AN EARLY LOOK AT THE DEVELOPING CLUSTERS, AND AN INDICATION OF 2020 CROP SIZE.

This photo shows 2 clusters of Pinot noir from Block 3 of our RPG Vineyard, clone 667. You can see how much variability there is in how the clusters look. Bloom has recently finished, and the berries are still tiny and green, with some smaller than others. Next to the right cluster you also see a small pile of especially small berries that have fallen off that cluster, a phenomenon known as shatter. We will watch to see how many of these developing grapes fall off in the weeks ahead. That will help us predict how much fruit we are ripening, and whether we should drop some crop in order to keep the yields low enough to be sure to keep the quality high.