Tom Scott Vineyard Newsletter - Spring 2018 - Barn Burner Cabernet Sauvignon
Another vintage has begun! We're excited to see our 2018 vintage taking shape. We finished pruning and tying April 9th, and just three weeks later we can see not only leaves, but also berries forming. Talk about time flying!
 This year we were able to begin pruning on our traditional start date of February 14th, Valentine's Day. Overall pruning and tying the vines took an easy 7 weeks. We were fortunate to have great weather, warm days with scattered clouds and little rain. Being in the vineyard this year was a joy; we were surrounded by nature and doing work we love. Often people comment on our passion for our work and how fortunate we are to be doing something we love, but it's our purpose that really makes for a wonderful life. Passion and purpose combined help us cultivate the highest quality fruit, and great fruit produces our wonderful wine, Barn Burner.
We went into this year with concerns about the lack of rain; it was as if we went straight from winter to spring. We worried that we might be faced with another drought year. While we enjoyed the sunshine, we were hoping for rain. In March the rain came, and we picked up an additional 7 inches, bringing this year's total to 18 inches. That's below "normal" but it'll work for us!
May is here and we are halfway through frost season. While our days are warm and moderate, our nights are still cold. Our frost alarm hasn't gone off once yet, and we're hopeful May will continue to be quiet.
 The growth on the vines has reached 6 to 10 inches and is now strong enough that we can begin treating the vineyard for mildew. Tom can spray into the canopy without damaging fragile shoot growth. We spray a wet solution, sulfur mixed with a soap. The soap kills the mildew that has over-wintered on the canes, and the sulfur holds down its spread. We will continue spraying the vineyard about every 10 to 14 days until early August. By then, the sugar content of the grapes will be high enough to naturally repel mildew, and our efforts can end.
Growth has also reached a point where we need to bring in a crew to help us "sucker" the vines. Often growth will appear on the trunk, and low on the head, we want to remove this growth. But here too, timing is everything; the shoots must be firm enough that the growth we want to keep isn't inadvertently knocked off, yet still new enough that it can be easily removed by hand, without having to use cutters.
At the same time we are suckering the vines, we are "tucking" any growth that is long enough between the trellising wires. Tucking will continue until August, when the shoots stop growing and the focus of the vines turns to the fruit.
Our focus will also turn to the fruit and the overall summer care of the vineyard, but that's a later story!
We are seeing good growth, which allows us to examine the canes and spurs we left during pruning and get a sense of how they're developing. So far, it looks like we made good decisions on what to cut and what to keep!
 We can already imagine our 2018 Barn Burner as a big, full-bodied even year!
We have also recently tasted our 2015, which will be released this October. Those few we've shared it with, think it's the best vintage ever! We are very excited to release it later this year. This June we will be offering barrel tastings from our 2016 vintage at the "Auction Napa Valley" Barrel Auction. We've donated 10 cases from a single barrel, and as always we will be bursting with pride! After the Auction, the wine will be bottled and finally released in October 2019. Our 2017 vintage is still in barrels, gracefully aging!
Farming the vines is only the beginning of a long journey. From the time we prune our vines until we release our wine will be an eventful three and a half years! It's a good thing we always say we love the journey!
We also love hearing from our friends and Barn Burner fans! It's wonderful to get messages (and sometimes photos) letting us know how much you've enjoyed drinking and sharing Barn Burner. We feel like through our wines we get to be a part of your lives. Thank you to everyone that buys our wines, shares our wines and sends us new friends. Without you we wouldn't be able to live and share our dream!
Tickets for Auction Napa Valley are still available, so consider joining us! Their website is here... www.auctionnapavalley.org
Our very best to you! 
Tom and Lauren Scott
www.tomscottvineyard.com
www.tomscottvineyard.com/wineshop
info@tomscottvineyard.com
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