Sugar Winds

I was hanging out with Joe Dutton this afternoon, a farmer who has seen his fair share of growing seasons in Green Valley, and we were discussing the coming weather, noted above.  Abnormally hot for an extended period of time, through most of next week, with a dry, northerly wind.  You’d think that would be a good thing, but in truth a hot spell can be as destructive to wine quality as a rain event…well, almost.  At the very least, it makes it challenging to get everything in the barn before it shrivels, and in so doing, acquires raisiny flavors and loses some of the acidity which makes wine so vital and delicious.  That being said, we are really about to start cranking, and bringing fruit at a break neck pace into the winery.  Joe put it best, the sugar winds are blowing.