We have made it to the midpoint of harvest in volume but not time. The last ones to pick are sure to dribble out over some weeks. Even with that statistical fact, it in no way feels like the end of the tunnel. It is hard to see the light when you are a picker in the vineyard at 12am every morning and have to pick fruit for the next 8-10 hours. Hard to see very far into the future.
To make matters even more difficult, we just went through the hottest period of the year at Peake Ranch (an extremely hot period regardless of the year) with a high temperature of 108 degrees F reached yesterday (2 Sept) followed by a low that was still above 70 degrees. Thankfully, the humidity also dropped so it was a “dry heat”. Still very uncomfortable for humans.
We carefully monitor many things in our vineyards to provide better understanding of the effects of the environment on the vines and fruit. With this information we can fine-tune many of our actions. Of course, this data only tells us what is happening and has happened, not what will. I would be great to have that data! Here are figures describing the heat event of the last several days.
See you soon.
