In the course of 2006, we dropped fruit three times, dropping roughly 50% of the Pommard Bloc (aka 'Sunrise Bloc'). In the Dijon Bloc (aka West Bloc'), we dropped about 35%+ of the fruit. The purpose being to give the fruit optimal concentration.

The weather in 2006 gave us some serious frights, the first one being in April when we had those 'horizontal rains' after bud break, generally not a good thing, but, fortunately, the vineyard did not suffer. The second scare was the heat wave in July with temps in the 105+ range for ten days. This shuts the vines down and does not allow them to realize their carbohydrates. Again, this period was short enough that no damage was done.

The great news is that after the July heat wave, the Russian River Appellation, where we're located, just settled down into wonderful cool mornings, warm steady days, and cool in the evenings... which is what the Pinot Noir grapes love.