# Vineyard Update: What have you done?



## TicinoVintner (Jan 16, 2014)

So yesterday I cleared a large section of wild black berries that was killing the air circulation on the top corner of my vineyard. I look like I fought two cougars (he-he, inside joke) from all those thorns. I also re-terraced a row that will receive new vines this year. And if that wasn't enough I placed my order for 60 merlot, 12 cab-sauv and 12 Chardonnay vines to fill in all the holes from when I pulled all the sick and dead vines out. Who says winter is "quiet" time in the vineyard? 

Anyone else staying busy in the vineyard? Please share.


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## TicinoVintner (Jan 16, 2014)

Forgot to mention I did all that in four feet of snow and uphill both ways,lol. Actually it was only four inches but my kids will know I did it in four feet, for future reference.


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## grapeman (Jan 16, 2014)

Things are still frozen and coated in ice and snow here. It will be another couple months before I can get busy in the vineyard.


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## bigdrums2 (Jan 16, 2014)

I haven't even looked back there yet.


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## blumentopferde (Jan 17, 2014)

Put some posts in, ordered some vines.

Still have to build up a trellis and a pergola, relocate some vines and plant the new ones...

So lots to do. Fortunately we don't have snow yet, so I can get some things done before spring...


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## Pat57 (Jan 17, 2014)

18" of snow on the ground here, kinda glad, we've got another arctic intrusion coming next week and that is supposed to be followed by another one shortly thereafter. At this point I'd rather have the cold, I'm tired of shoveling and plowing snow.


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## garymc (Jan 18, 2014)

I cut 2 vines off about a foot high and dug up the stumps a few weeks ago. Soon I'll cut the vines off the arbor they were on. I've had more snow and more frozen ground than any winter in recent memory. But most of the holdup is just muddy ground.


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## TicinoVintner (Jan 19, 2014)

blumentopferde said:


> Put some posts in, ordered some vines.
> 
> Still have to build up a trellis and a pergola, relocate some vines and plant the new ones...
> 
> So lots to do. Fortunately we don't have snow yet, so I can get some things done before spring...



I'm pretty much in the same boat. Fixing posts, fixing trellis, fixing the terrace for where all the new vines will go. Good thing the ground isn't frozen or it would make all the work that much harder. We are having a mild winter compared to the U.S. I also cut down three trees to increase air circulation and late afternoon sun, plus we need some firewood. Three birds with one stone.


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## TicinoVintner (Jan 19, 2014)

garymc said:


> I cut 2 vines off about a foot high and dug up the stumps a few weeks ago. Soon I'll cut the vines off the arbor they were on. I've had more snow and more frozen ground than any winter in recent memory. But most of the holdup is just muddy ground.



Pulling up stumps and roots are a P.I.T.A in summer time, no way would I try it on frozen ground. Which reminds me I still have one more I need to pull out.


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## blumentopferde (Jan 19, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> I'm pretty much in the same boat. Fixing posts, fixing trellis, fixing the terrace for where all the new vines will go. Good thing the ground isn't frozen or it would make all the work that much harder. We are having a mild winter compared to the U.S. I also cut down three trees to increase air circulation and late afternoon sun, plus we need some firewood. Three birds with one stone.



Hey, great to see another European, (and probably even german speaking) member here!

You just reminded me of the two cherry tress that still ought to be cut before spring. Hope I find someone who'll do that work for the price of the wood. Simply have too much wood around the house at the moment 

Just out of curiosity: Which varieties did you plant?
I'm going to plant a wide range of varieties: Traminer, Pinot Noir, Marzemino, Bouvier, Silvaner, Portugieser, Blauer Wildbacher, Rathay, Rondo and Bluetenmuskateller (=Cvetotchny). Welschriesling, Muskateller and St. Laurent will also join the party in the near future...


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## TicinoVintner (Jan 20, 2014)

blumentopferde said:


> Hey, great to see another European, (and probably even german speaking) member here!
> 
> You just reminded me of the two cherry tress that still ought to be cut before spring. Hope I find someone who'll do that work for the price of the wood. Simply have too much wood around the house at the moment
> 
> ...



Guten Tag, im Frühling Pflanze ich 60 Merlot, 12 Cab/Sauv und 12 chardonnay.
I LOVE some of the wines coming out of Austria, great Zweigelt and Blaubergunder. Good luck finding someone to cut down those cherry trees and lets hope we have a better year than last year.


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## blumentopferde (Jan 21, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> Guten Tag, im Frühling Pflanze ich 60 Merlot, 12 Cab/Sauv und 12 chardonnay.
> I LOVE some of the wines coming out of Austria, great Zweigelt and Blaubergunder. Good luck finding someone to cut down those cherry trees and lets hope we have a better year than last year.



Thanks!

So I guess you're in the south of Switzerland (close to the Italian border?) otherwise I would find it quite daring to plant Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon! They do grow in Austria but they wouldn't reach full maturity about every second year...
Anyways, good luck with them! And if you ever happen to plant Pinotage, please spare me some cuttings!


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## blumentopferde (Jan 21, 2014)

blumentopferde said:


> So I guess you're in the south of Switzerland (close to the Italian border?)


Oh boy! Just looked it up! Didn't realise that Ticino is the same place as Tessin!


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## TicinoVintner (Jan 21, 2014)

Yup, Tessin is the German word for Ticino, like blaunergunder is Pinot Noir.


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## TicinoVintner (Jan 31, 2014)

Terracing a forgotten row.


Photo was taken in fall but I've gone a bit further.


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## TicinoVintner (Jan 31, 2014)

Now that I have the WMT app I can easily add more photos. Here I am in summer time........can't wait for summertime.



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## blumentopferde (Feb 1, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> Terracing a forgotten row.View attachment 13415
> 
> 
> Photo was taken in fall but I've gone a bit further.


Now that's a steep site!
I guess it looks a bit different at the moment 

Do you do the terracing by hand?


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 2, 2014)

blumentopferde said:


> Now that's a steep site!
> I guess it looks a bit different at the moment
> 
> Do you do the terracing by hand?



I have to do everything by hand. It's too steep for any machinery. Except a weedeater to cut the grass. It's too steep for even a lawnmower. It also makes for some interesting moments when using a backpack sprayer. Many times I've almost lost my footing and came really close to taking a few rows out. Lol 


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## blumentopferde (Feb 2, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> I have to do everything by hand. It's too steep for any machinery. Except a weedeater to cut the grass. It's too steep for even a lawnmower. It also makes for some interesting moments when using a backpack sprayer. Many times I've almost lost my footing and came really close to taking a few rows out. Lol



Sounds like an awful lot of work! But I guess it's worth the reward


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 10, 2014)

So I plan on pruning this weekend due to the biodynamic moon calendar. The moon is in Leo and the sun moves from Capricorn to Aquarius on Feb15. Plus a whole host of other planetary events happening this weekend which to be honest I don't completely understand. I just know that since using the calendar I harvest more grapes every year. Last year I almost doubled my harvest from the previous year. The next best dates for pruning grapes or any fruit tree will be April 10th but is not as favorable as Feb 14-16.


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## blumentopferde (Feb 10, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> So I plan on pruning this weekend due to the biodynamic moon calendar. The moon is in Leo and the sun moves from Capricorn to Aquarius on Feb15. Plus a whole host of other planetary events happening this weekend which to be honest I don't completely understand. I just know that since using the calendar I harvest more grapes every year. Last year I almost doubled my harvest from the previous year. The next best dates for pruning grapes or any fruit tree will be April 10th but is not as favorable as Feb 14-16.



Hehe, now that's weird! 
But fine, if it works for you!

I'll chose the pruning date by the time I have. But hey, Feb 15 is a saturday, so I might even go biodynamic this year!


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 10, 2014)

blumentopferde said:


> Hehe, now that's weird!
> But fine, if it works for you!
> 
> I'll chose the pruning date by the time I have. But hey, Feb 15 is a saturday, so I might even go biodynamic this year!



I'm not biodynamic at all, I don't have time to be completely biodynamic. But I do use the calendar for the vineyard and the garden because, well, the moon affects the way plants grow. The Italians are fond of saying "the wine is made by the moon".


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## UBB (Feb 10, 2014)

Brrrrr! To cold out to work in the Vineyard!


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 11, 2014)

UBB said:


> Brrrrr! To cold out to work in the Vineyard!



There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes  
Nice looking vineyard. 


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## blumentopferde (Feb 11, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> I'm not biodynamic at all, I don't have time to be completely biodynamic. But I do use the calendar for the vineyard and the garden because, well, the moon affects the way plants grow. The Italians are fond of saying "the wine is made by the moon".



There sure is some wisdom in such sayings, they don't come out of nothing, but I still can't think of any physical effect a full moon could have on plants. Besides a brighter night, but only if the sky stays clear..


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 11, 2014)

blumentopferde said:


> There sure is some wisdom in such sayings, they don't come out of nothing, but I still can't think of any physical effect a full moon could have on plants. Besides a brighter night, but only if the sky stays clear..



If the moon can control the tides, and make humans and animals act crazy on a full moon then why could the moon not affect the plant kingdom? There has been more than enough scientific evidence to prove the moon does affect the animal/plant kingdom. Why or how exactly is still a mystery. 


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## sour_grapes (Feb 11, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> There has been more than enough scientific evidence to prove the moon does affect the animal/plant kingdom.



More than enough? Then you could cite some of it.


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## blumentopferde (Feb 11, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> Why or how exactly is still a mystery.


I said: I can't think of any effect a full moon could have. That doesn't mean that there isn't any at all. Maybe it still influences plants in some way, who knows!

If it works out for you, it's perfectly fine for me! I still prefer to stick to the scientific side (and to my tight time schedule  )


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 13, 2014)

sour_grapes said:


> More than enough? Then you could cite some of it.



Well where do I begin? So much has been studied and written on the subject, we could go back to Goethe, the Romans, the Egyptians, Chinese, Aztecs and Incas. How about something more modern? Check out Maria Thun, she spent almost her whole life to the subject. Check out the book Planetary influences upon plants by Ernst Kranich. J. Schultz "Samenjahre bei Wäldbaumen und Planetenperioden" or Anbauversuche über Zusammenhange zwischen Mondstellungen I'm Tierkreis und Kulturpflanzen vol. 1,2. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg on the subject. But as my scientist friend whom works for both ETH and CERN says " Anytme someone says something is a scientific fact means that person knows nothing about science or how far we still have left to go" 
Just remember we only see 2% of the light spectrum meaning we can't see the other 98% of reality.


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 13, 2014)

blumentopferde said:


> There sure is some wisdom in such sayings, they don't come out of nothing, but I still can't think of any physical effect a full moon could have on plants. Besides a brighter night, but only if the sky stays clear..



How about gravitational pull? As the moon is ascending it pulls water up into the plant, which is mostly water as well, making it more susceptible to fungal diseases. Therefore one should only spray fungicide as the moon is ascending. When the moon is descending there is less water content within the plant allowing it to dry faster and has almost no fungal pressure as fungus itself is being repelled back into the soil. This is just one aspect the moon has on plants. There are others but as I said before I don't understand all of them. There is still much to be learned.


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## blumentopferde (Feb 13, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> How about gravitational pull? As the moon is ascending it pulls water up into the plant, which is mostly water as well, making it more susceptible to fungal diseases. Therefore one should only spray fungicide as the moon is ascending. When the moon is descending there is less water content within the plant allowing it to dry faster and has almost no fungal pressure as fungus itself is being repelled back into the soil. This is just one aspect the moon has on plants. There are others but as I said before I don't understand all of them. There is still much to be learned.



Never heard of such an effect. I mean, of course I know that the moon's gravitational field attracts water (and probably any other fluid) but i've never heard of plants being less prone to funghal diseases when the moon is ascending (why ascending, anyways? Wouldn't a descending moon attract water just as much?). 

I stick to the rule of tens:
If the shoots are longer than 10cm, you have a higher average day temperature than 10°C and you have more than 10mm of precipitation within 3 days, then Peronospora can occur. (Which actually means: You'll have to spray between every rainfall between May and August - so only spraying at a descending moon would definitely reduce the work load and spray usage)

Would be really interesting to see a direct comparison between vines pruned and sprayed by "standard" rules and such treated according to moon phases...


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## sour_grapes (Feb 13, 2014)

I will try to take a look at the sources you cite. I must say that one by Kranich does NOT look promising. I was actually thinking you may be able to cite a peer-reviewed source, perhaps something that tests a testable hypothesis.




TicinoVintner said:


> There has been more than enough scientific evidence to prove the moon does affect the animal/plant kingdom.





TicinoVintner said:


> But as my scientist friend whom works for both ETH and CERN says " Anytme someone says something is a scientific fact means that person knows nothing about science or how far we still have left to go"



You just pegged my irony meter!


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 14, 2014)

sour_grapes said:


> I will try to take a look at the sources you cite. I must say that one by Kranich does NOT look promising. I was actually thinking you may be able to cite a peer-reviewed source, perhaps something that tests a testable hypothesis.
> Maybe I used the wrong words, I was trying to say there is enough evidence to suggest there is some correlation between moon cycles and plant growth/behavior however we cannot say it is matter of fact because we have not developed equipment sophisticated enough to test subtle energies. In the realm of subtle energy science is still in the kindergarten stage. Just because science can't prove something does not mean a phenomenon does not exist. So far the only evidence that can stand up to peer review would be Maria Thuns experiments which she has had dozens of scientists visit her farms throughout the decades of her work. Sometimes I think it's all a bunch of hocus pocus as well but then again this is a phenomenon that has been observed since the dawn of time.
> 
> 
> ...



P.s judge not a book before you read it.


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 14, 2014)

Anyways enough with this voodoo viticulture, we're pruning tomorrow! On a full moon


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 15, 2014)

Not the most beautiful day but the view is still great. Most of the other vineyards are out pruning today as well. 



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## sour_grapes (Feb 15, 2014)

That looks heavenly!!

Is that one of the big lakes, or are you on a smaller one?


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 15, 2014)

sour_grapes said:


> That looks heavenly!!
> 
> Is that one of the big lakes, or are you on a smaller one?



That's the mouth of the Lago Maggiore, or greater lake, in Ticino. Around the bend is the Italian border. 


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## sour_grapes (Feb 16, 2014)

Great! It really is beautiful.

I must admit that, when I posted that question, I thought Ticino also had a hunk of Lago Como as well as Lago Lugano and Lago Maggiore (which is what I meant by "the big lakes"). I later looked at a map to see you only have Maggiore and Lugano.


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## blumentopferde (Feb 17, 2014)

@TicinoVintner

Now that's a nice vineyard! But too many trees for my taste 

The vines look very old - so probably you didn't plant them yourself!
So how did you get hold of that vineyard? Family heritage?


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 19, 2014)

blumentopferde said:


> @TicinoVintner
> 
> Now that's a nice vineyard! But too many trees for my taste
> 
> ...



Thanks, but those trees dont affect the vineyard at all. The land (about 7 hectors) sits on a spine with a stream on both sides. I have cut many trees back from the sides so that the vineyard is actually above the canopy so I get great air circulation and plenty of sun, but I still have a few more trees to cut down. My brother in law inherited this land and as he is busy renivating the rustico no one was there to look after the vineyard, one day I said I will do it and he was more than happy. Yes the vines are quite old, the last documented plantings were in 1950 and some are even older than that. Its taken me three years to bring back the health and to cut down all that old wood to get the canes down to the first wire, some are still on the second wire. When I took over most canes were already at the top wire as no one knew how to prune or didnt prune for some years. The whole property was a vineyard at one time as you can still see the terraced land with stone walls and the occasional vine thats still living up in the tree tops. I would say less than 10% of the original vineyard is what we have left but I doubt we make it bigger as what we have is more than enough work. I will post more photos when I have time.


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 19, 2014)

In between a sandwich of clouds. I love the mountains. 

And the triple decker 



Above the canopy on the east side with the giant maroni tree. 




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## blumentopferde (Feb 20, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> Thanks, but those trees dont affect the vineyard at all. The land (about 7 hectors) sits on a spine with a stream on both sides. (...) I would say less than 10% of the original vineyard is what we have left but I doubt we make it bigger as what we have is more than enough work. I will post more photos when I have time.



7 hectares, wow!
Now that would be enough for a full scale commercial winery!

Ever considered giving up your job and become a full-time wine grower? 

Thanks for the pictures btw!


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 20, 2014)

blumentopferde said:


> 7 hectares, wow!
> Now that would be enough for a full scale commercial winery!
> 
> Ever considered giving up your job and become a full-time wine grower?
> ...



I have actually. However with a family it's too big of a gamble right now. Once I get what we have up to full production (ie healthy and harvesting +80%) I might reevaluate. My brother in law likes the forested land but I told him if we could charge +300chf per bottle he can kiss his forest goodbye,lol.


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## blumentopferde (Feb 20, 2014)

TicinoVintner said:


> I have actually. However with a family it's too big of a gamble right now. Once I get what we have up to full production (ie healthy and harvesting +80%) I might reevaluate. My brother in law likes the forested land but I told him if we could charge +300chf per bottle he can kiss his forest goodbye,lol.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making



it would be a huge investement. Tractor and machines for spraying, grubbing, cutting, chaffing, mowing, harvesting and all other working steps in a vineyard, as 7ha are far to big to be maintained by hand plus a fully equipped wine cellar...

I understand that you don't want to risk such an investment... But maybe it will develop slowly to commercial winery, even if you don't get 300 chf/bottle


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## Crown_King_Robb (Feb 20, 2014)

Hoping someone here might know...

Several years ago we made a trip by auto taking the scenic route from Annecy back to Prague going thru Switzerland and Austria. When going thru Switzerland there was one region that had many of what appeared to be small hay barns ? on tall legs that we could see from the road. and the barn legs were like up to 2 meters high and in the middle to upper middle of the legs were a large flat stone that was balanced and sandwiched in the middle ?

What is the purpose of the stone and what is it called ? I should have taken a picture but never did.


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## blumentopferde (Feb 20, 2014)

I don't know these buildings.

But I found some pictures:









If this is what you meant then it is a traditional granary from Wallis / Valais, the french speaking part of Switzerland.

I guess they were built on piles not to get covered in snow and/or to protect the harvest from rodents and other animals.

Also I can only guess why the stones are there.
Maybe they are only there to distribute the loads more evenly, maybe they should protect the building from moisture creeping up the piles...


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## Crown_King_Robb (Feb 20, 2014)

Yes those appear similar. In the ones I noticed the most though the stone was about halfway to 2/3 up the post legs. 


see if my ascii art comes thru here ....

I I
I I
======
I I
I I
I I

imagine the stone centered i guess

I was just impressed that they did not otherwise appear to be attached other than to be floating on top of the stones, and the buildings all appeared to have been in place quite a while. Good and stable.

Moisture and rodent protection make excellent sense.

Thank you!


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## blumentopferde (Feb 21, 2014)

Crown_King_Robb said:


> Yes those appear similar. In the ones I noticed the most though the stone was about halfway to 2/3 up the post legs.
> 
> 
> see if my ascii art comes thru here ....
> ...



Now that looks really unstable!

Funny how these buildings defy wind, storm and statics 

Maybe the stones are really just there for rodent protection. I could imagine that it would be hard for a rat to climb up a pile with such an obstruction!


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## TicinoVintner (Feb 21, 2014)

It's kind of funny considering I am actually in Wallis at the moment, but in the German speaking part. As said before the stones are there to keep the rodents out. And yes they do defy logic as most of them are easily a couple centuries old. 


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## TicinoVintner (Mar 22, 2014)

We got bud break! Pretty early this year.


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## blumentopferde (Mar 24, 2014)

same over here in Austria.

Some vines already budded, some even grew shoots already, many of them are still dormant though. At least I hope that they are dormant and not dead :-/ Winter was mild but summer was extremely hot and hit hard on the young vines last year....


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## Crown_King_Robb (Mar 25, 2014)

Bud break in Crown King, AZ, USA too. 2 of my 5 variety.

I only noticed because I was working on the irrigation, checking drippers, else I wouldnt have thought to look. Gave them a good watering. Must be a month early here too ? I think Winter only lasted 3 weeks this year. 

My fruit trees (apples, pears, crabapple) are putting on leaves as well. The last 2 weeks have been active. Spring has sprung.


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## nucjd (Mar 26, 2014)

Transplanted about 15 chardonnay and Syrah vines from one hillside to another hillside that is producing healthier vines and better grapes. Grass has started growing and weeds around my vineyard therefore was pulling weeds and clearing grass.


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## farmer (Mar 26, 2014)

Just finished pruning but still have a foot of snow in the vineyard.


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## TicinoVintner (Apr 3, 2014)

The spring explosion is in full effect here. I plan on picking up my new vines to be planted this weekend. Forecast says its going to be like summer, maybe even a bit too warm for planting but we have to do it anyways. I hope these babies grow well next to the seasoned veterans. I'm. Freaking. Excited! I've been waiting three years for this weekend. 
I invited six friends to help, just hope the night time festivities don't hinder my work performance. Lol
Of course it will, it always does but that never stops us. 


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## TicinoVintner (Apr 3, 2014)

Deerunk as a skeeunk . 


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## blumentopferde (Apr 4, 2014)

Cheers!
Hope your work performance was as good as your drinking performance!


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## TicinoVintner (Apr 5, 2014)

blumentopferde said:


> Cheers!
> Hope your work performance was as good as your drinking performance!



Yeah that was fun. Six hours of weedeating with a slight hangover. Now we're digging the holes for these babies, 60 merlot, 12 cabsav, 12 Chardonnay. 



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## TicinoVintner (May 2, 2014)

Finally getting some much needed rain an normal temps. April was hot and dry, not good for new vines. Plus they are rebuilding the main water line and road meaning no water and no access with anything other than your own two feet. We have to carry water from a stream 150 meters away. All the other vineyards are complaining that this project wasn't started sooner. The original plan was to be done in winter and finish by the first of April however they didn't actually start until the first of April. Who knows how long it will take. Every week they say another four weeks. Fcking Brilliant! 


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## TicinoVintner (May 22, 2014)

These pics were from a week ago, just now finding time to upload them. 

Newly planted Chardonnay which had the longest roots so they were the first to sprout and have the most growth. 



Spider on new Cab/Sauv 



One of the old timers still producing (even had to thin a few clusters) 



Fixing the terrace, the flat part is a blank row. I removed all the dead/sick vines and the trellis a few years ago in order to create more space and air flow thus reducing the disease pressure. So far it seems to work. Maybe one day I'll plant another row there or maybe not as the back ground is really nice. 



The Grillmeister. 




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## TicinoVintner (May 22, 2014)

Merlot which had the shortest roots are also behind in growth. 



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## grapeman (May 22, 2014)

Yes you really do have a wicked slope there to try to have the vineyard on! Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing.


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