There is a point each summer when the vineyard begins to look different.
Not all at once.
Not from one day to the next.
But slowly, row by row, cluster by cluster, the fruit begins to change.
Across our estate vineyards, we have entered veraison — the stage of the growing season when the berries begin their transition toward ripeness. Red varieties start to take on their colour. The fruit begins to soften. Sugars build, acidity shifts, and the character of the vintage starts to become more visible.
It is one of the most recognizable moments of the season.
But what is happening beneath the surface matters even more.
A Turning Point in the Vineyard
Until now, much of the growing season has been about building.
Shoots have stretched upward. Canopies have filled in. Clusters have formed and berries have grown. The work in the vineyard has focused on creating the conditions for balanced, healthy fruit.
Veraison marks a change.
From here, the vine begins directing more of its energy toward ripening the grapes themselves.
And just as every vineyard woke at its own pace in spring, every block reaches this stage differently.
Our vineyards span Osoyoos, Peachland and West Kelowna — distinct sites with their own elevations, exposures and growing conditions. The warmer blocks move first. Cooler sites follow in their own time.
The vineyard never follows a single clock.
Watching More Closely
As harvest approaches, observation becomes increasingly important.
We walk the rows. We watch how evenly the clusters are progressing. We pay attention to the canopy, the fruit and the conditions around them.
At this point in the season, the decisions become increasingly precise.
The goal is not simply to reach ripeness as quickly as possible. It is to allow each site and variety the time it needs to develop balance, concentration and character.
There is still plenty of growing season ahead, and much can happen between veraison and harvest.
That is part of what makes this moment so significant.
The possibilities of the vintage are beginning to narrow into something more defined.
The First Glimpse of What’s Ahead
Months ago, the vines were dormant.
Then came pruning. Tying. Budbreak. Shoot growth. Flowering. Fruit set.
Each stage has quietly built upon the one before it.
Now, for the first time, the vineyard begins to offer a glimpse of where all that work is leading.
Green berries take on shades of pink, red and deep purple. Rows that have been almost entirely green throughout the summer begin to change.
Harvest is no longer an idea somewhere in the distance.
It is getting closer.
At After 93, we believe the character of a wine is shaped long before the fruit reaches the cellar. Veraison is another reminder of that — a brief but important chapter when an entire season of farming begins to show itself in the fruit.
The vintage is still being written.
But now, we can begin to see it.