BlueStimulator
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Looking good
Chateau Michaelena Vineyard
- Thread starter ibglowin
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Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:
Its been a HOT and DRY Summer so far and even with watering every few days it seems like the vines are struggling in the heat. We finally seem to be getting a normal monsoon pattern setting up. Its only a month late! Here are some pics I snapped today. We got 0.50 inch of rain last night with more forecast for this week. Hoping things can catch up. Verasion has begun on some varieties the last week or so.
Not in the least LOL. I am watching birds closely now. Might have to net this weekend.
That's just awesome. I am admittedly and openly jealous of your ability to grow great winemaking grapes, short of moving, I have no chance down here. The grapes look beautiful and I marvel at the pristine look of your leaves, like they just opened. I'm sure it all looks so good because of your attentiveness to pruning and spraying regimen. Keep up the pic posting Mike, I'm loving it!! Maybe one day.....
Thanks John! I planted these just wondering what they would do. Knowing now what I didn't know then I would have chosen more Noiret and Corot Noir as they break bud about 10-14 days later than the Marquette. I got 9 gallons of finished wine last year. I just do a field blend for each year. Believe it or not I have no spray program as we have zero disease pressure. Just too dry for fungus. I do have a small downy mildew problem but not enough of one to treat since it only effects a few leaves and not the grapes. These are all Cold Hardy Hybrids that survive our cold Winters. You have the exact opposite problem, no Winter and long Summer. Muscadines my friend, you need to learn to like Muscadine wine! 
Here is a snap from a few years back!
Here is a snap from a few years back!
![[Upgraded] 9Pcs Tree Root Growing Box with Drain Holes, Half Transparent Plant Rooting Propagation Ball & Metal Core Twist Ties, for Fast Propagation Plants (Size M)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514MWQxtWOL._SL500_.jpg)
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They are coming along nicely Mike. I am just beginning to see a few berries here and there showing some color- exactly the same day as last year.
My in laws have red variety muscadines and also blueberries, I'll be getting about 10 gallons of frozen blueberries from them this weekend. I just can't do the red muscadines, that wild foxy taste abrades my palate. We have a local winery that does them, marginal at best. The sweeter ones are better, but I don't like the sweet wines.
A friend here in town is going to give me all of his white muscadines, I'm going to bunch press, settle, and try a white from them just to see how it comes out.
I'm learning to be satisfied with WMT grape growers pics, and make wine from frozen must.....
A friend here in town is going to give me all of his white muscadines, I'm going to bunch press, settle, and try a white from them just to see how it comes out.
I'm learning to be satisfied with WMT grape growers pics, and make wine from frozen must.....
Thanks Rich!
We got an inch of wonderful soft rain during the night last night! That makes 1.5" in 3 days and thats a blessing and a LOT for us. Nighttime rains are always hail free, daytime rains have (some form of) hail more often than not due to the added heat in the atmosphere. The vines, my garden, my bluegrass yard and my dahlia's are gonna love this for sure!
We got an inch of wonderful soft rain during the night last night! That makes 1.5" in 3 days and thats a blessing and a LOT for us. Nighttime rains are always hail free, daytime rains have (some form of) hail more often than not due to the added heat in the atmosphere. The vines, my garden, my bluegrass yard and my dahlia's are gonna love this for sure!
Absolutely beautiful Mike! Here's to a great vintage!! It's so dry here in Utah, I have been watering as well. I'm glad your getting rain, make it move a little further north please!! I wish I had more experience irrigating, I feel my vines have suffered this year. I, like you, really like not having to worry about a spray program!! Ha!
Getting close now!
Nice! There beautiful! Get the press cleaned!!
Tnuscan
Tnuscan=Tennesseean
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WOW!!!! Great job. You are the man. I'm impressed, no I'm shocked, no I'm confused. I have been told you can't grow grapes like that. Think I'll print and share these pictures with some growers I know.
Edit: I hope my post isn't taken the wrong way. Those pictures show your appreciation of quality. If your grapes look that nice , I'm betting your wines are awesome.
Edit: I hope my post isn't taken the wrong way. Those pictures show your appreciation of quality. If your grapes look that nice , I'm betting your wines are awesome.
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Well the replacement of Marquette with Noiret begins in 2017!
It (Marquette) may make a fantastic wine but it doesn't do well in my location due to late Spring frost most every year. I also happen to have a large concentration of basalt rock. If fact the entire area around here was formed by a giant volcano (Valles Caldera) that blew up eons ago and the resulting lava flow created all of the finger mesa's in this part of northern NM. So my micro vineyard is kinda like the rocks district in WA state that is now becoming so well known for amazing Syrah's. In fact that is what my wines are coming out like. The terroir from the basalt rocks are contributing these funky flavors that are earthy, meaty, gamey and almost a note of olive tapenade. If it is producing 90-98 point (WS) Syrah's why not grow the cold hardy grape that is most like a Syrah and it blooms 10 days later than Marquette? Vines are the 1-X version from Double A an have very nice root systems already.
It (Marquette) may make a fantastic wine but it doesn't do well in my location due to late Spring frost most every year. I also happen to have a large concentration of basalt rock. If fact the entire area around here was formed by a giant volcano (Valles Caldera) that blew up eons ago and the resulting lava flow created all of the finger mesa's in this part of northern NM. So my micro vineyard is kinda like the rocks district in WA state that is now becoming so well known for amazing Syrah's. In fact that is what my wines are coming out like. The terroir from the basalt rocks are contributing these funky flavors that are earthy, meaty, gamey and almost a note of olive tapenade. If it is producing 90-98 point (WS) Syrah's why not grow the cold hardy grape that is most like a Syrah and it blooms 10 days later than Marquette? Vines are the 1-X version from Double A an have very nice root systems already.
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Is your ground thawed there? We had another 3 inches of snow here! What a winter wonderland this morning. EVERYTHING was covered in a nice white blanket.
Oh yea, we have had a warm but luckily wet winter. We got many of the pacific fronts from CA this winter and almost no arctic fronts. The last two weeks we were 15-20 degrees above normal temp wise. I watered the yard and garden/vineyard last weekend. My Marquette vine up by the house/patio looks like it is starting to push as of today. Don't think we have gotten below freezing for a few weeks now. Down in the mid 30's most mornings. Supposed to get more rain later this week.
LOL No I paid extra for those roots, think I will keep them! Since I am replacing vines there is already a hole I dug ~5 years ago. Sometimes I would get lucky and only run into softball sized basalt rock and other times I would run into basically a boulder sized one (at least it seemed) I even used a breaker bar many times to break up the rocks and dig them out piece by piece.......
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