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Due to the low rainfall this year—and our dry-farm system—we only harvested a total of 11,000 pounds
this year. 65% of our harvest in 2006. The 2006/2007 season was a challenging one for our dry-farm
system. One of the driest years on record did not allow for a recharge of the ground water, and growth
of our covercrop was negligible. When rain came, it was in small dispersed storms that ranged from
1/4-3/4 inch, barely wetting the surface, then evaporating back into the air. We completed cultivation
and preparation of the "dust mulch" by the end of March, much earlier than normal. We began to rely on
our back-up solar powered well and drip system in late April, but the stress of the drought still
reduced yields considerably. And then to complicate matters more, we had a late frost on April 16,
burning back any Shiraz that had already leafed out and lowering yields further. The summer was
relatively mild, with few hot spells and a cool August. Ripening was very uneven, with lots of
variation in brix even in the same cluster of grapes! We harvested and crushed the Zinfandel with
a bit lower sugar than normal (23.0 brix), but even though yield was low and grapes were small in
size, the Shiraz came in nicely at 25.5 brix.
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