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Yates Family Vineyard
2009 Growing Season Notes
The 2009 growing season was cooler than 2008 with only a couple days reaching the 3 digit mark. Late spring rains helped with the vines water needs early in the growing season with June getting enough heat to slow the canopy growth so as to limit excess shading. We did very little canopy manipulation as we needed as much available leaf surface to ripen the bountiful fruit set. Our first picking was September 17th of our white Viognier grapes and then followed up on the 21st with the beginning of our red grapes. We got about half the fruit ripe and harvested before the unseasonal early rain storm on October 12th. The thick-skinned Bordeaux varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc) weathered the storm in great shape. We waited until they reached full maturity with the right flavors and picked the rest of the vineyard.
We are ecstatic about the great flavors the young wines exhibit now, right after fermentation and the intense dark color that all the reds are showing!