Rechecked the results from the grafting of the Chardonnay Block. This block is very gnarly and certainly has much less vigorous growth of everything – vines, grass and all vegetation. Very rocky soil and the vine trunks are also less thick than in the other blocks.

Arnie Erickson told me that he had big problems getting anything to work there originally, he had to replant many more vines there than in the other areas.

It seams to be difficult to get even 2 tonnes to the acre here, but the fruit is very flavorful and mineraly. Canopy is much smaller and less vigorous in this vineyard than the others.

Since the last count in mid June more than 100 additional cuttings have taken in the Chardonnay block. In June there were 275 vines that had not taken, but now there are only 170. And most of them are in one particular area so I think this is a problem with the soil, not the quality of the cuttings or the work done there.

So now the success rate in the Chardonnay vineyard is up to exactly 80%, up from 67.6% in mid June.

All the new Pinot Noir blocks are looking really great and it is over 95% success rate for all Pinot Noirs. There is also vigorous growth that has been trimmed and we have saved 1-3 clusters per vine on the best looking ones and are planning to make some wine from them – very exciting to see how that goes.