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May 04, 2005
Rain, rain, go away... soon.
Yes, it's raining again in Wine Country.
Many people, including myself, have wondered what effect this unusually wet winter and spring will have on the upcoming growing season. I had the chance to talk with our vineyard manager Jim Barbour yesterday and ask him what he thought. "It's a good thing... as long as it stops," he said. The extra precipitation this year will allow us to delay irrigation until possibly late June - early July and let the grapes get their moisture the old fashioned way. Now, if the rains don't stop by the time flowering begins, it could cause shatter and reduce crop size by a significant amount. Jim doesn't think powdery mildew (a mildew that can grow on the grapes if they are kept moist) is a danger at this time.
Another effect of all the moisture that will be in the soil is once the sun does come out and it warms up, the vines are going to shoot up and produce leaves like nobody's business. The vineyard will look like a jungle for a while since we'll let them exert some excess energy and moisture before hedging them shorter. We'll also let the cover crop grow for a while before mowing to bleed off even more excess. It's a balancing act.
The vineyard crews will go through Butterdragon this next week for "suckering" where they pull off extraneous shoots from the vines.
Posted by matchvineyards at May 4, 2005 05:43 PM
