We are beginning to see some veraison in the vineyard, a berry here and there, and If things keep moving as they are, we will have an early-to-typical veraison and hopefully harvest. Cluster morphology looks very good. Smaller and looser clusters suggest excellent wine quality.
Most of our canopy management is complete, including leafing, and we will soon begin to adjust for crop loads. I am trying to hold off on this until we are further into veraison due to potential issues from the winter freeze bud damage. Fruit will tend to ripen according to the bud type producing the fruit: primary, secondary, or tertiary. Secondary and tertiary grapes usually develop after the primary shoot. This will show up during veraison and allow us to choose the best and most uniform fruit for the highest quality wine. We will begin adjusting crop loads now in a few blocks that have produced excessive clusters per plant.
In short, the vineyard looks very good, and we expect a much earlier harvest than is typical. More soon.