# 2018 Growing Season. How was yours?



## JimInNJ (Oct 30, 2018)

I've seen news reports about the great 2018 wine growing season from several parts of the world. How was yours?

In NJ we started with a late budbreak. Plenty of rain during the summer, and resultant excessive vine vigor. Then almost non-stop rain, fog and clouds in September and October, blessing me with poorly ripened watery grapes and a bumper crop of Downy Mildew.


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## Masbustelo (Oct 31, 2018)

Pretty much exactly the same here in Northern Illinois.


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## Stressbaby (Oct 31, 2018)

Central Missouri - kept up with the spray program so no disease issues. BAD Japanese beetles right when I left town for a week so lost about 1/3 of crop. Still managed 200# which I didn't think was too bad for second year.


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## CTDrew (Oct 31, 2018)

Ditto here. Lots of rain, fog and humidity. Some varieties failed to really ripen and had to be dropped and tossed on the compost pile. That said I made a few gallons of wine which was pretty good for getting 12 inches of rain in August alone!


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## CK55 (Nov 1, 2018)

CTDrew said:


> Ditto here. Lots of rain, fog and humidity. Some varieties failed to really ripen and had to be dropped and tossed on the compost pile. That said I made a few gallons of wine which was pretty good for getting 12 inches of rain in August alone!


What failed to ripen? Just out of curiosity.

I only got about 125 pounds of mixed old vine grapes off some 40 year old vines i have. But then again thats pretty good given the age of the vines. They managed to reach about 18-21 brix with one somehow reaching 28 brix. I have no clue weird ripening. Then i got a crapload of rain and started getting bad mildew on the clusters and had to harvest early. 

My newer vines are still maturing with some doing better than the rest, my Barbera got massacred by freak heatwaves and has been slow to recover and has been growing really slowly.


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## KevinL (Nov 1, 2018)

Masbustelo said:


> Pretty much exactly the same here in Northern Illinois.



Can confirm. Late bud break + excessive pre-harvest rain left me with some low sugar Frontenac. Raccoons and Possums destroyed everything else I had. I'll be prepared for the vermin next year, but I can't control the weather. 

Overall pulled in 140 lbs of Frontenac with these Numbers:

19.6 Brix
10.35 g/L TA
pH 3.46

Pulled in about 16 pounds of Vidal Blanc as well.


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## Masbustelo (Nov 1, 2018)

I forgot to mention raccoons.


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## JimInNJ (Nov 1, 2018)

Squirrels, sap beetles, wasps...


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## balatonwine (Nov 2, 2018)

Mine was mixed.

Year started great. Really, really great. Was expecting a huge harvest.

Then we got 2 weeks of rain right at the bloom. Then a lot of rain after that for a month. Could not keep up with the mildew. 

So in the end I got good results on varieties that I planted especially known to be mildew resistant in our region (and were actually historically planted here), and all others (mostly these were the older vines of large yielding but mildew sensitive Welschriesling) were devastated.


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## CTDrew (Nov 2, 2018)

CK55 said:


> What failed to ripen? Just out of curiosity.


Gruner Veltliner and Frontenac Blanc both had extremely poor season and did not ripen up. Did okay with Cayuga and Aromella though considering the weather.


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## CK55 (Nov 2, 2018)

CTDrew said:


> Gruner Veltliner and Frontenac Blanc both had extremely poor season and did not ripen up. Did okay with Cayuga and Aromella though considering the weather.


Thats unfortunate, I hope that you have a better season next year.


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## kyle5434 (Nov 2, 2018)

I've only got two vines each of Canadice & Concord, and while it looked like I might get an OK harvest, some critter ate 99% of the grapes just before they were ripe enough to harvest. It happened last year, too. This year I even put out some fake owls (with heads that rotate in the wind), but to no avail. (Critters - I suspect raccoons - also got almost all of my melons this year). 

I'm planning to pull out the grape vines next spring and replace them with some bush cherries. I think the June harvest may help me stay ahead of the critters hunting for food later in the season, and still give me some wine making material.


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## JimInNJ (Nov 2, 2018)

You might be able to build a critter resistant cage around those four vines.


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## CK55 (Nov 2, 2018)

kyle5434 said:


> I've only got two vines each of Canadice & Concord, and while it looked like I might get an OK harvest, some critter ate 99% of the grapes just before they were ripe enough to harvest. It happened last year, too. This year I even put out some fake owls (with heads that rotate in the wind), but to no avail. (Critters - I suspect raccoons - also got almost all of my melons this year).
> 
> I'm planning to pull out the grape vines next spring and replace them with some bush cherries. I think the June harvest may help me stay ahead of the critters hunting for food later in the season, and still give me some wine making material.


Don't remove them, give it another year. It takes so long to get good yields that if you remove them it's a waste of good grapes


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 3, 2018)

We did ok considering our crop of downy mildew due to excessive rain and humidity. We are at least 12 inches above normal for the year. Next year will be better. As for critters, I have extensive defenses setup as I have to contend with deer (lots), as well as raccoons, possums, turkeys, and birds. Seems everything likes grapes and grape leaves. Here is a shot of my fence (+ electric).




And a couple of shots of harvest.


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## CK55 (Nov 3, 2018)

Dennis Griffith said:


> We did ok considering our crop of downy mildew due to excessive rain and humidity. We are at least 12 inches above normal for the year. Next year will be better. As for critters, I have extensive defenses setup as I have to contend with deer (lots), as well as raccoons, possums, turkeys, and birds. Seems everything likes grapes and grape leaves. Here is a shot of my fence (+ electric).
> 
> View attachment 52053
> 
> ...


Nice setup and nice grapes.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 3, 2018)

Thanks


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## CK55 (Nov 4, 2018)

Dennis Griffith said:


> Thanks


Its certainly the cleanest setup, I mean as far as how maintained it is. My vines are neatly organized but not nearly as nice to look at lol.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 4, 2018)

It's a lot of work. The year has been challenging in that I've felt like I was growing in rain forest like conditions. Definitely didn't have to use the drip irrigation much. And the grass seemed to grow like 3" a day, so mowing was a constant state of being as I mow several acres. Next year should be fun as I'm adding Cab Franc and venturing into VSP.


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## VillaVino (Nov 4, 2018)

Pretty sure I was hit with the flea beetle this year. Total vineyard yield was down about 40%. I had whole rows without a single grape cluster. Next year, I’ll take a day off work the minute I see one of these devils. We have 3 acres of vines in central Wisconsin.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 4, 2018)

VillaVino said:


> Pretty sure I was hit with the flea beetle this year. Total vineyard yield was down about 40%. I had whole rows without a single grape cluster. Next year, I’ll take a day off work the minute I see one of these devils. We have 3 acres of vines in central Wisconsin.



Have you tried Garden Tech Sevin (contains Zeta-Cypermethrin, not Carbaryl)? I have found it to be VERY effective.


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## VillaVino (Nov 4, 2018)

Dennis, 
I have not used Garden Tech Sevin yet. I’ll do the research. Thx.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 4, 2018)

VillaVino said:


> Dennis,
> I have not used Garden Tech Sevin yet. I’ll do the research. Thx.



Most Sevin products are Carbaryl based and even the Garden Tech Sevin dust is Carbaryl. For me (here), Carbaryl has not been very effective on the Japanese Beetle issue, but since I started the Garden Tech Sevin this year, I can now say that I have a firm grip on the JB issue I have. And I believe it's use has also eliminated any phylloxera I've seen in the past. With my luck, they'll probably discontinue it.


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## Newine (Nov 4, 2018)

Heaviest crop yet for my little vineyard, 6th leaf, but first year was drought and I barely kept them alive so I think of them as more of a 5th. Winter would not quit here in North East Nebraska, and was a little harsh on the Seyval Blanc & Noiret. Also pretty wet but kind of dried up towards the end of season which helped us out. Had a propane cannon out for a few weeks and we gout around 700 lbs. No spray program, I am trying to do everything organic and so far so good. Best numbers were from the Frontenac
pH 3.4 , 9 TA, brix 23


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 4, 2018)

Newine said:


> Heaviest crop yet for my little vineyard, 6th leaf, but first year was drought and I barely kept them alive so I think of them as more of a 5th. Winter would not quit here in North East Nebraska, and was a little harsh on the Seyval Blanc & Noiret. Also pretty wet but kind of dried up towards the end of season which helped us out. Had a propane cannon out for a few weeks and we gout around 700 lbs. No spray program, I am trying to do everything organic and so far so good. Best numbers were from the Frontenac
> pH 3.4 , 9 TA, brix 23



You could consider Neem Oil and Serenade, which is a biological fungicide. These are considered safe and organic. I use both in conjunction with other stuff, but you need to use them long term and consistently for ok results.


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## Newine (Nov 4, 2018)

I should have said I do use neem oil in the vineyard, orchard and vegetable garden. Keep a handful of beef cattle and compost the waste hay and manure in the pen area they winter in. When it's well composted it's spread around everything. Trying to be sheppard of my soils, hoping to continue to improve it. When I bought the land it was a cornfield, after soil testing we balanced the pH and have given it organics. When I first went to dig a garden you could not find an earthworm, now they are every where so soil health is improving. We have wild flower and native grass patches, and are seeing preying mantis regularly. You can see the change.


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## baron4406 (Nov 4, 2018)

I'm good friends with a local winery owner here in Eastern Pa. I was actually gonna source grapes from him this year. He lost his entire crop, he's a super picky guy and won't use marginal grapes. It was wet here and hasn't let up. We just had 2.5 inches of rain two days ago


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 4, 2018)

Newine said:


> I should have said I do use neem oil in the vineyard, orchard and vegetable garden. Keep a handful of beef cattle and compost the waste hay and manure in the pen area they winter in. When it's well composted it's spread around everything. Trying to be sheppard of my soils, hoping to continue to improve it. When I bought the land it was a cornfield, after soil testing we balanced the pH and have given it organics. When I first went to dig a garden you could not find an earthworm, now they are every where so soil health is improving. We have wild flower and native grass patches, and are seeing preying mantis regularly. You can see the change.



Sounds good. We had horses for years, so I saved and composted all the manure. It has all been used, but I save everything organic to compost. Sometimes my compost piles produce as well. If they do, I let it go to see what we get. Last year we had a big pumpkin patch that grew out of the compost. As for the grapes, I'd have nothing if I went total organic. Between the beetles and the fungi, it would wipe me out here. I tried the first year, and I decided I had to step it up if I ever wanted grapes. Almost lost that first planting of vines. I do try to be conscious of what I doing to the ecosystem through.


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## CK55 (Nov 4, 2018)

Dennis Griffith said:


> It's a lot of work. The year has been challenging in that I've felt like I was growing in rain forest like conditions. Definitely didn't have to use the drip irrigation much. And the grass seemed to grow like 3" a day, so mowing was a constant state of being as I mow several acres. Next year should be fun as I'm adding Cab Franc and venturing into VSP.


I can help if anything goes wrong eoth the cab franc or your VSP, because that's the trellis in the picture I posted its not fully in as it has 2-3 more wires. I just haven't needed them yet.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 4, 2018)

Thanks CK. I've already studied the trellis system for VSP and should have no problem there. It will be a first for me in that the fruiting wire is low (~32") and that I will have to prune differently for these vines. I've watched some videos on folks pruning, which raises some questions. One is how to determine which canes to keep? Also, as I understand it, you cut the cordon used for last years fruit and replace it with last years canes so that they become this years fruiting cordon? It looked to me as if they pruned back to about 5" from the head, depending on which canes they kept. I know it's early in the game, but winter will be long and I will be asking lots of questions.


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## CK55 (Nov 4, 2018)

Dennis Griffith said:


> Thanks CK. I've already studied the trellis system for VSP and should have no problem there. It will be a first for me in that the fruiting wire is low (~32") and that I will have to prune differently for these vines. I've watched some videos on folks pruning, which raises some question. One is how to determine which canes to keep? Also, as I understand it, you cut the cordon used for last year fruit and replace it with last years canes so that become this years fruiting cordon? It looked to me as if they pruned back to about 5" from the head, depending on which canes they kept. I know it's early in the game, but winter will be long and I will be asking lots of questions.


Yeah, with VSP vines can be really really productive so you have to keep them trimmed so you don't over crop. Do you have any idea which specific Cabernet franc you are getting? Most vines in the US originate through UC Davis at least the vinifera ones do . And come with a FPS #. Which is useful for identifying specific vine clones.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 4, 2018)

I added 11 vines to next years order from Double A. I selected the 101-14 root stock (the 2010 protocol one) as it seems best suited for my soil type here.


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## CK55 (Nov 4, 2018)

Yeah, it will work great  it's okay in my sand the least productive stock I have. Hell Riparia Gloire which is the only pure vitis riparia stock is out producing it.

Again probably due to my soil. It's a productive rootstock. Slower than 1103 but on paper faster than Riparia. I'm finding the best rootstocks for me are 1103p and SO4. Both are producing quite fast growth


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## VillaVino (Nov 4, 2018)

Dennis Griffith said:


> Most Sevin products are Carbaryl based and even the Garden Tech Sevin dust is Carbaryl. For me (here), Carbaryl has not been very effective on the Japanese Beetle issue, but since I started the Garden Tech Sevin this year, I can now say that I have a firm grip on the JB issue I have. And I believe it's use has also eliminated any phylloxera I've seen in the past. With my luck, they'll probably discontinue it.





Dennis Griffith said:


> Most Sevin products are Carbaryl based and even the Garden Tech Sevin dust is Carbaryl. For me (here), Carbaryl has not been very effective on the Japanese Beetle issue, but since I started the Garden Tech Sevin this year, I can now say that I have a firm grip on the JB issue I have. And I believe it's use has also eliminated any phylloxera I've seen in the past. With my luck, they'll probably discontinue it.



Dennis, I get about a weeks worth of protection from the regular Sevin concentrate during the JB invasion. I used to use Imadin but it was restricted where I live. It worked well. It would be nice if someone could develop something to kill the JB grub in the ground. Milk spoor just doesn’t seem practical for more than a couple of small rows of vines.


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## Newine (Nov 4, 2018)

Dennis Griffith said:


> Sounds good. We had horses for years, so I saved and composted all the manure. It has all been used, but I save everything organic to compost. Sometimes my compost piles produce as well. If they do, I let it go to see what we get. Last year we had a big pumpkin patch that grew out of the compost. As for the grapes, I'd have nothing if I went total organic. Between the beetles and the fungi, it would wipe me out here. I tried the first year, and I decided I had to step it up if I ever wanted grapes. Almost lost that first planting of vines. I do try to be conscious of what I doing to the ecosystem through.


I will keep trying to be as natural as I can until and unless the "nuclear" option is required at which time I will go all in if need be! Too much work to let it go bad on me


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## CK55 (Nov 4, 2018)

Newine said:


> I will keep trying to be as natural as I can until and unless the "nuclear" option is required at which time I will go all in if need be! Too much work to let it go bad on me


Natural only goes so far, im trying thus far unless i get really bad mildew or something ive been using only neem oil and havent had many pests.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 4, 2018)

VillaVino said:


> Dennis, I get about a weeks worth of protection from the regular Sevin concentrate during the JB invasion. I used to use Imadin but it was restricted where I live. It worked well. It would be nice if someone could develop something to kill the JB grub in the ground. Milk spoor just doesn’t seem practical for more than a couple of small rows of vines.



I have a 3 pronged approach for Japanese beetles. First is spray (Sevin or Ortho), second is milky spore in broad areas. I apply some in different areas every year. It also helps chase off the moles. And 3rd is the use of traps out away from what I'm protecting. I also am hoping that a good colony of milky spore will help if the grape root borer comes around. They are having an issue in Kentucky, and that is not that far south of me.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 4, 2018)

Newine said:


> I will keep trying to be as natural as I can until and unless the "nuclear" option is required at which time I will go all in if need be! Too much work to let it go bad on me



Agreed.


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## StevenD55 (Nov 24, 2018)

Strange year for me and friends in CO. Good growing season except for drought conditions. We got a lot of grapes with higher Brix than normal. But watering was a challenge. Bird and vermin damage was light but yellowjackets were a pain. And I had problems with leafhoppers galore. Some of my grapes had very little juice as a result of terminating water perhaps too soon with the heat we had. Still I left a lot on the vines that I just could not get time to harvest.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 24, 2018)

Wish we could have piped you some water. We had an extra 12" of rain to spare.


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## NorCal (Nov 25, 2018)

I help manage the 20 acre vineyard for our community in the Sierra Foothills in Nor Cal. We had the latest harvest on record and also the largest. The somewhat over cropped Mourvedre struggled to reach 25 brix, but it was the last to get there.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 25, 2018)

NorCal said:


> I help manage the 20 acre vineyard for our community in the Sierra Foothills in Nor Cal. We had the latest harvest on record and also the largest. The somewhat over cropped Mourvedre struggled to reach 25 brix, but it was the last to get there.



So, help me understand, this is a community owned and operated vineyard? Do you harvest as a group and then divide the harvest? Or do you have a community winery as well? It's an interesting concept.


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## CDrew (Nov 25, 2018)

Interested as well!


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## NorCal (Nov 25, 2018)

Dennis Griffith said:


> So, help me understand, this is a community owned and operated vineyard? Do you harvest as a group and then divide the harvest? Or do you have a community winery as well? It's an interesting concept.


It is a community of 88 homes. All the grape varieties are French as well as the look and feel of the community. Everyone has vines in their front yards, as well as 4 larger vineyards around the community. The grapes (including those in the front yards) are owned by the community and sold to local wineries and home winemakers (1,000 lb minimum). We harvested around 58 tons last year. It’s a real working vineyard. The revenue goes back into the community to offset the dues. 

Here is a video drone tour of a house that was for sale, but shows the community pretty well.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 25, 2018)

Very nice community!


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## CabEnthusiast (Dec 3, 2018)

NorCal said:


> It is a community of 88 homes. All the grape varieties are French as well as the look and feel of the community. Everyone has vines in their front yards, as well as 4 larger vineyards around the community. The grapes (including those in the front yards) are owned by the community and sold to local wineries and home winemakers (1,000 lb minimum). We harvested around 58 tons last year. It’s a real working vineyard. The revenue goes back into the community to offset the dues.
> 
> Here is a video drone tour of a house that was for sale, but shows the community pretty well.



Nice


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## JimInNJ (Dec 29, 2018)

From News12 New Jersey:

It’s official – 2018 was the wettest year in the Garden State on record.

Climatologists say that New Jersey saw over 64 inches of rain on average statewide this year, which is almost 20 inches above normal.

“2018 is going to go into the record books as the wettest year on record in New Jersey, and we have records back to 1895,” says State Climatologist Dr. David Robinson.

Robinson says that nine out of the 12 months this year saw an above-average rainfall, with September through November setting the record for the wettest fall on record in the state.


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## Lando545 (Feb 6, 2019)

Extreme heat in Texas for the 2018 season. had about 2 weeks straight of 100 plus farenheit last summer and a pretty good drought. The grapes were inedible but made some good jelly. My profile pic is some of my heat treated harvest.


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## JimInNJ (Feb 8, 2019)

Lando545, what color were those grapes supposed to be, and when did you harvest? My Cab Franc wasn't a whole lot darker than that when the frosts shut down the vines in late October. Photosynthesis doesn't work well in the 100s, or without the sun.


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## Lando545 (Feb 9, 2019)

JimInNJ said:


> Lando545, what color were those grapes supposed to be, and when did you harvest? My Cab Franc wasn't a whole lot darker than that when the frosts shut down the vines in late October. Photosynthesis doesn't work well in the 100s, or without the sun.



Well they were suppose to be flame seedless but they had seeds. I don't know if its common for seedless grapes to have seeds/remnants of seeds? So now I'm not sure what variety they are. Bought some that were suppose to be Thompson seedless but came out purple as well.

I had to harvest early because Birds, Ants, and Wasps started wreaking havoc on them. I think I cut them late July early August.

I'm experimenting with some Champanel now which was bred for the Texas Hill Country.


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