2013 Growing Season

We've got this sharp young kid that has been working with us at Piña Vineyard Management for about a year and a half. Justin is a youngster half my age, married with a 2 & ½ year old daughter.  He continually amazes me with how much he knows about grapes and how much he has learned about the vineyards we care for. In addition to that, he's humble and has a great attitude.  Recently, he wrote an in-house summary of the 2013 growing season.  I thought it was very well written.  He included just enough technical information to satisfy those that need it, but not so much to lose the interest of those that don't.

See what you think:
 

2013 Growing Season

by Justin Leigon

                The winter leading up to the 2013 growing season was a repeat of the previous year. It was exceptionally dry. Of the ~25” of rain that fell from 11/1/12 through 3/31/13, 10.5” fell over five consecutive days: 11/28-12/2. There were a few showers to follow in December, but after the first of the year we only received ~3-5” of rain by the end of March. This led to soils drying out much earlier than normal. In many vineyards, irrigation was started during bud-break in order to ensure healthy early season growth.

                Similar to 2012, bud-break was 5-7 days later than average. Fortunately, the warm weather in April allowed things to catch up. April had an average daily high temp of 77°F. Approximately 10 days of April were above 80°F, and on 4/22 we saw temps in the 90s. There were only a handful of frost days with some areas never needing to run their wind machines. 

                The nice consistent spring weather led to an early bloom. Most locations were ~7-10 days early. In some of the later areas such as Howell Mountain, Calistoga, and Pope Valley there was shatter as a result of very cold mornings during the critical bloom stage. Unusual late season frost damage was even seen in a few locations because of the mornings of 5/22 & 5/23 where temps reached the low 30s.

                The weather continued to be moderately warm throughout the spring with very little rainfall. The early season heat helped with grape skin, tannin, and overall flavor development. Yields appeared to be average to slightly above average with potential for an exceptional vintage. A brief scare occurred during the last week of June when temps broke 100°F for a few days. Some areas saw close to 110°F. Fortunately, veraison had yet to begin so the berries were still hard and protected.

                Most areas were 10-14 days earlier than average for veraison. With the exception of some minor fruit thinning to balance out vines, the rest of the 2013 season was thankfully uneventful. Some areas needed to be dialed back on the irrigation in order to conserve water, but the vines were able to manage throughout the rest of the season.

                Harvest for Piña began on August 8^th with Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc. This was 20 days earlier than 2012. Most areas were ~2 weeks early. Yields were similar to last year and slightly bigger in some areas while slightly lower in other areas. The perfect weather allowed winemakers to choose the flavor profile they were wanting. The warm season led to some vineyards having high sugars but needing to wait a little longer for the flavors to catch-up. This was actually a blessing for some winemakers, as the fast & furious harvest left many wineries with no available tank space. A few windy days during the middle of September led to accelerated dehydration and a raisin thinning pass was required in a few areas of the valley. Brief showers occurred around 9/21, but advantageous weather followed and the fruit that was still hanging dried out quickly. For a lot of wineries, harvest wrapped up by the end of September. This was one of the earliest that most winemakers can remember.

                The general consensus is that the 2013 vintage is one for the history books. The season had days full of beautiful weather and cold nights to maintain grape acidity. Thick grape skins with rapid sugar accumulation allowed winemakers to pick based on flavor development. Let’s hope for a repeat in 2014!     

Napa Valley Night Harvesting - While you were sleeping...

If you happen to travel the Napa Valley during darkness these days, you can't help but notice all the bright spots around the valley.  Those are nightime harvesting operations in progress.  The two videos below were taken at 3:00 in the morning.  This particular vineyard is not affiliated with Pina Napa Valley nor Pina Vineyard Management, but it was at a good location for filming, just below the Silverado Trail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8yft7o0btA

In the videos, you can hear the generator that runs the flood lights and the tractor running.  You can see the pickers with their headlamps, dumping their boxes of grapes.  And you can see the tractor driver/leafer, removing the leaves from the harvested grapes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SiZCEs507o

Rutherford Passport Weekend - May 7th & 8th

May 7th & 8th is the Rutherford Passport weekend, and we are participating. 

Rutherford Appellation Wineries

The Rutherford Passport Weekend  is the premier consumer event sponsored by wineries residing in this historical appellation.  Experience the wineries of the Rutherford Appellation as never before. Passport Weekend allows Passport holders exclusivity to special pourings, barrel and tank tastings, paired food and wines, and conversations with the winemakers - all of which will make for a memorable time in beautiful Napa Valley. 

Rutherford Appellation Wineries was established to educate consumers on the significance of the Rutherford appellation as Napa Valley's preeminent grape-growing area. This consumer-focused organization was created to promote the uniqueness of the area and encourage visitors to experience personally the quality of the wines produced in this special place.

Proceeds from the passport events benefit a local Napa Valley Charity.  Some recipients in the past are the Rutherford Volunteer Firefighters, the Rutherford flood project, Queen of the Valley hospital and others. In 2010, the Rutherford Grange was the recipient of $10,000.00 to help in the restoration project.  Some of our member wineries will be pouring at the Grange this year and hope that our participants in this years' event take the time to see the Grange while it is being retrofitted and remodeled.


Click here to visit thewebsite:  http://rutherford-appellation-wineries.com/index.php

Auction lot dinner with a Cornhole tournament

To go to the Howell Mountain Vintners & Growers Association website, please click on this:

http://www.howellmountain.org/events.html

For the past several years, we have donated a dinner for 12, with games, to the live auction noted above.  When our guests arrive, they are treated to a variety of Piña Napa Valley wines as they socialize right in our winery cellar/tasting room. Then, they are served dinner right in our winery cellar/tasting room. Once dinner is over, the tables are cleared and we have a Cornhole Tournament right in our winery cellar/tasting room, as the dessert bar is brought out.

The Cornhole Tournaments have become a regular activity at many of our events. 

I've described the game and talked about it in 2 previous posts:

Cornhole Craze Expanding West!

http://pinanapavalley.blogspot.com/2009/08/cornhole-craze-expanding-west.html

AND

“We’re here for a good time”

http://pinanapavalley.blogspot.com/2009/08/were-here-for-good-time.html

We held the latest Auction lot dinner and Cornhole tournament on Saturday, May 22, 2010.  We must be doing something right, because many of the folks that contributed to the purchase of this auction lot, have been involved for the last 3 years. 

This is what this year's group looked like:

They are diverse, fun loving group with a common thread;

The Oakland Police Department.

The Cornhole Tournament winner this year was Gordy.

Not that he's competitive, but Kyle, last year's winner spent several minutes checking my math on the scoresheet after placing third.

And even though much wine was consumed,

we were not concerned when this group headed home.

Because these two gentlemen (James & Erik) loaded them all into their Escalade limos for the ride home.

James, the business owner, was formerly with the Oakland PD.

We thank them all for supporting the auction that benefits the

Howell Mountain Elementary School.

The Wine Club Deck, Part 1

Almost every Wednesday, the 4 Pina brothers meet to discuss the winery business & operations. At one of these meetings last September, I suggested that we build a deck above the winery for use during our various events for our Wine Club members. We discussed it at length and the brothers gave me the go ahead.


The first step was deciding on a location. I walked the hillside and found a beautiful spot between the two upper vineyards. The view was incredible! And it was even fairly flat, unlike most of the property. But, it was quite a trek to get there and a bit too far from the winery & restroom. So the search continued.


I found a small corner below the vineyard that could handle the 12’ X 12’ deck and marked it out for the brothers to review for input & approval.

 Davie suggested I change the orientation slightly so we could put in a bigger deck – a whopping 16’ X 16’! So I did. The brothers checked it out and liked it. Davie sent over a backhoe operator to get the area roughly leveled.

So, I started working on it. I chose to work alone in the early stages, because I needed to spend as much time thinking about the project as working on it, and I’m not comfortable with folks standing around waiting for me to direct them. Once I had the foundation under way, I called on my son Ty to help me. I knew he would be okay with waiting for me to sort my thoughts out. On top of that, he was anxious to learn about construction. We worked well together.

Ty framing the foundation.

Here, the foundation is almost complete. It was about here that brother John jumped in and treated the wood with a high quality sealer. It’s an important job that goes unnoticed - Thanks John!

In this picture, the deck was nearing completion. The rains started and it seems there were few extended dry periods for the next several months. But finally, it was time for the first official use of the deck.

On Saturday, April 24th, we had our Howell Mountain, Buckeye Vineyard Cabernet release party. Our Red Tilde Wine Club members were invited up to the deck for chocolate, pictures and wine tasting.

We opened up magnums of our 2002 Buckeye & 2005 D’Adamo Cabs. And we also poured our new release Chardonnay. They were all well received!

Even though the deck isn't too much higher than the winery, the slight increase in elevation is quite noticable.

Joe Bauer (left) took pictures all day of our Club members while Tom Shirmang poured wine at our Reserve tasting table.

And these silly ladies, Cindy Pina & Lori Bauer, greeted folks, poured wine and kept everything running smoothly on the deck.

Also serving on the deck, my son Tyler, & myself (I'm on the right)

Linda & Randy (Placerville) were the first Club Members to visit the deck

Followed closely by Sandy & Ron (Napa)

There are so many pictures to share that I will be adding additional posts to include them all. Check back for Part 2!

Grapes Gone Wild!

This is what a typical Pina Vineyard Management Farmed vine looks like this time of year. The canes have been hand tucked to be inside the trellis wires and the clusters are developing nicely within the fruit zone. The fruit zone is a horizontal band about a foot tall. And as the name implies, it is where the fruit grows. The reason the grapes only grow in this area is because the fruit only forms on buds that arise from the previous season’s growth. And each of the vertical canes (branches) was pruned back to 2 buds during the dormant season. In fact, the clusters above were formed during the 2008 growing season. Before pruning for the next year’s crop, some folks will study the buds on some pruned “sample” canes to forecast the number of clusters that can be expected, and prune accordingly. This is done by opening up the buds and studying them under a microscope. You can actually see the beginning formations of the clusters. I was amazed the first time I had the opportunity to see this.

Later in the year, the grapes will look something like this:

So what happens to a vine that does not get pruned back at the end of the growing season?

Here’s a good example: The picture above is a enlarged section of the picture below:

When a vine goes un-pruned, clusters form all over the vine. The above vine was not pruned because this block of vines is scheduled for removal. There are too many clusters for the vine to carry them all uniformly to full maturity during a regular growing season. The resulting crop is out of control and would not produce the quality of fruit used in most high end wines.

These are obviously “Grapes Gone Wild”

California's Best Wines of 2008

Wine News feature story: California's Best Wines of 2008

Wine News has rated our 2005 Buckeye as one of California’s top 10 Cabs of 2008.

In their words:

Pina, 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Buckeye Vineyard, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley - Minty maraschino cherry aromas with hints of resin and cinnamon. Supple strawberry preserve flavors with a thick, nearly chewy texture. There is a richness front to back in this Cabernet with the wood tannins, fruit and minerals meshing nicely in the close. Drinking nicely right now and should continue to improve.

Very flattering and we are the least expensive wine on the list.

Click here for the full story:
http://www.thewinenews.com/current/feat.asp