We’re closing in on Harvest 2017 and so far it’s been a bit of a roller coaster- wet winter, normal budbreak, cool spring and a very hot summer. As I write, it’s 105 degrees in the vineyard and the rest of the week is shaping up to be a series of hot and hotter days.
Most mornings this time of year find me in the vineyard- nursing young replanted vines, working on the trellis, and digging out wild blackberries and thistles that are the scourge of the vineyard- there’s lots to do and its got to be done now! As I’ve walked the vineyard I’ve been pleased to note
Vines are pushing right on schedule—the first week of April. This not only signals the start of another growing season, but also signals us to release the 2014 vintage before we get busy with vineyard tasks. Watch for the release notice later this week! Shipping conditions are often favorable in late April and early May
The storm arriving tomorrow (February 19) will likely put us up over 60 inches of rain for the season here in Napa Valley. After 4 years of draught, we were giddy, at first, at the idea of a rainy season but now the fact that it looks like Ireland in the vineyard is starting to
In the Dyer household, there is no better Holiday gift than a good book. In the last couple years, several friends have published books related to wine. They range from memoirs to collections of interviews, to deep reference (highly readable) about soils and history to guide books. Each is worth a read and would make
With the 2016 vintage safely in the barrel and now undergoing malolactic fermentation, we have time to step back and reflect on the season. It’s too early to prognosticate about “vintages of the century” but it was certainly a good one. Before we get caught up in planning the holidays, and maybe another tropical vacation, here’s
AS WE APPROACH THE RELEASE OF THE 2014 DYER VINEYARD CABERNET FRANC, WE THOUGHT IT would BE A GOOD IDEA TO POST THE CABERNET FRANC STORY Cabernet Franc has long been our favorite blending variety here at Dyer Vineyard and is best known worldwide in that capacity- used most often with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the making of Bordeaux style
Here are the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in our vineyard on Diamond Mountain just waiting to be picked. We both sampled them today; Bill’s sample was 24.7 brix and Dawnine’s was 24.6 brix so we dodged having to talk about each other’s sampling technique and went on to check the other varieties. Cab Franc was a
Matt Kramer’s New California Wine, a revision of his 1992 classic Making Sense of California Wine has just been published. We like his revisionism! Here’s what he says about us: “Dyer Vineyard—This is the tiny, personal vineyard (and home) of two former winemakers, Dawnine Dyer (former head winemaker of Domaine Chandon) and Bill Dyer
Diamond Mountain District 8/22/16 – It’s mostly quiet on Diamond Mountain where there’s near unanimous agreement that it will be mid September before we see any real action. Budbreak was early but a cooler May delayed bloom and put us pretty much back to “normal” by the time we had berry set. Cluster counts are
Diamond Mountain District 8/25/15 “Vineyards on Diamond Mountain can be divided into two camps- those that finished bloom before the cool weather in May and those that didn’t finish bloom until early June. Those on the earlier track, north-facing slopes and young vineyards, are rapidly approaching full maturity while those on the later track are
I suppose every field has its controversies. Two that we hear about quite often in wine production are alcohol level and the hundred point scale. I will address them together as I believe they are closely linked. Over the last decade or so we have seen alcohol levels in table wine creep up. Levels of