Weather  
Today

Rain for yesterday materialized as advertised, even early! We saw our first significant rainfall event this Harvest, with 0.37 inches recorded at our Stoller Vineyards weather station. This was early enough and in enough volume to make our first picking at Ridgecrest miserably wet and cold.

However, picking continued despite low 40s temperatures and sticky conditions. Not enough yet to affect dry-farmed vineyards and disease-free fruit, there are other events predicted over the next 10 days for next Tuesday and Friday. With temperatures returning to the 70s Sunday and Monday, ripening would seem to happen well between now and then for most of our blocks, with the rest of Ridgecrest Pinot noir and probably Pinot gris arriving before any damaging rainfall, should it occur.

Harvest to-date:
Total: 120 tons (54% of forecast)

Pinot noir: 84 tons (66% of forecast)
Pinot gris: 26 tons (46% of forecast)
Chardonnay: 10 tons (29% of forecast)

Ridgecrest "Babies Pommard" block Pinot Noir

Harvest  2001 October 11 , 2001

Rain, A Reality

		Gorgeous today, but miserably cold and wet yesterday. One of the realities of Oregon Harvest is this apparently capricious set of weather patterns in mid-October. The fruit we picked during rain yesterday, in our first harvest from Ridgecrest Vineyards, is impeccably clean and ripe -- and now washed well!
The Valley The Morning After 0.37 inches Rain
		Untarping a Pinot Noir Load From Ridgecrest
Rain On A Picking Day
John Matzinger, aka Sean Connery, doing punchdowns		Rainy Wednesday, but Cheryl Smiling In It
The dry-farmed vineyard will easily soak up rains up to an inch or more without alarming us (remember last year's 0.73 inches rain on October 9th), with deep roots from the older vines not taking up superficial, dust palliating rains. (October 9, 2000) Fermentor space is now at a premium, with 20 tons of Babies block Pinot taking up the last two 8 ton fermentors and a 4 tonner, but luckily we are pressing out our first Stoller lots today or tomorrow. Picking will likely resume Sunday or Monday. Fruit ripening so far seems to give us 23-25.5 brix sugars, with most in the mid 24s, pHs 3.2-3.5, and acids in the 6-8 g/L range. In general, they are ripe and soft tasting, much like the 98s. Looking good so far.