Taking on a vineyard project - Merlot

[NorCal]

NorCal - My crystal ball tells me you will be managing the entire acre next year followed by buying the vineyard outright! Awesome job and jeep the posts/pics coming in.

I help manage a 20 acre vineyard for the community I live in and know the work involved. If I were retired and looking for another hobby, I could see doing a small vineyard, but grapes are plentiful and pretty inexpensive where I’m at. For now I’ll stick to winemaking, tinkering with old cars and lending a hand with my wife’s horse.

I‘m due to go over to the vineyard as we are coming up on the time to start irrigation. We do around 5 gallons per plant per week.

 

[Cynewulf]

I help manage a 20 acre vineyard for the community I live in and know the work involved. If I were retired and looking for another hobby, I could see doing a small vineyard, but grapes are plentiful and pretty inexpensive where I’m at. For now I’ll stick to winemaking, tinkering with old cars and lending a hand with my wife’s horse.

I‘m due to go over to the vineyard as we are coming up on the time to start irrigation. We do around 5 gallons per plant per week.

I’m curious about what happens if you didn’t irrigate where you are in California. I don’t irrigate my little vineyard but this will be the first year I’m hoping to get some grapes and we have fairly wet summers in Virginia so I think watering might be counterproductive, though who knows - I may regret it. Otherwise the little bit of amateur education I have was chatting with a few smaller winemakers in the Rhône in France when I lived there and they didn’t seem to irrigate. Does it just ensure that you have more consistent results or is it an absolute necessity for you?

 

[NorCal]

Our soils have a lot of granite, so moisture retention and heat is a challenge. The vines would be distressed if they did not get irrigated. We only water around 6 - 8 weeks, so not too bad.

The vines will tell you if they need water, we just need to listen.

Here is what this week looks like.

 

[hounddawg]

dang reading this thread makes me happy to be a country wine maker,
, i take it that one could more or less do muscadines that way, i'm way to old and broke down to climb trees anymore. been wondering about running some near the barbed wire fences to the fences, but that's more than i wish to handle,,, but i do respect that kind of knowledge and drive,,,,,
Dawg

 

[Cynewulf]

Our soils have a lot of granite, so moisture retention and heat is a challenge. The vines would be distressed if they did not get irrigated. We only water around 6 - 8 weeks, so not too bad.

The vines will tell you if they need water, we just need to listen.

Here is what this week looks like.

Thanks for the response; this is very interesting and helpful to me. I’m still figuring out my own site and climate to understand what its needs will be as my vines continue to mature. It gets hot here but we have a lot of clay which seems to retain moisture fairly well and summer thunderstorms which bring water, along with other problems like disease pressure. I always enjoy your posts and learning from an expert!

 

[NorCal]

Thanks for the response; this is very interesting and helpful to me. I’m still figuring out my own site and climate to understand what its needs will be as my vines continue to mature. It gets hot here but we have a lot of clay which seems to retain moisture fairly well and summer thunderstorms which bring water, along with other problems like disease pressure. I always enjoy your posts and learning from an expert!

Thanks for your vote of confidence, but I'm a novice and there are a lot more people on the site that have forgotten more than I'll ever know.

I am going to swing by the vineyard this evening. With the warm weather and the breeze we've been having, it should really help reduce the mildew pressure, but it is worth checking to see how my investment in time is doing.

 

[1d10t]

Has the vineyard owner been taking notes?

 

[NorCal]

Went by and did some leafing around the clusters, with the desire to have good air flow. I was less aggressive on the side the faces the setting sun, as to make sure there is ample canopy to protect the fruit from the sun.

I’m sure I’m not doing things perfect, but the vines are appreciating the care they are being given.


A picture of the leaves right across from it on the in cared for next row

And a little video that tells the story better.

 

[Boatboy24]

Wow, that video tells quite a story.

 

[NorCal]

I sent a text to the vineyard owner, letting them know that we will need to start irrigation soon. Her reply was that they already started. I asked how many gallons per week? With our climate and soil in our area, we give the vines around 5 gallons per week, so I was expecting something close to that. Her response was 24 gallons.

This could be a contributor to the mildew issue in the vineyard. She agreed to back it down to the 5 gallons and monitor the vine health.

 

[NorCal]

Did another round of de-leafing in the fruit zone, so I had better access to spray. I then gave it another sulfur spray. I still don’t see any sign of mildew, hopefully we can get to verasion without this rearing it’s ugly head.

i did notice that the leafhoppers are making their presence known. Last year the canopy fell apart prematurely due to the leafhopper damage, forcing us to pick the grapes at 22.5 brix. I plan on spraying for these guys this weekend.

My non-scientific measurement of leafhoppers was to grab a long vine, shake it and then estimate the number of leafhoppers coming off the vine. I estimated 30-40 each time I shook a vine. I’ll use that to see as a baseline to see if my spraying is effective. It should be noted that I’m taking care of one row of grapes out of 25 or so, which are not being sprayed.

I do not know if there is any lasting affect with the spray; will the spray just kill the ones that I spray, but an hour later they will be replaced by ones coming from the row right next to it? We shall see.

 

[hounddawg]

Did another round of de-leafing in the fruit zone, so I had better access to spray. I then gave it another sulfur spray. I still don’t see any sign of mildew, hopefully we can get to verasion without this rearing it’s ugly head.

i did notice that the leafhoppers are making their presence known. Last year the canopy fell apart prematurely due to the leafhopper damage, forcing us to pick the grapes at 22.5 brix. I plan on spraying for these guys this weekend.

My non-scientific measurement of leafhoppers was to grab a long vine, shake it and then estimate the number of leafhoppers coming off the vine. I estimated 30-40 each time I shook a vine. I’ll use that to see as a baseline to see if my spraying is effective. It should be noted that I’m taking care of one row of grapes out of 25 or so, which are not being sprayed.

I do not know if there is any lasting affect with the spray; will the spray just kill the ones that I spray, but an hour later they will be replaced by ones coming from the row right next to it? We shall see.

AW WAY TO GO GRASSHOPPER,,,,,, lol
Dawg

 

[NorCal]

Gave the row a spray today for the leafhopper. Not sure if it will be effective at all, since I only sprayed my row. I did see some deer damage, which is a little disconcerting.

 

[Cynewulf]

Gave the row a spray today for the leafhopper. Not sure if it will be effective at all, since I only sprayed my row. I did see some deer damage, which is a little disconcerting.
View attachment 63199

Are you certain that’s from a deer? It looks like the hornworm damage I dealt with a couple years ago. I thought it was deer at the time but also thought it was strange they had been so surgical with the leaves since they’re a lot rougher on my fruit trees. Then I started finding the giant green caterpillars and figured out what was going on and now spray with BT. I believe you have hornworms in California as well. Grapes are looking great.

 

[NorCal]

Are you certain that’s from a deer? It looks like the hornworm damage I dealt with a couple years ago. I thought it was deer at the time but also thought it was strange they had been so surgical with the leaves since they’re a lot rougher on my fruit trees. Then I started finding the giant green caterpillars and figured out what was going on and now spray with BT. I believe you have hornworms in California as well. Grapes are looking great.

Totally an assumption, based on the leaves missing were on the end of the row or sticking out into the row. There is a lot going on with these vines. I see evidence of other critters and leaf damage typical of the skelotizer. I think caring for part of this vineyard will be one and done. Hopefully I can get some good fruit in the bin. Last year the canopy fell apart the first week in Sept and we were forced to pick at 22.5 brix. I’m hoping the spray will help the canopy hold on until 25 brix.

 

[VinesnBines]

Cynewulf; You do not need to irrigate mature vines in Virginia. My first year vines survived three weeks last September without a drop of water and 90 degree temperatures. We broke over and watered until the second week of October but I’m still not sure it was necessary.

 

[NorCal]

Went to the vineyard today to check on the grapes. First sign of verasio and the wines look like they are doing well on the prescribed amount of water. I will say that there were more leafhoppers on my vines than the others! Not sure if they are migrating to my healthier vines, but looks like my bug spray didn’t have any impact

 

[hounddawg]

Went to the vineyard today to check on the grapes. First sign of verasio and the wines look like they are doing well on the prescribed amount of water. I will say that there were more leafhoppers on my vines than the others! Not sure if they are migrating to my healthier vines, but looks like my bug spray didn’t have any impact

wont some DDT
Dawg

 

[Cynewulf]

What do you think caused the poor fruit set in the other vines? Improper pruning and disease management?

 

[NorCal]

What do you think caused the poor fruit set in the other vines? Improper pruning and disease management?

Improper pruning and no disease management. The owners are very nice people and sell the fruit to local home winemakers. I think they lack the knowledge and perhaps willingness to put in the effort necessary to produce the best fruit the vines are capable of. Either that or they know something I don’t; it’s not over until the fruit is in the bin.