Daytime high temperatures in the Los Alamos Valley have been hovering in the 70s and low 80s with low temperatures hitting the mid 40s. The cool nights and relatively cool daytime highs we've experienced this summer in Santa Ynez, Los Alamos and Santa Maria are ideal temperatures for premium winegrapes because the natural grape acidity stays high. Hot temperatures, while causing ripening, cause acidity levels to drop. I am of the opinion, and I know many growers would agree with me, that you get sturdier, higher quality wines from grapes with high natural acidity-grapes that don't have to be acidulated during the winemaking process, for it's the acidity in the wine that makes the wine interesting. When harvest is late, you end up tempting fate with Mother Nature-the later into the year harvest occurs, the greater the probability of rain, and rain is the real enemy of the vintner right around harvest.
Rain wreaks havoc with plant pH, and sugar-acid balences around harvest.
And wet conditions can encourage the development of rot and mold like it can with strawberries. When I read in the news about the poor wheat farmers of Kansas who have lost a year's crop because of drought, or rain, it makes me want to burst out in tears. Two full-color poster size maps of all the vineyards and winemaking facilities of Santa Barbara County have been published by the Vintners' Association. Each map is 36 inches wide and 24 inches high. Together the maps depict 134 vineyards totalling more than 18,000 acres in Santa Barbara County.