Field Note Friday: New Growth Emerges

Brutocao Uncorked

From the Vineyard

By Len Brutocao, 3rd Generation & Vineyard Manager

March 28, 2026  ·  Field Note Friday

Bud break at Brutocao Family Vineyards' Bliss Vineyard in Hopland, Mendocino County typically arrives in the first or second week of April. This year, it came two weeks early — and as of late March 2026, Chardonnay shoots are already pushing 1 to 3 inches, with Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc just beginning to leaf out.

This Week at Brutocao
• Chardonnay shoots at Bliss Vineyard are already pushing 1–3 inches.
• Bud break arrived two weeks ahead of schedule at Hopland.
• Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc are just beginning to leaf out at Bliss.
• Frost watch active through mid-May — weather stations running daily.
• Overnight temps in the high 40s — a healthy, optimistic start to 2026.

Walk the Bliss Vineyard right now and you'll see something that stopped me in my tracks this week: Chardonnay shoots already pushing 1 to 3 inches, and the Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc just beginning to unfurl their first tiny leaves. It's beautiful. It's also two weeks ahead of where we'd normally be at the end of March.

Why Bud Break Matters

Bud break is one of my favorite moments in the vineyard calendar. After months of dormancy — the pruning, the trellis work, the quiet — the vines suddenly have something to say. That first flush of green feels like a reward for everything the crew put in over winter.

This year, they're saying it earlier than usual. That tells me the combination of warmth and soil conditions at Bliss has been just right. We had a mild February and March has been generous — more growing-degree days than average, and the soil is holding good moisture from winter rain. The vines are responding to all of it.

For a Chardonnay growing at this elevation and aspect in Hopland, an early bud break paired with healthy soil moisture is an encouraging sign. It gives us more time for the canopy to develop before the summer heat arrives. It's the kind of start that can translate to more complexity in the glass come harvest — though the vintage is still very much being written.

The Flip Side: Frost Watch Through Mid-May

But I'll be honest — early bud break always comes with a little knot in my stomach. Those young shoots are the most vulnerable thing in the vineyard. Once they're out, they're exposed. We run frost risk at Hopland all the way through mid-May, and a single hard frost on a tender 2-inch shoot can wipe out a significant portion of what would have become this year's crop.

Right now, overnight temperatures are sitting in the high 40s, which is safe. We don't get concerned until we're looking at readings near or below 32°F — that's when the tissue damage begins. But we're watching the forecast every single morning. The weather stations are running across the property. The crew knows the protocol: when temperatures threaten, we're ready to act.

This is the tension that defines early spring in Mendocino wine country. The same warmth that coaxes those first beautiful shoots out of dormancy is also the warmth that can make a late frost more devastating, because the vines are further along when it hits. We manage it the best we can. We watch, we prepare, and we hope for a mild April and May.

What This Means for the 2026 Vintage

For now, though, the message from the vineyard is optimistic. An early, healthy bud break with good soil moisture and moderate overnight temps is exactly how you want to start a vintage. The Chardonnay, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc at Bliss are off to a strong start. The next few weeks — as those shoots extend, the canopy begins to take shape, and we move toward flowering — will tell us a great deal more about what 2026 has in store.

If you've been following along since last year's harvest, this is the beginning of a new cycle. The same hands, the same land, the same care — just with a different year's story to tell. We're glad you're with us for it.

More soon from the rows.