A new member has joined the team walking the vineyards and scrutinizing the progress of the young grapes.

Kristin Belair, winemaker at Honig Vineyards for 10 years, has been deeply involved in the life of this vineyard all along, working with the rest of the team who are growing the grapes that, come harvest, she’ll be turning into wine.

This year Register photographer Jorgen Gullicksen and I have been getting to know the 14-acre vineyard on Big Ranch Road that grows sauvignon blanc grapes destined for Honig and Duckhorn vineyards.

“Kristin joins the team of worriers,” JimVerhey quipped as the team gathered on a cool July morning; a light cloud cover drifting over head.

 Verhey, managing director of Silverado Winegrowers and a board member of Napa Valley Grapegrowers, holds to the idea that every step along the way in the life of a vineyard is critical to the quality of the wines, hence the name they use: winegrowers.

Working with Verhey on this vineyard are Robert Jordan and Garrett Buckland from Al Buckland Vineyard Management, and Juvenal Magdaleno, who, with 23 years experience, manages the vineyard crews. On the Honig blocks they all work together to carry out the plans developed with Belair, to grow grapes that have the bright, fruit flavor characterizing her sauvignon blanc.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with my head in the vines,” said Belair, who sources grapes from 15 different sites in the valley.

Right now is the time of veraison: After budbreak in March and bloom in May comes this turning point when the grapes begin to soften and accumulate sugars. Colors emerge. “The vines have flipped the switch from making canopy to ripening,” Verhey said.

Veraison started around July 20. “For us this is a sensitive time,” Buckland said. “We want to see all the fruit all ripening at the same time.”

Magdaleno said his crews have been busy. They’ve been hedging the excessive growth to create the canopy Belair wants for grapes: one that will expose the grapes to morning sun but give them shelter in hot afternoons.

“What I’m looking for is fruit exposure to make sure there’s enough light on the fruit,” Belair explained. “If you have light you don’t get the vegetal flavors.”

The crew will be making one last pass through these and other vineyards to remove fruit clusters lagging behind in development. “The goal is to make sure the whole vineyard is as uniform as possible,” Buckland said.

Buckland said this year it looks like they’ll be harvesting a lighter crop. “Clusters are smaller, but looser. It’s almost like the vineyards knew it was going to be a dry year.”

“It’s not a year to thin fruit,” Verhey observed. “I don’t think I’ve heard of any vineyards that are overcropped this year.”

This lower yield, however, means the flavors are intensified; it’s a prospect that has both growers and winemakers cautiously excited they may be looking at a year of exceptional quality.

 “I’m very optimistic, but there’s still a lot that could go wrong,” Belair said. For the most part, she said, she’s been pleased with the way Mother Nature has been treating them this year. “The weather’s been easy: The 88-90 degree days and 55-60 degree nights are absolutely perfect.”

On the other hand, she added, small oddities like the one brief rainfall in July keep them anxiously watching weather sites on the Internet. July’s isolated rainfall “wasn’t enough to do any damage,” Belair said, “but how often do we get rain in July?”

Water is a key concern, Buckland said. With little groundwater due to low rainfall last winter, they want to stress the vines a little, but not too much. They monitor the stress the vines are experiencing by measuring leaf-water potential to gauge how hard the plant is working to get water, and they adjust irrigation accordingly. It’s a balancing act. They don’t want the vine funneling its resources to create more leaves. “We want maturity, but not dehydration,” Buckland said.

“Every vineyard has a growing cycle,” he added, “you start to learn how each vineyard wants to grow.” This is where Magdaleno’s experience, knowing how the vineyards have grown year after year, is invaluable.

After veraison, the countdown to harvest begins. For sauvignon blanc, Belair estimates it will be about six weeks. Her visits to the vineyards will increase as harvest nears. “Every week after veraison it’s a statistical game.”

 “All I can do from here is worry,” Verhey said.

“Some people have the easy job,” Belair concluded.