State of the Vineyard, Part I (June 2007): First flowering

(Bud burst)
(Note: Every Saturday and Sunday I run my two dogs Olive and Popeye in the vineyards. Inspired by the first flowering in the vineyard I wrote this e-mail on my Blackberry and sent it out as an e-blast to a small group of friends. The response was so great that I started the blog in October. State of the Vineyard Parts II and III will follow.)


Sunday June 3rd, 2007

"Hi all

Just walking Olive and Popeye and thought I'd send you an update on the vineyard: The Baco Noir started flowering overnight which means that Chardonnay, Pinots Noir and Blanc and Gamay won't be far behind. Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and the Meritage reds (Merlot, then Cabernet Franc, then Cabernet Sauvignon) will follow, all in roughly that order. So, with flowering just started, it will be about 100 days till harvest (rule of thumb) -- but a lot can happen along the way speeding up or slowing things down. Harvest for still wines usually starts in the second or third week of Sept so we're right on track.

(Pre-flowering -- the little caps still cover the flowers)
After a slightly slow start this year the vineyards are in major growth mode. We actually prefer a slow start (meaning cool weather through mid-to late May) since it delays bud break. This means minimal risk of damage should we get a late spring frost. (If the buds aren't out then they are less susceptible to frost damage.) We have wind machines if necessary but winter is really our biggest frost worry, not spring. Ahhh, farming.

In Niagara the season goes from winter right into summer. Spring is very cool and short so the vines barely react to it. When the heat does come on the green growth explodes out of the vines. For example, the shoots on the later budding Riesling have grown about 2 feet in 2 weeks! I'm looking at a Baco Noir vine as I write this and it has enjoyed 3-4 feet of growth in the same time.

(The tiny caps are off revealing tiny flowers with
5 stamin each. Those that self pollinate become grapes)
The mild winter just past has meant a very good bud count. Buds have burst every 4-6 inches on the vine so we have a very consistently distributed crop. After shoot thinning (to keep the best positioned buds) we will be left with the canopy trained for high quality: vertical shoot positioning, consistently distributed buds all at the same height on the vine and rows planted north/south for even sun exposure on both sides of the vine (this applies to our latitude in our hemisphere). All of these factors even out ripening and push fruit aromatics, so-called physiological ripeness, as well as sugar/acid balance. Unfortunately much of this work has to be done by hand -- but who said quality came easily, or for free?!

(From zero growth to hero growth in 2 weeks: Cabernet Franc)
All of our vineyards are in the Short Hills Bench on moisture retaining clay soils. We had a lot of rain over the winter and some of that is being held in the clay. As our vines are all quite established with deep root systems they have access to water far down in the ground. The dryness hasn't been an issue for us to this point and won't be for a while. Still, it has been a fairly dry spring so far and we'd like to see some rain. Let's hope for cool nights with rain and warm weather during the day!



Back to running the dogs (Popeye is off chasing a jack rabbit the size of a small deer!)

Daniel

(PS -- Olive and Popeye recline at home

after a good chase awaiting a cookie

in lieu of the rabbit they didn't catch)