First Syrah Veraison and Thinning

And, leading in the first leg is……Hudson Syrah.

I stopped by Hudson Vineyard today to go over thinning and noticed a few berries starting to change color. This is a great thing since Syrah and Cabernet are typically the last to go through the veraison and the last to pick. Earlier in the morning I stopped at Wildcat Mountain and the Pinot was just starting to show a bit of color, which means the Syrah probably has a week or two to go. Though Lorenzo’s and Rebecca’s are certainly going to be the first red grapes in this year, it is my guess that Hudson will be the first Syrah.

The thinning regimen we started on today should also speed things up.

The Alban Cote-Rotie selection of Syrah is by far the most vigorous selection/clone being grown in the back blocks at Hudson. By comparison the 174 and 877 seem anemic. As a result, we severely limited crop, bringing it back to one cluster per shoot from two or three. Though I am by no means an apologist for low yields– in many cases I think the absurdly low levels advocated by many “star” winemakers actually impede good fruit balance– in this case, I think it was necessary. There are a couple reasons for this:

1. We are already behind due to wildfire smoke impeding sunlight uptake by the vine. Syrah is a late ripener and I am frankly not sure the fruit would get ripe if we left the 4 tons per acre or so that was on the vine.

2. Set at Hudson was suprisingly good, therefore cluster weight was greater– meaning more pounds of fruit to ripen per vine. In contrast, places like the windy Wildcat and Old Lakeville Vineyard have tended to set smaller clusters with fewer berries, meaning they have less crop and better balance (though in Wildcat’s case I wish we had a touch more crop).

3. I only bought enough barrels for three tons! Seriously, since I am using 100% new oak this would have thrown a crimp in the plans.

To get an idea of how much fruit was dropped I have put a photo of a vine pre-thinning and a vine post-thinning.