A Trip to the Vineyards with Mark Beringer

Early on a warm May morning, our Head Winemaker, Mark Beringer and I took a trip through Artesa Vineyards & Winery’s 150 acres Carneros Estate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay Vineyards. I must say this was a beautiful way to spend a Monday morning out of the office, high up in the rolling hills of the Carneros appellation, overlooking San Pablo Bay with the panoramic views of the Napa Valley and the San Francisco skyline way in the distance. Mark closely studies our vineyards almost daily, keeping an eye on the growth pattern of our grapevines. Though it’s only been about a month since budding began, with the warmer weather starting to arrive, the vines have fully awoken and are starting to kick into high gear. Not only are there large green leaves growing, but there are clusters of grape buds showing up all over the vineyard. Mark mentioned that the vines are right on track for this time of year and they are looking very healthy, strong and full of vibrant life. Over the next two weeks we expect to witness the vines blooming, which can last for a matter of days or a couple of weeks, depending on how kind the weather is during this sensitive period. The vine blooms are actually hard to see unless you are standing pretty close to the vine itself and, unless you’re paying attention, these blooms can come and go very quickly as the vines move rapidly forward though their yearly growing cycle.