Sonoma Cutrer Pinot Noir Russian River Sonoma

Observation On A New Vintage Vintage 2014 brought another incredibly dry year and the declaration of a California drought. Using deficit irrigation concepts and careful soil and plant moisture data for our drip irrigation scheduling we came through the season without water shortages. All of the stages throughout the growing season ran approximately two weeks ahead of schedule. The weather was a classic California spring and summer without any extremes. We anticipated that harvest would be very early until the arrival of the fog and a late summer cool down. Harvest began on August 22nd slightly earlier than normal with fruit from Vine Hill Ranch. After a slow start a nice warm up occurred over the Labor Day weekend and the pace picked up. The fruit ripened perfectly and over the course of two and half weeks we finished at Vine Hill. With another nice warm-up in mid-September harvest began at Owsley Vineyard one week after completing Vine Hill. Keeping up a steady pace of picking