Running a winery with associated estate vineyards keeps you busy throughout the year.
If it’s not the grapes it’s the wine – if not the wine – it’s the grapes…
The farming aspects of wine grapes and the biological aspects of wine making are the most uncertain and
Beautiful grapes, blue sky & ENW cottage in the background
challenging elements facing winemakers and grape growers.
In the spring, when necessary, I spent the day on the tractor tilling and weeding the vineyards – although dormant, they look great!!! Each new season is a renewal of life, and March bud break is the harbinger of fall harvest work to come.
Following a sustainable farming and operations philosophy, we haven’t used any pesticides or herbicides in our vineyards. Growing and pest conditions have thankfully been highly beneficial with the exception for late season juice-hungry wasps and yellow jackets that had a focused taste for our estate Tempranillo grapes… See this blog post the a discussion of sustainable, organic, and biodynamic farming techniques (Click here).
Dormant west vineyards freshly tilled
Above 2009 photo of the west vineyard that contributed several TONS of grapes to our 2008 harvest depicts the pre-bud break visage of a bunch of sticks — No vibrant green grape leaves or luscious post veraison (color change) fruit clusters – like below from 2008 photo w/the cottage in the background…
The now dormant vines, all tied and pruned for the upcoming 2009 growing season look to be in great shape. This spring we helped friends plant a vineyard on their estate. We keep friends and followers all tuned into the activity schedule via our private blog http://eaglesnestwinery.ning.com.
Pruned and tied cordons ready for the growing season
Photo left shows 2009 pre-pruned vines and cordon tying. We’ve elected to leave a few extra buds on the spur to insure we get at least two good buds after any possible frost. Some vineyards drastically prune back to two buds and if they freeze – well there’s always next year… we can’t afford that risk with our operation – we need quality estate grapes every year. If we have too many buds, we’ll pinch them off when they are fragile little greenies.
BTW, green growth on vines is very fragile – it’s similar to the tops of celery stalks city folks see in the produce department – only more fragile. Bend and snap a crisp celery leaf top sometime.
Leafpulled, mid season pruned vineyard row
Farming an acre of winegrapes is significantly more labor intensive than an acre of wheat in Kansas. I’ve seen data indicating a few manhours/acre for wheat to well over 200 manhours per acre for winegrapes.
Pictured right is a mid-season pruned, leaf thinned vineyard row reflecting canopy management and cluster thinning techniques – we wish they grew this way naturally (without our help (labor) ! Eagles Nest vacation villa/cottage is in the background
Parts of a grape vine
Annual Wine Grape Growing Growing Cycle (Northern Hemisphere)
Remember in the Southern hemisphere the seasons are 6 months off ours – Winter in in USA, Summer in Australia, South America, and Africa. Australia, Chile, Argentina and South Africa have their grape harvests in just a few months! We follow in September through November.
Once planted, grape vines take about two-four years to begin producing fruit suitable for making into wine, although a very small first season yield is possible. Once established, the vines can produce fruit for many years – most productively to the 25 years point but vines can still produce up to a century after their first harvest (think old or ancient vine Zinfandel) with diminished yields.
Vineyards are farms that follow a continuous cycle of preparation, production and harvest. The growth cycle starts in the spring but I’ll start with the first month of the calendar year…
January – Wet weather and grey skies accompany the workers that aggressively prune the vines. The discarded vine clippings get mulched as the cover crops are mowed or the soil tilled.
February into March – Pruning wraps up and the cycle starts again
March/April – The visible growth cycle starts – the buds on the vines begin to leaf. This is called bud break. With the re-introduction of leaves, photosynthesis begins to nourish the vine. Frost is a threat to the vines at this time. In northern areas vineyards protect their crops with sprinklers may be used to provide a protective insulating layer of ice around the tender buds. Sounds odd ice to keep the buds “warm” but it works.
May – The vines begin their subtle bloom. The bloom is usually complete by late May and is followed by the fruit set. The nutritional state of the vines is checked and plan for the application of organic fertilizers. The new vertical shoots are positioned correctly by the use of the trellis while rainfall and soil moisture are carefully monitored at this time.
June – Fertilizer may be applied this month and the moisture levels in the ground are watched closely. If needed, drip irrigation is used to water the soil around the vines. Leaves are thinned, improving ventilation around white grapes and boosting the color of the reds. The grape clusters are thinned out if the crop is bountiful. Thinning is done to improve the overall quality of the grapes (a single vine can properly support and ripen a certain quantity of clusters – too many will negatively impact quality).
July – The ripening begins, “white” grapes change color from green to yellowish-green and the “reds” turn from green to purple. This is called verasion, and usually starts towards the end of the month.
August -The veraison begun in late July completes. By this time the berries have nearly doubled their size and developed deep color. In some vineyards, irrigation may be reduced or stopped. Attention now turns to the sugar and acid levels in the grapes.
September – This is a wonderful time in the vineyard. Harvest is approaching and the weather is fantastic. The sugar level are carefully monitored using refractometers and the wine makers and grape growers judge when bring in the harvest.
October – This is the month when the bulk of the harvest takes place. Some vineyards harvest by night or just prior to dawn to avoid having the grapes off the vine in the heat of the day. When the grapes are harvested the vines get a good soaking of water to help replenish nutrients in preparation for the following year. Cover crops may be planted to limit erosion from winter rainstorms. and there may be some fertilization of the vines depending on their needs.
Beautiful Fall vineyards Michele Schlumberger Winery, Healdsburg, CA
Right, is a beautiful post harvest fall colors photo taken during a 4-mile walking tour of the Michelle Schlumberger Winery’s October 2008 vineyards (Dry Creek, Sonoma California). Photo by Amy Corron Power – a Texas Wine Blogger (http://anotherwineblog.com) we met at WBC 08. She’s great and wrote an excellent blog post on the tour – one of the best tours we’ve ever had. Please visit and comment on her post at http://www.anotherwineblog.com/archives/697
November – The last of the harvest is completed by the middle of the month. Seasonal rains are rarely a threat in Southern California but a risk in the November (late) harvest season.
December – Pruning of the vines might get underway. Tests are performed to predict how fruitful the next buds will be. The degree of pruning depends on these tests.
January – Wet weather and gray skies accompany the workers that prune the vines. The discarded vine clippings get mulched as the cover crops are mowed.
February into March – Pruning wraps up and the cycle starts again
