And so it begins: the 2007 season is officially under way at Shaker Ridge, with budburst evident in the barbera vineyard on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. This represents a fairly average timing for our vineyard. It has been an absolutely beautiful late winter, but we sure wish we would get a little more rain before spring sets in. We’ve continued to manually move rocks–our winter crop–out of the vineyard, and are making steady progress hanging drip hose (ie, getting it off the ground) some 5 years after planting. Better late than never….