A Great Site, an Experienced Vineyard Team, and Good Pruning Sheers
Since its inception, Juve leads the dedicated vineyard team to precisely prune the Crown Point vines by hand, block by block, until all 50 acres are complete, beginning with lower-lying Sauvignon Blanc block and then through all of the red Bordeaux varieties above. “Everyone who started in 2012 is still working here today,” shares Juve. There is a precise technique to pruning to ensure each shoot thrives as this will ultimately impact wine quality, style, and mitigate unnecessary leaf-pulling, fruit thinning, trimming, and hedging required throughout the growing season. “Unlike most fruiting crops, grapevines do not shed their crop; therefore, pruning regulates the amount of fruit the vine will carry as well as sunlight and airflow,” shares Juve.
This year, Winemaker Simon Faury and Juve made a collective decision to postpone pruning to late February, as vines are living systems susceptible to fungal diseases during the rainier season. Additionally, a later pruning date can delay bud-break, which can prove timely as it relates to late March/April frost season and mitigate “shatter” potential. “Shatter” is when berries fall off the stem undermining appropriate yield.
The adjacent space fulfilled Roger’s vision with a purposefully designed winery to accommodate the demands of the vineyard. Our custom oak fermentation tanks were delivered from Burgundy by a small cooper named Frederic Rousseau. The placement of the tanks below the hillside ground level allows us to fill the temperature controlled tanks by gravity, and with large openings on top we are able to do punch downs as well as pump overs during the fermentation process.
“Vine by vine, row by row, block by block, the devil is in the details for the Crown Point team,” says the Proprietor, Roger K. Bower.
