The 2011 growing season provides us yet another lower alcohol, cool climate vintage. Our vineyard heat accumulation finished up at 1,794 degree days. This continues the run of cooler vintages that began in 2007. The wines produced from these cool vintages very much reflect the vineyard site and how they were tended throughout the season.
The 2011 vintage got off to a relatively late start in the Spring. We typically see the first buds breaking around the 15th of April, (Note: this is harvest time for the IRS), but Mother Nature must have filed for an extension, so we waited until the 5th of May. The growing season was cold and protracted.
We have come to accept that the months that matter most are the ones that end in “ber.” September put on a strong showing with warm dry days and cool nights. This was the weather we were hoping for all year. The weather held into October, and we began the annual “Cluster Pluck” on October 23rd.
