Flaherty Wines

It’s the end of March, and still no activity here. We’ve had a fairly hot summer. In past years, we’ve had a strong heatwave around the first of the year, but late January and February were somewhat cooler. No such luck this year. February was hot, though with the cool evenings that are typical of the region. We don’t usually get fog in summer, but it tends to be more common as fall progresses. This year we’ve had all of two foggy mornings, and otherwise brilliantly clear skies.

Our Tempranillo vineyard is ripening well. We had some water issues early in the growing season (too much water early on, then a short period of drought when the irrigation system had to be repaired). Note the grass between the rows. This is mostly to improve the habitat for the birds, but it also helps to draw excess water out of the soil. In addition, Ed is letting the grapes shrivel a bit before harvesting, which will concentrate the flavors. We’ll probably be harvesting within a couple of weeks.