Sonoma Valley

Periodically I like to take a picture of the hills to see how they are recovering. This section is steep and mostly rock and many of those trees that managed to gain a foothold here were so severely burned that they are not coming back. The bulldozer track in the center of the picture is a firebreak created during the Glass fire by Cal Fire. Hood Mountain, the tallest peak in this range, is only about 4,000 feet (about 1,300 meters) high but is very rocky and rugged. We hiked up there before the fires and there were very few trees near the top, but a beautiful view over the Sonoma valley.

In contrast to the barren hills, the bud break for the vines took place about a month ago and each step in the growth process will be carefully monitored through flowering, fruit set, veraison (when the grapes begin to change color, the transition from berry growth to berry ripening). harvesting (sometimes referred to as the 'crush"), leaf fall and dormancy.
The amount of time spent at each stage of the growth cycle depends  on a number of factors, particularly climate and the grape variety.

Factors like frost, heat and canopy management all affect yields, quality, vigor and the prevention of disease. Pruning and training the vines is a science, and provides access of the air and sunlight needed for the grapes to ripen fully and to prevent diseases. Timing of pruning is also part science and part guesswork. If the canopy isn't pruned, fruit rot can develop, but of a heat wave occurs after the canopy is trimmed, the grapes can burn. 

We're told that most of the wineries had to drop their entire crops after the Glass fire in late September due to smoke taint, so there will be very few 2020 Sonoma County vintages.

It all looks so peaceful out there in the vineyards, but there is a lot going on there all the time, and there is a lot to think about when sipping a nice glass of wine....