The 2024 crop year

[Garagista]

Lodi is looking to be an early harvest. Here are the GDD for the last 5 years for Lodi as of July 11th.

 

[Snafflebit]

My little vineyrd of 45 plants has been doing great so far. They are 15 year-old vines that have pretty much 'rooted' down deep, so I haven't had to irrigate just yet. I just finished up pulling leaves on the shady side of the rows to let the canopy 'breathe' and to also let my sulphur spray penetrate the canopy a bit better. I haven't been able to spray any sulphur lately, due to the heat, but it has finally cooled enough to spray now. Powdery mildew is a real thing here in SW Washington state so spraying sulphur is kind of important. The high heat has probably kept it at bay, but we have cool mornings that just breed powdery mildew like crazy.
Weather has been 90-105 degree days, but with a nice breeze to circulate through the vineyard. Have to like that!

Hello Neb Farmer
I am curious about the orientation of your vines and your trellis style. Are your rows east-west or north-south?

 

[Neb Farmer]

Hello Neb Farmer
I am curious about the orientation of your vines and your trellis style. Are your rows east-west or north-south?

I planted my rows pretty much in an East to West orientation, allowing one side of the rows to get The Sun .
I use a basic VSP trellis style....one lower fruiting/cordon wire, a smaller pair of catch wires above that, and a top wire. I use a drip line watering system that is actually on the ground and not 'up in the air' .
I cane prune everything, riesling, sangiovese and the nebbiolo.

 

[Snafflebit]

I have veraison on the Zin, it came on fast. This happened in 3 days. Thats what heat will do.

 

[Ventisei]

Snafflebit, where are you located? What elevation are you? I am also close to Tahoe on the Nevada side, south of Reno near Mt. Rose. I have Merlot grapes and am freaked out about your veraison of the Zin grapes. Do you have a problem with birds? Do you use netting? This is the first year we haven't dropped our grapes and everything looks good so far but we are not prepared with netting or for birds.

 

[Snafflebit]

@Ventisei I am located in San Jose, Calif. zone 9b. just about sea level

I do not recommend using this year's vine behavior as a normal indicator. These vines are 1.5 years old, so they are establishing roots and trunks. I should have dropped the clusters but the growth has been so aggressive I needed something to sink nutrients and slow the roll.

And yes I saw a fat starling picking a grape off of one of my beautiful clusters. I am not sure how I will net these vines yet because they are head trained.


Just for the heck of it I measured Brix on one big, juicy grape and the Brix=15.6 Higher than I expected. It looks like an early harvest IMO.

 

[Snafflebit]

@Ventisei I hope this helps. I visited the Merlot vines today. The merlot is just starting to turn color on a few end row clusters.

 

[Ventisei]

Beautiful! Thanks for the info!

 

[Garagista]

@Ventisei I hope this helps. I visited the Merlot vines today. The merlot is just starting to turn color on a few end row clusters.
View attachment 114355

Nice. Yep, that looks like San Jose. Lived there for 12 years!

 

[Snafflebit]

How is everyone’s grapes looking?

I dropped lagging clusters today. Mainly clipped off lagging wings. I am trying to harvest a little early not pushing ripeness to the absolute limit. The wine is enjoyed by my hooch hound friends, but I would like to make a wine that is more balanced and does not need acid adjustment. We will see if I have the skills.

Brix per row: 18 18 15 20 17 16





The leavings

 

[Kraffty]

Your grapes are looking really good, do you have a brix average you're shooting for before harvesting?

 

[Snafflebit]

25 Brix is my aim, but I also look at the growing degree-days to make sure they are ripening normally and the taste also.

 

[GSMChris]

Snafflebit - l am also out dropping fruit although my vines are just in the early stages. As I cut the fruit and discard it, is like telling your kids they aren’t good enough!!!

 

[Ventisei]

How is everyone’s grapes looking?

I dropped lagging clusters today. Mainly clipped off lagging wings. I am trying to harvest a little early not pushing ripeness to the absolute limit. The wine is enjoyed by my hooch hound friends, but I would like to make a wine that is more balanced and does not need acid adjustment. We will see if I have the skills.

Brix per row: 18 18 15 20 17 16

View attachment 114706

View attachment 114707

The leavings
View attachment 114708

Those are gorgeous!

 

[Snafflebit]

Zinfandel has sized up. Brix=21 Harvest season is right around the corner!!!!
I am new to growing Zin and the berries are huge, compared to Cab or Merlot.

 

[Garagista]

Zinfandel has sized up. Brix=21 Harvest season is right around the corner!!!!
I am new to growing Zin and the berries are huge, compared to Cab or Merlot.

View attachment 114912

Very, very nice. UC Davis says Zin can have really large berries and big bunches.

 

[Snafflebit]

I would guess that the large berries of Zinfandel is why it lacks the tannic punch of Cab Sauv. I will get quite a bit of juice out of my small planting.

 

[winemaker81]

I would guess that the large berries of Zinfandel is why it lacks the tannic punch of Cab Sauv. I will get quite a bit of juice out of my small planting.

You may consider blending in 10% to 20% of a different red Vinifera. The Zin will dominate, but another varietal or two will probably give it depth.

In 2020 I made a Merlot (40%) / Zinfandel (40%) / Bordeaux Blend (20%), and surprisingly enough, the Zin shines through.

 

[mgmarty]

Looks to be another good year. Foch is always the first to get netted.

 

[wood1954]

Grapes look great, does Foch complete veraison uniformly? It takes my Marquette about three weeks for all the clusters to completely color.