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When the harvest was finally in, 2021 turned out to be one of the best years we’ve had for a long time. Spring was warm and dry which led to a fairly early bud break and warm and dry weather at flowering time ensure a large harvest. We did have some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded in late June (we hit 116 degrees two days in a row), but most of the flowering was done by that time and the rest of the season carried on normally. The extreme early heat did not seem to do anything to the vines, except kill off all the powdery mildew spores and mildew was not really an issue until the very end of the season.
The grapes started to ripen right on time and we ended up with a decent crop. Not the most ever, but it was very nice with acids in the middle range and brix over 22 on the Pinot Noir. We harvest about 5000 lbs of fruit. The birds were never really an issue either, except crows, they are always an issue but easy to scare away. No starlings or cedar waxwings this year. People speculated that the hot weather pushed them way far north and it took longer than usual to migrate south. Then the rains came right on cue in the first week of October and the season was over!
