Spring has now sprung to life here in wine country, with the hills an (Irish) green, the creeks flowing, and vineyards blooming out giving the vast acres of vineyards a light-green velvet-like appearance evenly spread across the rolling hills. After two winters of above average rainfall, and with the most recent tease of warm weather, we are seeing vigorous growth out in the vineyard as well as our tasting rooms now bustling with visitors eager to enjoy the weather and shake their winter blues.

Out in the vineyard there is no time to rest and enjoy the spring weather. It is go-time, as we play catch-up with the quickly growing canopy and the 2024 Vintage. We are kept busy with spring cultivation duties such as mowing the cover crop, disking, mildew protection, suckering, thinning, and of course dealing with the sleepless nights of spring, hoping the nightly temperatures don’t dip below freezing and burn our vines’ tender shoots. Every spring the vineyards show beautifully. The vines are neatly pruned, the rows are perfectly manicured, the shoots seem to be all growing at the same rate giving the vineyard new life. However, I especially love to see that one vine, amongst thousands of others, that exhibits amazing growth out of the gate, jumping out inches ahead of the others. I’ve likened that vine’s enthusiasm to all those customers who flocked to our tasting rooms during the first weekend of beautiful weather to welcome spring. It was great to see!

I hope many of you get to make a trip to Sonoma to witness and enjoy this special time of year. Perhaps a perfect opportunity is our upcoming Spring Fling, May 3rd, 4th, & 5th. Spring should be well under way by then, enjoyed with barrel tasting, current release wine tasting, food pairing by Aunt Momo’s Catering, and live music. If you can’t make it, I hope this club package finds you enjoying spring somewhere with a glass of Roche in your hand. It’s a great time of year to share with a great glass of wine…enjoy!