Cutting the Canes
After the New Year the grape vines are sleeping so this is when the crews go into the vineyards and cut away last year’s woody growth, that they call the canes. Here and there you will see white lines trailed along the base of the vines, crushed lime to alkalinize the earth.
In between the vines in long lines the bright yellow mustard flowers paint bright stripes that flash as you drive by. The hills are verdant green, even the roadsides are bright with scattered grasses and weeds. This winter has been a dry one so far with December surprisingly warm and sunny.
Wouldn’t it have been nice if October had been so dry, the early fall rain disrupted the North Bay harvest and cut the size of the crop substantially. Throughout California the harvest was down five percent, but in Napa and Sonoma the standards for grapes are high and the number grapes left on the vine or the ground was closer to twenty percent.
I had friends who lost fifty percent of their grapes, simply because they waited to after the rain to bring in their pinot noir. The lingering moisture brought mold into the vineyard destroying grapes that were meant to be wine.
Among the pinot growers the luckiest were the women wine makers, who brought their grapes in early when the alcohol levels were low and the fruit was stunning.
Now we've entered that time when the wine is developing in tanks and barrels and tour business slows down, after the rush that we experience between Christmas and New Years. Visitors keep coming, but not at the torrent that we experience during the high season.
It's a great time to visit and many locals consider the most beautiful time of the year, verdant green, misty, with roses by the doors and mustard flowers in the vineyards. Last years tan canes shimmer in the sunlight and while many of our trees hold onto their leaves, enough drop that the views open up and many of the amazing hillsides estate are exposed in all their glory.
You can more easily get a good table in the best restaurants and the winery staff is made up of the professionals who have a passion for their subject, wine, and they love to share their knowledge as they pour it for you.
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