An example of shatter. Notice how the grapes are spread out uneven within the cluster. Photo courtesy of Doug Ghiselin.
Sonoma Valley is well known for producing some of the best commercially available wine grapes in the world. Not to be left behind, home winemakers like to grow their own grapes as well. Ask any home winemaker/grower why he or she would take the time to grow their own grapes, and you will get a variety of answers. But one thing is for sure, by growing and harvesting your own grapes, you become more in touch with the fruit that is turned into wine, and over time, you become better with each season. With that in mind, I asked several Sonoma Valley home winemakers and growers how the harvest was shaping up for them this year.
First I contacted Doug Ghiselin, a home winemaker who has lived in the Valley for over 30 years, to see how his vines are coming along. His immediate response was, “Pretty good, nothing unusual!” Doug’s property is located on Moon Mountain Road, about 100 feet above the Valley floor. I knew they got some frost in that area so I probed further. “Well,” he said, “about 20 percent of my vines were damaged by the frost. The vines will come back, so I expect to have about half the yield from the damaged vines. The rest faired pretty well. Overall, I expect about a 10 percent reduction, but that isn’t going to hurt me because I was going to drop some fruit later on anyway. So, nothing unusual.” OK, I guess that is nothing unusual to Doug, but how about some of the other home growers?
Mike Carroll had a different perspective. Mike has about 1,400 vines of three varietals: cabernet, syrah and chardonnay. He is on the east side of Highway 12 above Agua Caliente, about the same elevation as Doug. “Disaster is the only way I can say it,” he said. “I believe I have lost about 50 percent of my crop.” He went on to say that almost all of his vines had shattered clusters. “Shatter” is a term used to describe crop loss due to impaired pollination. There are grapes missing from within the cluster, but the whole cluster is not lost. The most common cause of shatter is heavy rain, hail or extreme heat. “Fire and ice,” he kept repeating, “fire and ice. It got to 111 degrees one day, then a few days later it was back in the 70’s.”
Lou Leal lives just north of Agua Caliente Road and Arnold Drive. Lou has 216 vines of five varietals: cabernet, syrah, pinot gris, tannat and gewürztraminer. He gets real creative with his wines. He told me that he hasn’t been affected at all and that things are looking pretty good for him. He believes that his location is a prime factor and also credits “just dumb luck” because he didn’t get any frost. Lou says that he is quite proud of the fact that he uses all organic fertilizers. He keeps the weeds down in between the vines by using a “weed eater with wheels” instead of Round Up or something similar. It looks like he is practicing sustainable farming, so maybe that is a factor as well.
About three seasons ago I helped Michael Cooper during his harvest. Some say that his location isn’t ideal for pinot noir grapes, but his harvest looked quite good. Michael lives on Sonoma Mountain in the Diamond A Ranch subdivision. Last year he won a gold medal for Best of Show at the Home Winemakers Wine Competition for his pinot rosé, so he must be doing something right. Michael said that he has not been affected by the frost since he lives above the frost line. He did have some heat damage but went on to say, “Heck. I don’t know what will happen, véraison hasn’t occurred yet, I’ll let you know then.” Véraison is a French term that signifies when the grapes begin to soften and change color (mid to late July in Sonoma Valley). White varieties change from green to yellow-green, and reds change from green to purple.
So how is the harvest shaping up for the home winemaker? As I was leaving the Sonoma Plaza on Tuesday night I ran into Armando Ceja, a local commercial grower and vineyard manager, and I asked him that question. He laughed and said, “How is the harvest shaping up? It is like seven blind men feeling an elephant for the first time and they are all at different places around the elephant. One feels a rough spot the other a smooth spot and everyone else is somewhere in between. Could be pretty rough, could be OK, could be great!” There really does seem to be a difference in opinion – let’s check back at harvest time and see.
Jack Bertram is a Sonoma resident and brings a unique perspective to home winemaking. He is the President of the Valley of the Moon Dilettante Society (www.vomdes.org).
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