The vines are in full bloom!

Walking down the vineyard rows right now is a fabulous treat -- the subtle but incredibly fragrant aromas are irresistible! Of course, not all vines flower at the same time; first comes the Chardonnay, then the Pinot Noir, the Albariño, and the last are Syrah and Tempranillo. Many of the flowers have already finished bloom and are starting to lose their caps, becoming tiny grapes. Because vine flowers are self-pollinating, they don't need bees to become fruit. And this year they are doing their job very well!

The Chardonnay flowers are looking perfect this year! On the right, with their caps still on; left, they have become grapes; and middle, not flowered yet.

The Albariño vines are trained with one shoot going right and the next one left, in order to provide some shading and avoid sunburn	We managed to get some shade under the Albariño vines, while Filiberto, Tony and Zach discussed the proper training of the shoots

This huge tractor is cultivating the soil down to 5 feet, to remove any old roots, in preparation for our new Albariño planting	The Tempranillo vines are head pruned, in the classic style for this variety. You can see it seems to want to be trained that way!