05/28/2026
Let’s rewind ⏮️
These were the most anxious two weeks of our year.
Pinot Noir in bloom.
What you’re looking at isn’t a flower in any way you’d recognize it. No petals. No color. Just a tiny cap of fused tissue - called calyptra - that the vine pushes off from the base upward when conditions are right.
Every one of these micro-flowers is a decision point. If the weather holds - dry, calm, 68-75°F - the flower fertilizes itself and a berry begins. If it doesn’t, we get coulure. Poor fruit set. A vintage shaped by the quiet, invisible moment that almost no one sees.
Pinot Noir is more susceptible to coulure than almost any other variety. We’ve watched this moment 25 times. It still makes us hold our breath.
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