It’s hard to believe that New Year’s Eve is here already! David and I have been busy this fall catching up on yard and house maintenance that gets low priority while the vines are growing. So before 2021 arrives here’s a wrap up of the 2020 season.
The 2020 season started off with budbreak arriving a little early. Before we knew it the shoots were past the top wire but we were able to stay ahead of the growth and keep things tidy. Every year we seek to find the perfect balance of water and nutritional needs versus supply as we head into veraison (ripening) and finally to harvest. Harvest was also early this season with some varieties well ahead of schedule. Harvest for all varieties was completed by August 25 and we had all the bird netting put away on August 29 – a new record! We’re excited to report that this year we had very good yields as well as excellent fruit quality, in fact we think it is the best we have seen yet! Check out the previous harvest posts for in depth details.
The harvest volunteers continue to be outstanding and they amazed us by having the 2 largest varieties (Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc) off the vines and in the bins by 10 am! We are truly thankful for all the wonderful folks who make it possible. COVID-19 threw a bit of a kink in our harvest day arrangements but fortunately it’s an outdoor activity so there is plenty of fresh air and room for social distancing. I did have to make some adjustments to the food service to incorporate individual servings but that turned out to be a good thing since it allowed me to get creative and try new things.
Death of a mower: those of you who have been here on harvest day have seen the old John Deere 180 mower that we use to gather the buckets of grapes and a few of you brave souls have even driven the ‘beast’. After 22 years of service (plus 10 years elsewhere prior to our ownership) it finally coughed to a final halt and was put to rest. We have now upgraded to a new and larger model.
Varietal change: Cabernet Sauvignon has never been completely happy on our site. We wondered: why are we putting in all this work to get unexceptional fruit? So we decided to remove the Cabernet Sauvignon and replace it with Cabernet Franc. We also added a new zone of Cabernet Franc for a total of 725 new Cabernet Franc vines planted in 2020. We’re looking forward to working with ‘our friend Frank’ as the crew at Lost Oak Winery likes to call it.
Another change for 2020 was an extra set of hands in the vineyard. We have been fortunate to have Roland Rodriguez as an intern. He is working on a degree in Plant and Soil Science with a concentration in local food and wine production systems at Texas Tech. His degree requires hands on work and we are happy to say that we have been able to provide plenty of that. He missed planting season but has experienced all the other vineyard tasks. It’s safe to say that he now has plenty of first hand knowledge to go along with his classroom learning! We’re looking forward to working with Roland again in 2021.
Here in North Texas it’s chilly and a much-needed rain continues to fall. We’ll enjoy one more day of winter break and then we’ll be back to work to start rough pruning. The 2021 season will be here before we know it.
There’s so much to share but I don’t want to go overboard in one post. Check back for future updates on vineyard and winery news.
Happy New Year!
