Champlain Valley - Grapemans' vineyard - Planting to small winery

[grapeman]

Yeah we have about 16-20 inches right now. We are in our dry slot right now. The storms track to our south for about a month before they return up here in February. Those last about a month and a half and then it eventually warms up and melts.

 

[grapeman]

Continuing to record some temps for the vineyard today for future reference.


The temperature dropped to -20F last evening and continued to drop overnight to -22.4F on the side of the office-probably a bit colder in the open but the transmitters don't work on the other one when it gets that cold. Bydawn it has warmed back up to -12F here, still at -22 in Plattsburgh. They set a record there at -24F this AM-just a few miles away. Spots in Vermont and NH were about -40F.


I look forward to this spring when I will be able to assess the bud damage to the different grape varieties. I have alwys believed in averages, not what is conceived as "normal". Averages are more accurate since they are a continuing calculation. You will always have highs and lows. I think the polar caps may be making a recovery this year!

 

[gaudet]

Recovery??? Sounds more like relocation my friend. Keep warm up there.

 

[AlFulchino]

we hit 12 below by one report .....i expect i am close to damage on landot noir..and leon millot both of these are hardy to 15 below..i am in a valley so might have cordon damage...tonite is supposed to be colder






buona fortuna

 

[NorthernWinos]

Warming up on de-tundra...a balmy -14°F this morning...
Suppose to keep warming up, tho a bit a snow tonight.

Will be interesting to see what the Frontenac do here....The older vine is hanging on the wire and this year will be it's true test of production....Last year it got to -27 right next to the window of the house. I did a radical pruning last year and set the vine out of sync...it had a few clusters and was blooming at freeze up.

The young plants will probably live....lots of snow, but the tips might die back. Will be good to see if they can make it or not...then replace with something that will quit taking up space and actually produce.

As for the more tender vines that grow on panels...get laid down and covered with straw...They never really produce that well and am questioning their worth.

So it goes in the frozen north.

 

[grapeman]

I just got back in from going out to check on the winery. I guess I should have turned off the water to it before this cold spell. I was out there 2 days ago and everything was fine with a temp on the wall of 42F. Good for cold stabilizing. Don't know if the cold air shrunk the window sash or what, but the top part of one had dropped down an inch or so- open directly to -20F weather for two days! Temp is sitting at 28F and I have a half inch of ice in the soaking tub full of water! I turned on a heat lamp and shut the window! Hopefully I don't get any geisers! I will need to check a bit later as the temp hopefully raises above freezing. Funny but the water/k-meta solution in the airlocks isn't frozen at all! I may need to buy some vodka! I guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow.




Update 12:45: temp up to 33 degrees F in the winery. I will leave the lamp on a few more hours. I went and got Vodka for the airlocks and will add to them tomorrow when I have a few minutes. 45-50 airlocks takes a while to change over.

 

[grapeman]

Another overnight low of -22.4F. The temp is up to 13.3 right now, but the wind is blowing about 15mph so it is still cold. We even had a dusting of snow overnight.


I changed the airlocks over to vodka this AM, so even if it goes below freezing, they will be OK down to about 20 degrees or so.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Your wines are for sure getting cold stabilized aren't they????

That's plenty cold for you guys isn't it???

The cold Arctic/Siberian air stayed around here too long...thought there would never be any relief.

You should warm up soon....We are above zero now...steady temps and light blowing snow....

So it goes on de-frozen North.

 

[grapeman]

Yes it is plenty cold for us. We haven't seen temps like this in about 12-15 years. When I was young we would see at least -25F every year and often -30F. Temps have a way of evening out!


My wine should we well stabilized!

 

[Wade E]

Good thing you took a peak in there Rich or you might have had some winesickles!

Anyone ever had Chardonnel on a stick?

 

[NorthernWinos]

Glad your not trying to ferment out there either at this time....
Would be tough on the yeast.

 

[grapeman]

Good thing you took a peak in there Rich or you might have had some winesickles!

Anyone ever had Chardonnel on a stick?

I routinely check things out every day or two so if something happens, I know about it. I like the Chardonel on a stick idea! I will have to try it some day.


I bought a bottle of Traminette yesterday to try. I had planted some two years ago and wanted an idea of what to expect. I really wanted a Goose Watch Traminette-dry, but they were out so I settled for a 5% Bully Hill Traminette. I prefer any of my whites over that one- too sweet, yet too tart at the back of the tongue. The flavor is OK, but I think (actually I know) I could make a better one. Problem is now I expect no crop on them this coming year- oh well.........

 

[Wade E]

Because of this weather we are getting this winter?

 

[grapeman]

You got it Wade. These temps will likely freeze most of the primary buds where 75% of the flowers form. Some secondaries will be OK, but even some of them will freeze. The more hardy a vine is, the higher amount of primary buds survive.


When you farm you learn to roll with the punches. Assess the damage and move on from there. As long as the trunks don't split, they grow back OK, you just lose most of the crop that year.It generally happens most places at least one in ten years. The trick is to learn whatdoes well those 9 good years and just hope they survive that one bad year and believe me this is it!

 

[Wade E]

How much did you get of them last year?

 

[farmer]

Any time youdealwith Mother Nature you live with her terms and appreciate the good and the bad that comes along.


I guess that's what makes it fun or at least interesting.

 

[grapeman]

Off the Traminette I got about a half dozen grapes! There were a few cluster I had left to sample, but the turkeys told me when they were ready. I tried a couple grapes one day and said- those are close. The next day I went to let someone sample a berry, and they were all gone!


I am keeping my fingers crossed on them. They are supposed to be pretty hardy and they had hardened really well before heavy freezes. I left several canes to train possibly as a fan shape, so there are a lot of buds below the snow- which will be fine. I had even taken some of the canes off the wire and laid on the ground before the snow. I just don't want to count on them and be dissapointed, but if they have a good crop I will be elated.

 

[grapeman]

Over the weekend I took some preliminary cuttings to check for bud injury. I took the cuttings from one of the most tender varieties I grow- Chardonel. I would expect similar results from the Cab Franc. Remember this is a home vineyard at this point and I am trying to see which varieties I like and which of those survive well here in the long term.


I like the Chardonel a lot and will give it all the chances I can, but at this point I probably won't expand its numbers in the future. I only checked buds at the cordon height, taking 5 canes for sampling. Those numbers aren't high enough for a true test, but give me a bit of an idea of what to expect towards spring for pruning. At this point I expect total loss of the cordons on the Chardonel and possible trunk injury. This is based on the low temperature of -22.4F we experiencedwith 100% bud kill on the tested canes. I won't yank them out at this point because this may be a one time low and the vines are well established now. Time will tell how bad the damage is. I have other fairly tender varieties and will likely spend a whole day in March doing test cuttings and bud evaluation.


Here is some information on how to check the canes for damage.
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/hort/faculty/goffinet/AnatomyWinterInjury.pdf




Here are a couple pitures showing how to make the bud cuts
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/hort/faculty/pool/budcoldinjury/Assessingbudcoldinjury.html




You guys in the south and California have a definite advantage in protection from winter time lows, but we don't get hit as bad with other things.

 

[OilnH2O]

Hmmm... I think I'll be a little more concerned now, noting it is -8* out there this morning. We've had only one 5-day period in mid-December of below zero temperatures. And, today -- but this is not supposed to last (in the 20's and snow tomorrow). I was concerned about the lack of snow on the ground for most of this winter (we have about 3 inches right now, and only about 8" at any one time) but wasn't thinking of the buds.... Thanks for the heads up, Rich!

 

[AlFulchino]

so ...regarding the 100% kill number that you saw on the examined chardonel cordons.......did you ascertain that the secondary and tertiary buds also were at 100% kill?

what is that vine rated to take?