Blog — Gantz Family Vineyards

harvest

Winemaker Lessons: 3 Ways to a Better Pinot Noir

So, This year, I’m back to a winemaking style that I am familiar with from my studies at UC Davis and that I have employed with great success in the past. I am going to emphasize “clean” winemaking over “natural” winemaking, in the hopes that I can better capture that beautiful fruit in the bottle.

Hedging a Vineyard

Hedging is one of several canopy management practices we employ during the growing season, and it is just what it sounds like—you go through and prune the vines to eliminate excess vegetative growth from the top and sides in order to make a uniform canopy that looks like a hedge.

Veraison: Step Six of Our First Growing Season

Veraison -- when our hard, green Pinot Noir grapes soften and darken in color -- is early at Gantz Family Vineyards, as it is in most of wine country. But, as the farmers say, it's right on time. 

Bud Break: Step Three of Our First Growing Season

The first time I saw one bud open, on April 4, I was ecstatic. "We've got bud break!" I shouted. But Clay, ever the pragmatist, felt we couldn't "call" it until 50 percent of the vines showed leaves. From that first moment to the 50 percent mark was about an hour, it seemed. Suddenly the entire vineyard was a sea of green.

The Importance of Spading on a Vineyard

Spading is the oldest and most inefficient form of tillage – which includes plowing or disking – because spading was done by hand with a shovel. Now you can buy a machine to mimic the actions of hand digging. Spading is the preferred method of tillage when growing fine winegrapes.

Our Hopes for Our First Growing Season

In 2009, Celeste and I found a bit of property off Laguna Road with an old farmhouse overlooking an empty field, untended fruit trees and a kiwi grove running wild. Even then, standing under the five towering redwoods that spoke of the property’s history, we felt the tingle of potential. This year, we will see that potential realized. After a year in the greenhouse and two years in the field, our 3.75-planted acres of vines will finally bear fruit that will be sold to a winery.