2022 Vintage
2022 was kicked off with a rather warm winter, which set the vines fully ahead of normal maturation. We were already seeing early signs of development in late March, followed by an unfortunate frost event in early April - resulting in significant yield decreases for some sites. The cold weather (and rain) ended up sticking around through June and put the brakes on our growing season. July 4 brought warmer temperatures and bloom, but we were looking at a very late potential harvest date. A little rain during bloom further reduced yields for some sites.
Veraison was quick and even with the increasing heat, while disease pressure was quite high throughout the valley, we fared well through it all by paying close attention to our spray schedules.
Syrah from The Pines started us off on October 7 - unusual for the Syrah to beat everything else in. Gregory Ranch was picked for both Chard and Pinot on October 12, followed by Vista Grande quickly on October 15. Temperance Hill closed out the vintage by coming in October 22, in classic THV fashion.
Frost damage has many different meanings to many different crops - but for grapevines it can be particularly harsh. The new growth, which carries the primordial fruit for the season, is full of water. When that freezes - and at just the right time - the green growth is destroyed and the fruit for the year is lost. There are secondary buds, which develop in case of an event like this, an emergency plan for the vine. Secondary buds are less fruitful and yields are reduced. Temperatures that drop low enough under the right conditions kill the secondary buds as well. There are tertiary buds as a last resort that help the plant continue to photosynthesize and survive, but they produce no fruit. This was the case at VG. It was our first year farming the whole vineyard and we were looking at a catastrophic loss.
The most difficult thing we were facing was the fact that you still have to put in the farming time, regardless of the yield decreases. Because the plants are perennial, you can’t just say, “Oh well, I suppose we can just give the vineyard the year off.”
We are being rewarded for our work by wines that are focused and concentrated. There’s just less wine available in some cases. The great thing about working with great sites is that despite some severe difficulties the wines still end up being amazing. The decrease in yield is just part of farming. Sometimes you have issues, but you keep your head down and remember that you aren’t farming for yield, you’re farming for quality. That reward might come in the next year because you didn’t give up. We still had to set ourselves up for success in the future.
The wines went into barrel with great hope and potential, but with distinct difficulties. I’m glad we get to taste the vintage variation, because it is just so fun to see these wines move through the cellar and develop from a stressful growing season on the farmer.
Our 2022 vintage is sold out. Tech Sheets.
