It’s hard not to see Spring in the vineyards as a miracle. The vines are dormant through the Winter, like baseball, but when opening day for the grapevines arrives, I want to cue the stealth fighter flyover, break out the patriotic bunting, and have an overrated country western singer sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Another season is under way. 

Spring arrives every year somewhere between March 19th and March 21st. March 19th is St. Joseph’s Day when, anecdotally, the swallows return to Capistrano. It’s also right around when the swallows return to the tasting room. And it’s also bud break. Bud break is a much-anticipated occasion in wine country. It even makes the front page of the local newspapers. You can feel the energy shift from the exhale that is the off season to the racing heartbeat excitement that is the beginning of a new campaign. Suddenly, and it feels like overnight, the entire county starts to turn green, like Bruce Banner doing his income taxes. It’s exhilarating! 

Soon the vines are populated with tiny buds in the shape of what will ultimately be clusters of grapes. You start to wonder what the new vintage will be like, though it’s impossible to know. When the tiny buds open, the minuscule flowers are revealed and we’re into the part of their life cycle known as “set.” Grape vines are self-pollinating. They do not require insects or wind or birds to pollinate, just a nice quiet place where hopefully no one is watching. When the plants are flowering, which is normally in May in the Northern Hemisphere, you worry about rain, wind, or the occasional late frost, all of which can damage flowers causing loss of fruit. That sort of damage is called “shatter.” And when it happens, it feels like that. 

When all goes well, the flowers all set, the clusters are formed, the weather stays warm and sunny, and Spring is the harbinger of a great vintage. There’s a long way to go. Harvest won’t begin until August. Yet in many ways Spring is the most wonderful season in wine growing. Wildflowers line the roads. Eaves are filled with nesting birds. Grapevines grow at stupendous rates. And all of wine country is filled with energy; an energy which can only be called Hope.