Tom Scott Vineyard Newsletter - Autumn 2013 - Barn Burner Cabernet Sauvignon
Dear Friends,
We're in the home stretch now with harvest fast approaching. This year the big question in the Valley seems to be how fast is harvest approaching?
 Our weather this year consisted of a warm dry spring and no frost events (at our vineyard, at least) followed by cooling in early June. Late June and early July we saw high heat. We experienced cooler days in August followed by a few hot days in early September. In other words typical Napa Valley weather!
It's not so much the weather, because Napa Valley weather is always within a fairly narrow range, but it's the weather as it intersects vine development. For instance, at what point was vine development when we encountered those high June/July temperatures? We have our weather and we have our vines, it's the interplay between the two that changes every year (if only slightly) and creates a unique vintage.
We always prune late by Valley standards, beginning the job in mid-February and ending in mid-April. We do this for several reasons. One is the vines are no longer dormant; therefore we don't have to worry about viruses entering the canes through the pruning cuts. But the most important reason for us is to push off bud break. By pruning late, we can delay bud break by one to two weeks. This is the first example of weather/vine interaction, where we've delayed bud break, thus shortening the exposure of new growth to frost. But delaying bud break effects the entire development of the vine. When bud break is delayed, flowering and set are delayed and harvest is delayed as well. While we always wait to harvest until we determine the grapes are ripe, based on "skins and seeds," it always seems particularly late because we pruned late.
 The lack of rain this spring followed by the early heat in late June, early July did effect our decisions regarding watering our vines. Our vines usually begin veraison in early August, and until veraison we dry farm. But this year we saw excessive water stress in parts of the vineyard in July, that observation prompted early monitoring and watering. If we had pruned our vines earlier, they would have been further along in development and the high heat might have accelerated that development. As it was, this year first signs of veraison appeared at the same time as last year.
As a result of the large root systems that our vines developed in response to heavy rains in 2011, we are again looking at a large crop. There is some thought that the dry spring has resulted in smaller berries, which will give us less juice per cluster. And even though we pruned late, our vines still experienced a dry spring, so we will see what we get. This will be another factor in creating a unique 2013 Barn Burner vintage.
 We've just had a little rain. While the City of Napa experienced over an inch, we got less than a third of an inch here in Yountville. Just enough rain to wash off the vines and berries and hold down the dust so we could mow. This is a good example of the variations in a 10-mile stretch; it's why each vineyard must be farmed in response to the conditions that exist on that particular piece of land. There is weather; there is also the lay of the land, the soil type and the varietal being grown. No two situations are exactly alike and it's the job of the farmer to know his vineyard and be responsive to its conditions and not be swayed by what the neighbors are doing.
We may harvest earlier this year than last year, we'll see what the grapes do. Harvest is sort of like having a baby, two weeks either side of the due date is considered on time. We're not worried, we're paying close attention, and we expect 2013 to give us another beautiful vintage.
Stay tuned and see what develops!
• Meanwhile, we're approaching the October 5th release date for our 2010 Barn Burner. Following the release, 2010 will be available on our website store. But as always, you can also contact us directly to purchase our wine. Our 2010 large formats are currently available for sale, and are selling out fast. All 9 Liter and 6 Liter bottles are sold out, and we have only a limited number of 3 Liter and Magnums still available. Don't wait too long to buy one or they'll be gone. A number of our 2011 large formats have already been reserved, which is always an option if you missed out on the 2010.
• We'll be "retiring" the 2005 vintage to our wine library following the release of the 2010. It's still available and will be until October 5th. The 2005 reflects a five year old vineyard that gave us, 88% Cabernet, 3% Merlot, 4% Cab Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, it's been on the cork seven years! Wonderful combination!
• We've loved all the visitors we've had this year. Those of you that have walked the vineyard with us know this is our life, our passion. We hope you continue to enjoy the fruits of our labor!
Warmest regards,
Tom and Lauren Scott
www.tomscottvineyard.com
www.tomscottvineyard.com/wineshop
info@tomscottvineyard.com
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