Anderson Valley Vineyard Updates

Two new Crushpad updates have come out for the Hein and Annahala vineyards. It looks like the Hein fruit is a little behind, while the Pinot at Annahala is a little ahead in terms of Brix levels. This is as expected given the relative locations of these two vineyards within Anderson Valley. Hein is well within the Deep End of the valley, which is closer to the ocean and cooler than the micro-climate found around Annahala, which lies much closer to Boonville.You can get more info about the characteristics of Anderson Valley's climate by checking out this post.  Here are the update notes posted by Chris Nelson, our consulting winemaker:

Hein - 9/04/2008 - Brix 19.0 - pH 2.97 - Estimated Harvest Start 9/22/08 - End: 10/02/08
Well, we still got time on this vineyard. I had the vineyard crew out last week to open the canopy a bit and remove any green clusters. I expect another 3 weeks until its ready for harvest, so the week of the 22nd. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll make some great wine again in 2008. CN

Anahala - 9/04/2008 - Brix 21.0 - pH 3.20 - Estimated Harvest Start: 9/15/08 - End: 10/10/08
Looking great at Annahala. Well balanced vineyard and the fruit looks perfect. I expect the same quality as 2007. I would guess the week of the 15th or 22nd. I hope to be back there next week. CN

One interesting thing to note is that the Brix levels around this time last year were considerably higher than what is being recorded now, due primarily to much higher temperatures at the end of the 2007 growing season. For example, on 9/08/2004, an average of three blocks of fruit--115, 777, and Pommard clones--was 23.1 Brix. This year temperatures are much more moderate and thus the fruit is ripening at a more steady pace. In fact, even as I write this I noticed this message from Chris in my inbox:

Just got an update from PPV and we're looking at another few weeks. I am happy to let this stuff ripen slowly because this would be the only place in CA that is moving slowly as all the other Pinot vineyards will be in the next week or so. Thank you Anderson Valley.

This sequence of maps will show you exactly where these two vineyards are located in relation to each other. While other factors come into play, such as slope orientation, cluster and leaf thinning practices, etc., for the most part, vineyards in the warmer micro-climate of the valley will ripen sooner and be available for harvesting sooner, all else equal. You can see the NW orientation of Anderson Valley in this first Google Earth image, the white line represents a distance of about 8 miles.

Click images for a larger version

One cool thing about Google Earth is that you can overlay weather onto the map. If you click on the last graphic to get the big image, you can more easily see that the differential in current temperatures readings (as of 6pm PST) between Navarro in the NW and Boonville in the SE is a whopping 25 degrees!

More updates will be posted as we get them.

Jeremy