The rain continues to fall!  It would have been a great powder day at Kirkwood, but I can’t disappear that easily.

Lodi saw about 3/4 of an inch this week, which takes our 2010 season rainfall total to a little above normal, and well above last year’s.  That’s good news, but we could have used more and certainly need another wet winter in 2011 to mitigate the drought conditions we’ve experienced over the past few years.

In the vineyards, the early varieties like Chardonnay are well on their way and some blocks are already showing five to six-inch long shoots.  Small clusters are beginning to appear and soon we will be able to bunch count to get an early idea of the yield potential for vintage 2010.

For the past three weeks, we’ve been mowing and cultivating the vineyard floors and Philip has reported that the wet soils have caused a stuck tractor or two.  And our crews have been busy checking trellis systems and tying vines to make sure that the vineyards are in good shape for another growing season.

Towards the end of this week, we’ll start measuring the soil water availability in our vineyard blocks using a Neutron Probe Meter.  This device actually measures the amount of moisture in the soil at different depths in the soil profile, in one foot increments.  During the growing season, these measurements acts as a tool to help us make irrigation decisions.

Right now, these measurements give us an idea of how much “deep” water is available in the soil profile that came from the soaking, saturating winter rains.  The amount of water in the soil now and the amount of water we receive from Mother Nature in the coming weeks will affect how well we can “control” the canopy growth of the vine, which can affect winegrape quality.  It’s a very complicated subject, but with a dry soil profile, we are able to “spoon-feed” the vines with exact amounts of water, thus enabling better canopy control.

But given California’s drought situation, I’d rather have the good winter soaking and work harder to achieve vine balance and excellent winegrape quality!  Every year is a little different, and we have to react to what Mother Nature gives us to produce the best wines possible!

On your way through Lodi, keep an eye on the vineyards—they are in a rapid growth stage right now.

These kids grow up so darn fast…