From the Fields: Peter Ficklin

By Peter Ficklin, Madera County winegrape grower and vintner

We’re coming into a hot spell before harvest, so you don’t want to put too much water on the grapes because it will affect the chemistry. At the same time, you don’t want the grapes to shrivel, so a careful application of irrigation will allow the vines to ride through the heat wave. We’re looking at 107 to 112 degrees. I am hopeful the high temperatures don’t create a lot of shriveled grapes. The heat tends to shut the metabolism down. Most of the growers that we work with are very careful and will get a little bit of water on there to stave up the vines prior to harvest.

In terms of harvest timing, some people are talking early; some people are talking late. We’re seeing the port varieties lagging a little bit. We’re getting grapes from the valley to Lake County. We started taking our white port varieties, but we’ve delayed a couple of the black port varieties just to get a little better balance on the flavor.

The crop is a little lighter this year. Drought has contributed to the short crop, plus a frost during the spring. Crush began on Sept. 22. Throughout the years, we’ve always seen between the 20th to the 23rd as the start of harvest of the black varieties, but we probably won’t start those until a week later this year. I’m guessing it will be mid-to-late October by the time we finish up. We’re seeing a little later development than what we would normally, but every year is different, and that’s what gives the wine a character and the unique annual signature.

We’re always busy. Online sales during the pandemic really took off. We do webinars, and those have been very successful in presenting wines to club members and friends. This year, we’re celebrating 75 years in business. It’s amazing to see the business just continue and the loyalty that people have to our brand. It’s very reassuring in these difficult economic times.