Heat Wave and our Vineyard Stewards

Right now the song in my head is the 1963 Holland-Dozier-Holland classic, “Heat Wave.” Not so much because of the lyric, as because it has just been freakin’ hot. As an aside, if you don’t know Holland-Dozier-Holland (or for that matter the Funk Brothers) stop reading immediately and fill that gap in your musical education. Originally recorded by and a hit for Martha and the Vandellas, it has been covered dozens of times, including the 1975 hit version by Linda Ronstadt. On to more vineyardy (sic) things, it’s been in the mid-90’s for a few days now and is expected to hit 96 today as I write this (July 5th). The berries are at perhaps their best stage to weather heat spikes. We’ve done a light leaf pulling on the East side and still have plenty of protection.

Our biggest concern is for the vineyard stewards who work in our vineyards. It can be dangerous to work in these conditions and you’ll see us and our on-site supervisors being highly attentive to hydration levels, making sure the crews are taking breaks in the shade, and calling early quit times when temperatures rise above a certain level.

You can imagine what it is like to work in these conditions. We are extremely grateful for their dedication and are happy to see that it is going to cool down a bit for the next week. Their work is hard enough without the extreme heat. More later…