What About the Grapes??!!
Overall so far in 2007 the growing season has been near perfect, except for the lack of normal spring rainfall. Temperatures have been spot on with ‘normal’ - only three days or so above 100 in Lodi, and only a few days in the high 90s in Napa. If the temperatures stay like this I’m expecting 2007 to be a very good year for wine grapes.
We’re adding another top Lodi Zin vineyard to our fruit sources for 2007 - Maley Vineyards, located at Woodbridge and Ray Road. Todd Maley is another 3rd generation Lodi grower and has some tragically good Zinfandel. I was out looking at our Zin today - talking to Kevin Soucie and Todd Maley about the grapes.
Kevin’s vines are 91 years old this year; the block we’re using from Maley Vineyards are about 40 years old. Kevin irrigated to make up for the lack of spring rains and has good fruit set and normal sized clusters. The Zin from Todd has quite a bit of “shot” berry and very small berries. Todd didn’t irrigate, which can account for the smaller berry size.
The shot berry is another thing; Maybe something to do with the age of the vines can account for the shot berry?? I’ve heard that a lot of Lodi vineyards, regardless of the variety, have it. (Shot berry is when the clusters don’t set fruit properly. The berries are the size of buckshot and fail to develop.) Kevin doesn’t have a lot of it, Todd does.
Veraision (when the grapes turn from green to purple) is about a week behind normal, indicating a harvest that’s right on schedule to a week or two late.
Overall 2007 so far in Lodi is looking great. I’ll be talking to our other growers next week and will report on what’s up with those vineyards soon.