Late-May photos of Bedrock Vineyard

Hi everyone,

I figured that I might have everyones heads spinning and eye’s straining with the last few posts regarding label development and the cool old photos and maps I was able to dig up concerning the Bedrock Vineyard property. To add a little concreteness to all that history here are a few pictures I took late this afternoon out at the vineyard. As you can see, shoot growth has been screaming and we are just about through with blossom and set (though the Cabernet and a few of the mixed blacks seem a little shy). We got a shot of serious heat and then some winds and the some rains in the last couple of weeks– a good recipe for poor set. Though it is still hard to see how good or bad it is I am sure some varietals and spots of the vineyard might not have Wine Spectator cover-shot clusters this year.

In any case, here are some shots from around the vineyard. I just liked the old- Sonoma component of barrels under the awning of the 1910 farmhouse along with the peach tree. Another is of a CRAZY, and as yet un-shoot-thinned, ginormous 120 year old Alicante Bouschet vine, and the third is of a nascent Zinfandel cluster from one of the old vines.

I tried to get up to Sobre Vista to take a shot commensurate with the 1887 Monte Rosso and Bedrock Vineyards picture but I got yelled out for trying to sneak my way into a gated community. Bastards.

Speaking of Monte Rosso, my good friend and winemaking compatriot Michael Havens and I took a drive up to Monte Rosso to check out the Cabernet and Semillon. The Cabernet looks just great. In a number of other blocks the Cabernet is up on a quadrilateral trellising system and the vines have somewhat meager shoot-length. This is because four arms on the vine put a pretty heavy stress on the system. This works in some years, and better or worse depending on soil-type, but it seems to have limited the shoot-length rather severely this year which may impact set, and perhaps even future canopy needs. In contrast, my 8×5 spaced bilateral cordon VSP has great shoot length and seems to have good set– something I will need to confirm in a couple of weeks– but just looks lovely. There is good evenness in the block. As Michael rightly pointed out though, the close to true east-west row orientation will mean that I need to sample the north and south sides of the vine separately to make sure of even ripening.

In any case, back to those pictures! Enjoy.