Although our day time temperatures have been pretty high (80's) for many a day these past few weeks we've also seen some really low temperatures at night.  Now, for us that means sleepless nights as the frost alarms ring at 1am (our wives love that) and we have to head on over to the vineyard and get ready to flip the switch for our frost protection sprinklers to kick into gear and save the day.  Some growers use fans to circulate and mix the air so that temperatures stay just above 32 degrees, others still light (increasing rare) smudge pots to envelope their vines in a cloud of smoke to trap warmer air in a pocket around the vines.  Our hillsides and varied terrain make it tough to use fans (and smoke in the air is highly undesirable to us) so we use sprinklers to stave off the frost. It sounds bizarre but a frozen layer of water helps protect the tender young shoots from frost damage by ingenious means.  When the temperature is just above freezing the sprinklers spray the vineyard in water - the water begins to freeze when it hits the vine which in turn forms an icy cocoon around the baby shoots and buds, trapping heat inside and insulating the cells of the newly formed shoots.

This year has been chillier than most - with alarm bells ringing most nights.  The good news is that we've had minimal frost damage preserving both the future crop and the concept of balance in the vineyard.  If shoots mature unevenly they grow unevenly ripened fruit which makes for unbalanced wine.  The key concept in everything we do is preserving that balance so that our finished wines reflect the vineyard, taste great and rely on the minimum of fuss to maintain those delicious flavors!  Speaking of balance, the next task in the vineyard is suckering vines to remove unwanted shoots and allow energy to flow into the shoots that are destined to bear fruit.  Our trained crew will make the first of many passes through each block making sure that each vine is nurturing the right number of new canes so that the right balance of fruit is able to ripen gracefully over the coming months. Now, if only we could train those little bulls to eat the shoots we don't want.....

- Ames Morison