2017 in the vineyard

[Johny99]

May 21

Upper and lower vineyards, second pruning done and de-suckered. I even got the upper vineyard weeded. Lower is about 600 vines and the upper ~300.

Shoots are 4-8 inches on all but the petit sirah. It is just leafing out. It is usually a bit slower, but markedly this year. Perhaps due to the cool spring? I'm giving the upper 3 hours of water tonight and I'll do the same for the lower tomorrow. One gal/hour droppers. Even though it has been a wet spring, the top six inches of soil are dry. As I'm going to be gone the next two weeks, just safety. I dint want to stress before berry set.

Leaf hoppers are on the top of the upper vineyard where the alfalfa is deepest. I'm going to release 1000 lady bugs and green lacewings tonight after sundown. Trying a biological control first.

 

[Johny99]

Well two weeks away from home and life goes on. I went to visit my 85 year old mom and my 89 year old dad, then had foot surgery so I've been neglecting the vineyard. It was in the 90s while I was gone but has cooled off. Shoots continue to grow, 12-18 inches. Some have reached the first wire. Flower buds are well set, and best of all, no leafhoppers!

I do need to mow though.

 

[NorCal]

Nice work Johny

 

[balatonwine]

Love ladybugs in my garden and on my roses.

Come harvest time in the vineyard they can be a problem. Just a few hidden in clusters at crush/press can result in ladybug taint in the wine.

One year here they became a pest themselves, as they were everywhere. Quite tedious work that year to remove them from the grapes before crushing.

 

[Johny99]

Bloom is just starting. Most vines have reached the upper wires, lots of shoots to tuck. A couple of cordons, one Sangiovese and a Sauvignon Blanc have shoots only 4-6 inches. Look healthy, just way behind. I wonder if they are second or third buds. I guess I'll see if they have cluster.

did get the mowing done at least

 

[Stressbaby]

You said vineyards large and small...here is small.

My vines have been in the ground now about 8 weeks. May be hard to see here but this is Foch and Frontenac on the right, all but one vine in this row up and out of the grow tubes. Traminette is the row to the left and the closeup. My Nortons are behind, and I'm wondering if it is a matter of harder to root = less developed root systems on shipping = slower growth year 1.

 

[Johny99]

@stressbaby. Nice flat ground. Look like they are up to the fruiting wire already. I'm impressed. Are they own rooted or grafted. Different rootstocks in the grafted case maybe?

 

[Stressbaby]

@Johny99,
Everything I have is on its own rootstock with the exception of my 10 Chardonel, which are growing as well as any of the rest.

 

[padolin]

Here is my small vineyard in WV. These are Valvin Muscat, NY Muscat, Chambourcin, Ives and traminette.

 

[padolin]

sorry they are sideways...

 

[Stressbaby]

I like the signs!

 

[Johny99]

I like the signs!

Me too. Make my cattle ear tags look lame

 

[BlueStimulator]

Here is an update in YAKIMA

Just about one year old today

I guess my picture privileges have been revoked

I do have some pics I'd like to post but here is the message I get

vBulletin Message
BlueStimulator, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

 

[sour_grapes]

BlueStim: did you try to post, then alter anything? I get that message occasionally, but only when I try to alter the pictures I posted using the "Manage Attachments" box. If I just "do it right" the first time, it works. Maybe you could try again?

 

[BlueStimulator]

One year old almost exactly, planted last mid June Viognier

 

[BlueStimulator]

Looks like I have some pruning this weekend 4 year old Viognier

 

[BlueStimulator]

The Red grapes may need some pruning also I may open up the bottom leaves

Weird same message as above but it allowed me to post two pics

 

[Johny99]

Way too neat Jason::

I have shoots to tuck, suckers to strip and a sick wife. Good thing the grapes don't care! The birds have started taking cherries, just to remind me I need to net in a month.

 

[BlueStimulator]

John they are even more neat now. :::: I pruned them this weekend. A sick wife is no fun at all. I still need to cluster thin too. Do you remove the bottom leaves on your reds or just let them be? Oh and remember I only have 20 (3 year old vines) and 6 (1year old vines). I don't have a real vineyard like you. I still need to get up and see your set up.

On a fun note I racked and bulk blended my Cutthroat Cabernet. I took a bottle of the left over to family dinner and a some even liked the 9 month old vintage. Here is what the blend was

3 gallons of Cab Sav
2 gallons of Petie Verdot
1.5 gallons of Cab Franc

It is lighter than a full Cab but I think I need to let sit on the skins a few days longer to get more color and flavor. It may even be drinkable some day, next step is to bottle and create my labels

The Viognier is quite spicy and I think where I planted the vines by a basalt rock wall gets to hot. The wine in the 5 gallon carboy looks a bit brown so I think I have had some oxidation at some point.

I guess that is the kind of mistakes a newbie makes

 

[Johny99]

John they are even more neat now. :::: I pruned them this weekend. A sick wife is no fun at all. I still need to cluster thin too. Do you remove the bottom leaves on your reds or just let them be? Oh and remember I only have 20 (3 year old vines) and 6 (1year old vines). I don't have a real vineyard like you. I still need to get up and see your set up.

On a fun note I racked and bulk blended my Cutthroat Cabernet. I took a bottle of the left over to family dinner and a some even liked the 9 month old vintage. Here is what the blend was

3 gallons of Cab Sav
2 gallons of Petie Verdot
1.5 gallons of Cab Franc

It is lighter than a full Cab but I think I need to let sit on the skins a few days longer to get more color and flavor. It may even be drinkable some day, next step is to bottle and create my labels

The Viognier is quite spicy and I think where I planted the vines by a basalt rock wall gets to hot. The wine in the 5 gallon carboy looks a bit brown so I think I have had some oxidation at some point.

I guess that is the kind of mistakes a newbie makes

Not mistakes, but experience. I'd like to get together and compare our Viognier some time. That is one where I really don't know what I'm doing.

I like the cs, pv, cf blend. Cf tends to be lighter but the pv is a powerful counterpart. In 15 I did a field blend of cs, pv, merlot, and cf. getting tasty now. I need to bottle it before fall to make room

I pluck some basel leaves, but not too much, laziness I suppose. My rows run east west, I know not ideal but the slope goes that way and is 20-30 degrees. Anyway, a couple of local vineyards I've helped at to learn, pull leaves in the fruiting zone for the reds, on the east side only. One cited sunlight into wine, which is a good read if you get geeky enough

I tucked two rows of shoots and suckered real quick last night. Only 14 rows to go! Leafhoppers are moderate, not sure when the systemic should kick in. We'll see I guess.

It is finally getting hot again up here, hit 90 yesterday and today. Had our first fire, lightening this afternoon near one of our Dams. Nobody lives close so not a big worry, yet.

For y'all out west, be careful this weekend, it was wet, but this heat has dried it all out. ::::::