Dear Friends,
What a difference a little rain can make! In our April “Notes” we said the sun was about to take center stage, then much to our surprise we had an uncharacteristically cool and wet April and May.
This year follows three years of lower than normal rainfall, so the current total of 37.4 inches of rain isn’t the unusual part of the story, it’s that this much rain has fallen in the first five months of the year. Usually rain in the Napa Valley arrives December through February while the vines are dormant, this year the rain continued through May, well past bud break and set.
Along with cool temperatures and cloudy skies, we had a very active frost season with early morning temperatures dipping into the 30’s fifteen times in April and May. Our mildew risk increased due to the wet weather and to the fact that it always seemed to rain right after Tom had sulfured the vines. The sulfur helps prevent mildew from forming but it needs to remain on the plants for several dry days to be effective. We were also concerned that the rain could damage the “set” of our fruit. If it rains hard enough the small flowers can be knocked from the forming clusters, or the little “caps” that need to release for pollination can get stuck and fail to release, again damaging the formation of grape clusters.
The cooler temperatures made working in the vineyard pleasant which was nice because we spent a great deal of time repeatedly suckering the vines (removing growth from the trunk) and thinning the growth at the head of the plants. The continued rainfall and “full to capacity” ground water has produced excessive growth. Due to the rapid early growth, we saw long vine shoots without sufficient strength to withstand breakage from rain and wind.
 Two weeks into June the rain had stopped and the sun came out full force with temperatures in the high 80’s peaking at 100. Needless to say, the vines had been waiting for the sun and they took off growing at an amazing pace, some growing as much as three feet in one week.
At this point, the fruit does not seem to have been damaged by the frost or rain. We have a beautiful crop underway. The vines are still very vigorous due to the ground water and we are having to spend time hedging the vines so they don’t link up and yank us off our tractors (we don’t think it’s personal!)
We will see how everything looks at verasion in August, when the grapes turn from green to purple. The big question will be how the grapes ripen. We would never water a vine before verasion, but this year it’s out of our hands, the water is in the ground, so it will be interesting to see how long the water lasts and what effect this early watering will have on the quality of the crop... stand by.
Congratulations to our daughter Brandyn for creating a wonderful Facebook page for Tom Scott Vineyard. We’re hearing rave reviews. Check it out.
Remember, you can read back-issues of our Notes and our Web Store is always open. “Thank you” to all of you wonderful people that have come by to visit us, tour the vineyard and taste our wine. It’s been a blast!
 Tom and Lauren Scott
www.tomscottvineyard.com
www.tomscottvineyard.com/store
info@tomscottvineyard.com
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