Weather  
Today

Cool weather from the same front that brought in close to an half inch of rain is with us right now, which is perfect while the vines dry.

After final clouds move through tomorrow, the forecast is for dry and lower-to-mid 70s for the next week. Perfect.

By the end of next week we should have almost everything off Stoller, half or more from Corral Creek and none off Ridgecrest. 

A BURST OF RAIN, NOW FOR THE LONG HAUL

	The weather is perfect!

Every Harvest season there is an early burst of light rain, followed by final ripening at cooler temperatures than late summer has given us--it's almost like modern tape players which rewind furiously until nearing the end of the tape, when it slows to a crawl so as to not break the tape.

We've had 0.44 inch of rain and the highs for the last couple days are in the 60s, with lows in the low 40s. Upper elevation vineyards like Ridgecrest and the top of Corral Creek have one to two weeks ripening yet to go, and the fruit is in great shape to take it. Clusters are tightly packed at Ridgecrest from a compact flowering period, sugar is building, flavors--which are the last taste measures to arrive signalling "time to pick"--aren't even close, seeds are browning, berries are still firm and firmly attached whereas when ripe fruit becomes a bit "saggy"--like a slightly underinflated basketball--and berries easily shake from the cluster, and fruit shows no disease, only a peck or two from birds.

	Pinot Gris

Stoller Vineyards is a different story. We've resumed picking after a one-day delay due to the rain, now completing Pinot gris and getting healthy swaths of Pinot noir each day. Today, we're moving across the face of the hillside with blocks at the same elevation, taking a band that has Pinot gris Clone 146, Pinot noir 667 and 777 clones and, tomorrow, Pinot noir 115 clone, plus Pinot gris UCD clones. Pinot noir fruit is especially black and ripe, with initial lots picked last week showing great color extraction during cold soak. We have kicked off the ferments in three fermentors and have flexed all parts of our process. We anticipate bringing in more than 100 tons of fruit in the next week, so it better be ready.

Regards,

Harry