Amalie Robert Estate Vintage Update: 2014 June Flowers IRS (Inflorescence Reconnaissance Status)

Hello and Welcome,

We have flowers! The first sign of a potential harvest window appeared on June 6, 2014 – Day 157 of the Julian Calendar. And get this; it is the same Julian Calendar date as 2013. While this is a fun factoid, it certainly guarantees that harvest will not be the same!

Typically, we are asking for about 105 days from flowering to harvest. So we will be looking to open the harvest window on day 262, or September 19.  Someone once remarked that this is just like clockwork, but when you are in business with Mother Nature, nothing you set out to do is as simple as that.

The part of the plant that is flowering (or “in bloom”) is called an inflorescence. When we are looking for flowers in the vineyard we are doing reconnaissance. Once our work is complete, we issue a status. Ergo, our IRS is RFN(Right Farming Now!)

Weather during bloom this year is about as perfect as anything in agriculture can be – thanks Mom. We are seeing highs hit the high 70s and we are cooling off into the 50s at night. A refreshing breeze blows by from time to time and a few wispy clouds add texture to an otherwise endless sunny blue sky. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, consider this: Wine grapes are self pollinating!

If we continue on our currenttrajectory, we could have a bountiful crop, ready to harvest in late September. But there’s a lotta “c’s” there to consider, and there has been some issue with the c(3)’s or is it the c(4)’s?

But today the sun is on our backs and the breeze is lifting our spirits. The world, for now anyway, seems to be spinning in greased grooves.

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie