(Wines&Vines) - The vineyard terrain of California’s Central Coast is so expansive that a single story couldn’t contain it. Today’s update completes yesterday’s “Central Coast Vineyards Report on 2016,” which included reports from associations, growers and wineries in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties.

Not surprisingly, the Santa Cruz Mountains and Livermore Valley differ in vineyard growth and weather conditions from their southern counterparts. These reports were collected last week from local associations and their members.

The 2016 season is different in the Santa Cruz Mountains, according to members of the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association. Ahlgren Vineyard in Boulder Creek, Calif., has yet to see buds push; pruning happened “after the rain” last week, which may be later than usual, because of a lack of qualified pruners. “The vines were dormant in February. Water will be very short this year. We’re thinking of just one irrigation, maybe in July. Our water comes from harvested rainwater. It’s difficult when there is no rain.”

Bud break began at Casanova Vineyards in Saratoga, Calif., on March 7, while the landmark 600-case Mountain Winery in Saratoga (on the drier, inland side of the mountains) saw buds pushing for Chardonnay on Feb. 22; for Pinot Noir by the end of the month, which was about three weeks later than in 2015, according to vineyard manager Nicolas Vonderheyden.

On the other hand, pruning began Jan. 1, as opposed to Jan. 20 in 2015. “Pruning stimulates bud break; we could have expected bud break sooner. It was not the case thanks to a more ‘normal’ winter,” he said. “In my opinion, this will lead us to a more ‘normal’ lifecycle of the plant. Once again, it also depends on the kind of weather we’ll get throughout the year.”

Vonderheyden also noted, “The recent cooler temperatures prevented vines from having a very fast growth; however, with the soil being so moist and temperatures going back up, vines are going to grow more quickly—and early disease pressure is a challenge already. We started feeling a little mildew pressure, and spraying is a challenge in the sense that we have very narrow windows—can’t put the tractor in vineyard because of mud.”