The cold start to spring followed by a heavy frost with limited damage to our Chardonnay have been the only blemishes to an otherwise benign season so far. Weather through October ’08 was typically unsettled but the critical weeks from the end of of November were calm, dry and warm providing for an excellent flowering and the potential for good crop levels. The mid-November rains had boosted canopy growth to where it is adequate for the crops we are now expecting. So far the weather has been about 5% cooler overall than the previous season which makes it likely that while harvest will still be earlier than our average it will be significantly later than for the the ’08 harvest. An adequate supply of all the ’09 wines seems assured at this point – including the Viognier! |
