2023 Vintage Update

OK, it’s more than a little early to be forecasting the vintage at this juncture but we’re already thinking about it. Our bud break was April 29 – May 1 so that will put flowering at about the 4th of July. The weather should be pretty nice then and oftentimes that means we will have a very fruitful year. If you look at the vineyard now, we have pretty uniform shoot sizes so the duration of bloom should be pretty compact. All in all, things are in a good direction for yields. Many of the decisions we make require pretty long lead times (and cost money). If we made a thousand cases more than usual ($$ out) how long would it take us to sell it? Would it throw off the release of the following vintage? Or, could we find buyers for the fruit we don’t want to make in to wine ($$ in)? How much work will that be and if all growers are in the same position, how much will spot market fruit prices drop? Our fruit is held in pretty high regard, but this would be a one time sale, not a long term contract. Or we could just drop the excess fruit on the ground and aim for our target yields. That’s more neutral from a business plan perspective but perhaps a missed opportunity. So there you have it; a glimpse in to the mind of a wine grower. Stay tuned to see how the vintage plays out. More later…