I’m finally getting around to writing about the seasons here in the vineyards—what’s going on with the vines and buds, rather than what’s going on in my life. Thank you all for your sweet words that helped so much during the tough, tough time of letting Tally go (truth be told, the tough part isn’t over yet, as many of you attested to).

It’s one of my favorite times of the year here (I know, I say that every season). Lupine and red clover and bright orange poppies dot the roads and meadows. The frilly pink blossoms of the plum trees lining the streets (I so meant to take a photo of those) have now unfurled into burgundy sheaths of leaves.

And on the vines—which you saw at winter time looked like dead stalks of wood—are miraculously pushing out vibrant green buds opening day by day like a fisted hand into delicate miniature grape leaves. These buds will eventually turn into long shoots bearing clusters of fruit. But right now, they are simple little shots of green coming out of their cocoon.

I’ve been writing about each season in the vineyard as they’ve come along, but I thought it might help to have a one-stop source for the key stages of the vines, so you know what’s past, what’s yet to come and what the perils are along the way.

1) BUD BREAK 

The first sign of life on the vines is the formation of tiny buds—the stage called bud break. Frost and excessive rain are the greatest dangers during this time, when either can affect the delicate bud. Hence the giant fans you see in the vineyards and the sprinklers shooting over the vines at 5:00 am. Moving the air or adding moisture to it will help prevent frost from forming on the precious little leaves.

2) FLOWERING

As the shoots mature, they eventually produce little clusters that look like dozens of miniature green beads. These are what become actual grape clusters, but they have to flower first in order to be pollinated. This all happens in late spring and early summer roughly six to twelve weeks after bud break and lasts for about ten days. During this time, the vines are extremely susceptible to variations in the weather. A cold snap, bout of rain or a windstorm could blow the fragile flowers off the vines.

3) FRUIT SET

Once the flowers are pollinated, they begin to develop into tiny grapes. At this stage, hail, rain, high winds or even unexpected heat could damage the fruit or carry detrimental spores which can settle on the leaves and cause disease. It’s just after this stage that canopy management (dropping fruit and shoot thinning) becomes especially vital, so that Keith can make sure the grapes will get enough air flow and filtered sunlight to become concentrated and ripe as the growing season wears on.  

4) VERAISON

As the fruit develops, it grows plumper, riper and sweeter until, quite suddenly, it changes color (white grapes become golden and red grapes turn red) and becomes softer. This is called veraison. Good weather is important throughout this process, which runs through summer into early autumn, in order for the grapes to fully develop their structure, sugars, acid and balanced flavors.

5) HARVEST

This here’s the fun part. The fruit of all the labor. From the time of veraison until the time of harvest, Erik and Keith are out in the vineyards almost daily, testing sugar levels and other indicators for the optimal time to pick. Then it’s all hands on deck (and fingers crossed that it doesn’t downpour so that the tractors can get through the rows with the trailers) as the grapes are picked and crushed and the juice fermented into wine. From there, it’s Erik’s realm (hint hint . . . I have a post on blending coming up).

6) PRUNING

Once the grapes have been harvested and the frenzy around crush has settled down, Keith and his team carefully prune the canes to optimize next year’s growth. Then, once springtime comes, it’s time for bud break once again.