2024
In the winter of 2024, we saw elevated levels of rainfall compared to previous years. So far, we have had 39.48 inches of rain at the ranch since the start of the year. The rainiest months being January and February with some occasional rainfall in March and April. The largest amount of rainfall for a day at the ranch was 02/04/24 with 3.79 in.
We had a cool spring that allowed for even and successful flowering. Bud break began at the end of march to the start of April for all the fruit at the ranch. We saw some days with highs in the 70s that woke the vines up during this period.
In the summer, we experienced the hottest summer in California history, which lead to an expedited the ripening and lead to a compact harvest. We maintained hot weather from the start of June through the beginning of October. The hottest day of the year was 10/01/24 at 103F.
The first fruit of the season was Pinot noir from the Alberigi vineyard in the Russian River Valley AVA, which came in on August 26th. Once the fruit started coming in, it didn’t not let up, we were constantly processing fruit for the next couple weeks. Quickly following the first pick was almost of our Pinot noirs and Chardonnays across the Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley with Riesling closing out the first wave of fruit to the cellar. It was so full in our cellar that we had to bring in more tanks than we usually require in normal years. Pinot noir filled every single one of our open top fermenters. We had a small break between our cooler varieties and our longer hanging varieties. The Zinfandel and Syrah from the Estate joined the action near the end of September. Shortly followed by the last Pinot noir pick of the season from the coolest vineyard site in the Sonoma Coast for us, Dierke. By the end of September, we had picked all the Syrah and Zinfandel from the Estate. The last fruit for our season was the Dusty Lane Syrah, which was processed on October 4th.
Overall, we had an increase in yields this year, but certain vineyards or blocks were lower than expected. The warm summer season created the conditions for an extremely compact harvest season for our Pinot noirs and Chardonnays. The fruit came in reaching phenological maturity from the record heat with nice uniformity. Almost all the wines this year came into the cellar at “perfect” maturity levels, which left the winemaking team feeling hopeful about the quality of the 2024 vintage.
