Impact of Heatwave; Vineyard Visits in Santa Lucia Highlands

The last couple of days I've been on the phone with all my grape growers. Everyone is feeling the impact of the heatwave and has different reactions.

In Amador, Pam York anticipates that the heat will kickstart the Syrah. As of yesterday, the 99 clone was around 23.5 Brix but all the others were only at 21. Harvest should be about 3 weeks away. (Farthest away from harvest)

In Dry Creek, Ray Teldeschi says the grapes should be ready by mid- to end next week. Jay Maddox, assistant winemaker at Carlisle was taking numbers on the old vine.

In Santa Lucia, Kirk watered before and the later part of the heat wave. It has been 100 degrees for the past two days; today it was upper 90's. Tomorrow, the heat is supposed to break. Since Kirk's first harvest for his Fairview Ranch Road Vineyard, he is concerned about overstressing the vines. Plus, the 5-C rootstock can "collapse" or shut down without water. Jeff Pisoni, Gary's son, mentioned a water strategy was similar. (Closest to harvest)

This morning, I went down with a friend and fellow winemaker, Andrew Vingiello, down to the Santa Lucia Highlands. Andrew is starting his label AP Vin and is helping Brian Loring at Loring Wine Company. We visited both the Fairview Ranch Road Vineyard and Garys' Vineyard. We assessed the impact of heatwave and predict a pick date.

Observations of Fairview Ranch Road Vineyard:

• Pommard 4 is not physiologically ripe. They flavors aren't there yet. Has about 4% raisins total. Has tighter clusters which are showing slight signs of mildew.
  ? Will need to water more to sustain heat and not raisin? How did the 667 jump so quickly? because of smaller crop?
  
• 667 is riper with wonderful flavors. Smaller berries but not as tight; allows for afternoon wind, as Gary Franscioni calls it the ROAR, to dry out the grapes. Seeds are turning brown, crunchy, and tasting tannic. More legnification.
  Decision: Pick middle of next week. Get more of 667 than Pommard 4.
  
• Both clones- Slight bird damage is visible on rows nearest the telephone lines (where birds love to hang out). Grapes on morning side are in better condition. They have more canopy to protect from direct sunlight. Currently raisins are more prominent on afternoon side.
  
• Both- Hints of stems turning brown (lignification). Brown is moving down stem towards top of cluster.
  
• Both- Seeds are slightly tannic. The range is from very tannic to lightly tannic.
  ? Should I minimize the % of whole clusters (say less than 5%)? Last year, I left ~7% whole berries in my Dutton Pinot.
  
• Both- Acid levels still seem high. I'm excited that the grapes will be ripe with good acid. I think good acid is essential for providing Pinot with a backbone. Mark said he was seeing higher acids across the board this year on his Pisoni grapes, about 0.7 TA.