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All Set To Go

Last we met, it was raining cats and dogs.  As is often the case in agriculture, a month brings a whole world of change.  We have just finished a mini-heat wave where temps soared to 106 degrees with little cooling overnight.  Thankfully, we have settled into a more seasonal pattern of daytime highs in the upper 80’s to low 90’s, with nights cooling way off.

Clusters still in bloom

The nice thing about the rain is we didn’t have to irrigate during the crazy heat spell- no flagging, no heat stress, nada. The not so-nice-part is we are still waiting to see if the rain caused damage to our later varietals, such as our Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, as they are still going through bloom and haven’t reached fruit set yet.

Moving from bloom to fruit set

Speaking of fruit set…

Cluster in fruit set

Yes, we are just about all set to go- the vineyards and our family.  The earlier varietals like Viognier, Sangiovese, Malbec, and Syrah are well into fruit set and are looking good. The wires are going up and canopy fruit zone manipulation will commence.  The Irwin family is all set to step back into winter with a vacay down under to celebrate offspring number two’s graduation.  Not gonna lie- after this week’s inferno, I’m ready for a little cool weather.

Looking forward to seeing these babies get bigger!

See you in July with another thrilling update!

Vine with many clusters in fruit set