Wine, a work in progress

"Vineyard Update: April Freeze Edition
On the morning of Saturday, April 6th, frost descended on Noceto's vineyards. We experienced 4.6 hours at conditions below freezing, enough to damage buds, leaves, and flowers. But ... the news is good!

Unlike the 2022 freeze, when the vine shoots were running out 2-3 inches, this year's most advanced vines are still in their bud stage. We have some crisped and burnt edges, but overall, the leaves and buds "look okay," in the words of longtime winemaker, Rusty Folena. That said, we won't know the full extent of this year's damage until fruit sets in the coming weeks and months."
- Garrett Linker, Tasting Room Manager, Noceto Vineyards, April 2024 Newsletter

"Now that we've had a few months to look back on the 2023 vintage, we can definitively say that it was an unusual growing season from a weather standpoint. "Weird, bizarre, atypical" are just few of the words the winemaking and viticulture teams used to describe the season. Despite the unusual weather, the 2023 wines are looking exceptional."
- Rige Vineyards Winemaking Team, Healdsburg CA, 3/29/24

"Vineyard Office Manager Barb Peterson reported that we've recorded over 42.6" of rain from October 2023 to February 22nd. Luckily, the storms have been spread out for us, giving all that water time to soak in.

Our vineyard crews are continuing to prune and tie canes on vines. They've completed about 80% of the vines and should have the remaining vines finished in a month. Then, we'll watch for signs of budbreak in the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vineyards."
- The Alexander Valley Vineyards Team, 3/1/24

"In the vineyards, a crisp spring ushered in an unusually prolonged growing season that left us biting our nails in the winery and crossing our fingers for a delayed rain season as the grapes grew plump and juicy on the vines. Well our wishes came true, resulting in a harvest that was genuinely one for the books."
- The Bella Crew, Bella Vineyards 1/1/24

"The fifty-eight days of harvest seemed longer than normal, but that was primarily because it began and ended later than many of our recent harvests. In fact, in many years harvest spanned over 60 days. Winemaker Kevin Hall noted, 'that due to the short amount of time, this was a more compact harvest.'

He went on to say that overall 2023 is a really good year. Mother Nature provided us with bountiful late winter rainfall, a long and cool growing season, and no heat events during the summer or fall. This added up to a long hang time for the grapes.