Summer may be sweet, but life’s all “sour grapes” in the vineyard. Oodles of young, green grapes are hanging in the fast-growing vine canopy, which will grow at least a foot taller through July. You’ll also notice grape bunches on the ground, after being cut off the vine. 

Don’t worry, they are supposed to be there! Crop thinning is very important at this time of year. Ambitious young vineyards sometimes create more grapes than can ripen. Even older vineyards benefit from losing a part of their crop.  

A vine can only give so much acidity, sugar, and chemical properties to its grapes. When it has a lot of grapes, its resources get spread thin. When it only has a few clusters to ripen, it loads each cluster with acid, sugar and complex flavors, like the phenolics that make wines peppery, floral, or incense-like.  At the end of July and start of August, the grapes will begin to turn their true colors, and a few weeks later, begin to ripen.