KVV HARVEST REPORT

Autumn has officially begun and the harvest at Kenneth Volk Vineyards has been in full swing. There is one thing that remains constant; no vintage is ever the same.

The 2007 growing season has been punctuated by several epic conditions. The 2006 – 2007 rain season was the driest in recorded history in the Tepusquet area of the Santa Maria Valley with our estate receiving only 4.6 inches of rain, 2.5 inches of which came Friday the 13th of October 2006 at the end of harvest. The freezing temperatures of January 12 -16 saw a record low temperature on our estate vineyard of 16º Fahrenheit on Sunday, January 14, 2007. Following the biblical drought and freeze was the Zaca Fire which started 12 miles southeast of the winery. Fortunately for us, it continued to move away from the winery, but devastatingly consumed over 300 square miles of chaparral and range land. The Zaca Fire took 2 months to extinguish and is the second largest fire in California history.

The impact of the low rain fall and drought conditions were most noticeable on dry land vineyard properties and irrigated vineyards that waited for a March miracle, such as the drought busting rains of March 1991, that never came. Many vineyards on the west side of Paso Robles saw their wells go dry or saw greatly reduced well output. On the brighter side, the conditions produced some very small berries and concentrated wines. I hope that soon after this harvest ends we will see some real rain.

The impact of the freeze and its timing actually had a positive effect in the Santa Maria Valley due to the fact that it came while grape vines were dormant. This cold weather delayed bud break and subsequent bloom, and a more uniform bud break and bloom occurred in favorably warm conditions, setting a good size crop in our Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir vineyards.

On August 29, a cut off low pressure front created unusual conditions of lightning and thunder storms. This front was caused by a cold Alaskan air front colliding with warm moist air that spun up from the Sea of Cortez moving up the interior of Southern California. Enormous cumulonimbus clouds rose from the Cuyama Valley to the east of the winery in the late afternoon, which by early evening created one of the most spectacular lightning and thunder events ever to take place on the Central Coast. Fortunately, this weather phenomenon did not produce any significant rain on our vineyard properties. The potential rain threat caused many growers to dig back into a bottle and spend the night watching this spectacular show of Mother Nature.

Most recently, September 20 – 23, a major low pressure rain cell shook the nerves of grape growers who anticipated the potential of high rainfall over Santa Barbara County vineyards. This huge low pressure cell circulated off the shore of Point Aguilla and Point Conception for three days threatening to bring rain to the coastal vineyards. Fortunately this front swung south bringing flash floods and mudslides to Griffith Park and the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. Some parts of Paso Robles and Santa Ynez Valley received as much as .5 inches of rain. The Santa Maria Valley was spared any percentage over .2 inches. This could have been a train wreck for nearly ripe Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards. The low pressure disturbance did create several large funnel clouds to touch down along the Sisquoc River in front of the winery.

The Mediterranean climate that exists on the Central Coast is primarily due to the subtropical high pressure belt known as the North Pacific High. It is not a Mendocino hot tub party as some think. It is rather a “fairly” stable high pressure system that is located between the Hawaiian Islands and Santa Cruz. The North Pacific High is part of the global air circulation pattern. The pressure cell typically forms in April and starts to break down in November of each year. The Northern Pacific High and the spinning effect of the earth’s rotation generate our north westerly winds, as well as deep ocean upwelling, cooling off the Central Coast and generating the fog cycle.

The North Pacific High typically prevents approaching weather fronts arriving via the north and south from bringing rain to the Central Coast during May to October. This year the North Pacific High has already broken down and moved south allowing for the recent weather fronts to visit us on the Central Coast. There is no doubt in my mind that our climate is being impacted by global warming.

Despite the wrath of extreme conditions that have occurred this season, the quality of 2007 fruit has been from good to truly exceptional.

Some of the highlights of the season have been dry land Pinot Noir from Limekiln Valley, exceptional Pinot Noir from both the Garey and Sierra Madre vineyards of the Santa Maria Valley and the Chardonnay across all vineyards is truly world class. The dry land Zinfandel from 130 year old vines on the Enz Vineyard looks outstanding. My heirloom vine planting at the El Pomar Vineyard in Templeton will see my first wines produced from Aglianico, Touriga Naciònal, as well the first Kenneth Volk Vineyards Verdelho.

Harvest is not over and the fat lady won’t be singing until the end of October when I will post my end of harvest observations. I am excited about the 2007 vintage and its potential for greatness.