great fit for our historic vines.  He came on board with us last year in September and was a great asset for the 2011 harvest. 

An un-pruned vine

    This winter he did something that  has never been done in the Hayne Vineyard, he pre- pruned which means instead of pruning the canes all the way down to the one or two buds you cut the cane back to about 12 inches.  Later in the season the crew will come back and prune the cane all the way down to the one or two buds before bud break to finish the job.  Basically you take two passes through the vineyard instead of one.  I know that seems a bit nutty, but it is done for a few good reasons.

  

   Most importantly pre-pruning helps prevent the spread of disease.  Cutting any part of the vine leaves and open wound that is very susceptible to disease especially Eutypa and Bot Canker which eventually lead to stunted growth and lower yields.  If you leave a few extra inches of cane that creates a buffer zone so even if the vine becomes infected the diseased part of the cane will be cut off before it reaches the vine.  We have a pretty healthy vineyard, especially when you consider the age, and we would like to keep it that way so pre-pruning is a great option for us.

A Pre-pruned vine

   Another factor in pre-pruning is labor.  During the winter months there isn't that much to do in the vineyard and most managers prefer to keep their crews busy so they don't loose anyone.  Pre-pruning adds a few more weeks onto the schedule (sometimes months) so you don't loose the crew that you have trained and would like to keep around.  In a larger operation pre-pruning can actually save you money because it doesn't require as much as an exact cut as pruning so the men can go much faster and they don't have to be as skilled.

A pruned vine

     By now you may be asking yourself, pre-pruning, it sounds so wonderful, why would you do anything else?  Backup the trolly, there are a few drawbacks.  Because you are cutting the majority of the cane off in the first shot it becomes difficult to gauge the health of the vine.  The pruner may leave too few or too many buds per shoot causing the overall balance of the vine to shift.  Balance in a vine is one of the most important factors to producing amazing wine grapes. If they are vigorous and not allowed to produce a larger amount of fruit they will go crazy with green growth taking the focus away from ripening grapes, and on the other side if the vine is allowed to produce more then it should the vine will not be able to ripen the fruit properly.

  

Overall we have faith in Mr. Munk and I can't wait to see what our little guys will produce in the future.

Rebecca Martin

Chase Cellars

Understanding the Malolactic Coma

January and February are traditionally considered to be the "slow season" at Clos Pegase, because that is when our production team stops to take a minute to catch their breath after the past Harvest.

That doesn't mean that the cellar is a ghost town. The action shifts from the crushpad in September, to the cellar in November through the beginning of the new year, and inevitably the focus lands in the lab in January and February.

While our winemaking team keeps an eye on the vineyards, glancing at the weather report and its lack of rain (the exact opposite of what we did in October of 2011 when we desperately wished for rain to stay away), they are keeping their other eye on the wines that we are getting ready to bottle, not to mention the wines from 2011 that are in barrel (gotta make sure everything is progressing in the right way, you know!)

In order to get a better idea of what type of things go on in the cellar in the "off-season" I headed in to chat with Winemaker, Richard Sowalsky, where he was full of production-world gems.

This time of year, Richard explained, malolactic fermentations are usually wrapping up in the cellar and the team has been keeping close watch to make sure the acid levels are at the desired levels, achieved via this process. What are the desirable levels? So glad you asked.

Before I tell you, I will admit. I'm a rookie at this production stuff (me: grapes get smashed, juice ferments to alcohol, bottle it up and enjoy. Simple. Now we know why science wasn't my strong suit.) So I wanted to know what this malolactic fermentation stuff was all about.

This fermentation, or more accurately, chemical conversion, is the process during which malic acid is converted to lactic acid. For everyone reading this who feared chemistry was a communications major like me, this is like converting the tart taste of apples to the less tart taste associated with sourdough bread. You introduce some "desirable bacteria" into the wine (or use bacteria naturally on the grape skins or in the winery) and they take care of the conversion, a process which naturally de-acidifies the wine. Without ML (as I call it, so I can sound like I know what I'm taking about after my crash course with the production team) many of the wines would taste sharp- great for wines known for crisp acidity like sauvignon blanc; not so great for cabernet sauvignon or merlot.

This conversion happens with almost all wines in our portfolio, with the exception of our Sauvignon Blanc, Vin Gris Rosé and The Portico. (Our SB is known for its crisp acidity so if we allowed malolactic fermentation to take place, that lovely acidity would be gone. Insert sad face here.)

But back to the science of this winemaking stuff. It was at this point in the conversation with Richard that he drew me a couple of molecules on a piece of paper, complete with carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. This was in order to illustrate the ML conversion. I'm going to spare you this part, because it was here was I finally understood what he meant when he referred to this process as the "malolactic coma."

Basically, he went into a whole bunch of science-related topics about bacteria eating carbon chains and stabilizing the wine and I was furiously writing notes down, stopping him every couple of minutes to clarify what he'd just explained.

And I was still confused.

In order to save you from entering into the malolactic coma yourselves (you're welcome for taking one for the team), I'm going to just give your the jest of it, with some history mixed in for good measure:

Wine has three types of acids in it:

• tartaric, which is pretty stable and acceptable in the wine
• malic, which is unstable and can be less desirable because of the tart flavors it imparts (unless you're making sauvignon blanc, or another "crisp" varietal)
• citric, though this is found in very minute amounts.

So, you have these types of acid in the wine and malolactic fermentation is the method that leaves the tartaric acid in tact but more importantly converts the malic acid into lactic acid. During ML, the citric acid also runs the risk of becoming diacetyl. Diacetyl is what causes the super buttery, nutty, oaky flavors in wine that overpower everything else. And if the wrong type of "desirable bacteria" is introduced, diacetyl could be an issue.

Enter the history part of this lesson.

Back in the day, in the Champagne region of France, they were making lovely sparkling wines, but diacetyl (read: buttery, oaky flavors) was overshadowing the delicate bubbles. Some smarty wine scientists then developed a good bacteria that could be used in the ML process that would not leave diacetyl behind as a bi-product and thus, a "desirable bacteria" was born. Then all the winemakers from the Champagne houses rejoiced.

But back to our story.

We choose to mimic the Champagne method of ML because it allows us to emphasize the vineyard fruit and the place from which our grapes come, rather than obscure the quality fruit. Since we age everything in oak barrels, we still have some of the hallmark qualities of varietals (toasty oak, vanilla, etc.) but can better balance those qualities with the fruit characteristics, giving our wines a sense of place while keeping it in balance.

So that, my friends, is the short version of malolactic fermentation, believe it or not.

Trust me, be very glad you didn't get the whole science version. I'm still recovering from the high school chemistry flashbacks induced by those molecule drawings...

-Colleen LeMasters
Clos Pegase Winery

'Exercise Your Taste Buds,' from Peju Province Winery

PEJU Winemaker Sara Fowler tasted through sixty different barrel lots of the 2009 and 2010 red wines in our cellar yesterday. She called it "checking in with the wine." What was she checking for?

"I'm checking to see how the wine is maturing, how it's progressing, and to see if any of the individual barrels need attention."

Sixty glasses of wine lined the Production office. Incredulous, I asked her how she could possibly maintain the ability to taste the subtleties in numbers fifty through sixty (or even after #20). She chuckled and said,

"Sixty is nothing! I used to have to taste hundreds of wines in a day at one of the other wineries where I've worked. I'll just take a break after the first thirty, do something else for a couple of hours, and then come back to the last thirty."

At Peju, we age our Napa Valley tier reds for 16-18 months, and our Reserve wines for 26 months, so at this time, Sara is tasting through the 2009 Reserves and 2010 Napa Valley tier reds.

"The 2009 Reserves are dee-licious!" She says with glee. Our Reserves are Cabernet Franc- and Cabernet Sauvignon-predominant Bordeaux blends made exclusively from fruit grown certified organically on our Rutherford Estate. "Though each barrel will impart slightly different flavor characteristics-- and we purchase barrels from several different cooperages for this reason-- all the 2009 reserve wines themselves are full of rich, ripe, dark fruit flavors. 2009 was the last great year before the trickier two to follow, but I've been pleasantly surprised at the way the 2010's are tasting today, as well."

"I have the best job in the world," Sara said, as I turned to leave. "It just doesn't get much better than making wine in the Napa Valley. I can't wait to play with these delicious [barrel] lots and start blending later this month!"

by Britt Starr for Peju Province Winery

view the full Blog here: Peju Crush Chronicles