Mother Nature has waived the checkered flag and the vines have put the pedal to the metal. We have rapid shoot growth and in spite of the February Freeze we are seeing abundant flower clusters in all varieties -yahoo! After the clusters bloom and we can evaluate fruit set we’ll have a better idea of the season’s projected crop load, but so far it’s looking good.
Once the shoots are up and growing we have our hands full keeping them in shape. The first big task is shoot thinning: removing extra shoots, unfruitful shoots, or shoots in the wrong places. Since we have very enthusiastic vines here on our site this can be a time consuming task but we enjoy the hours spent in the sunshine and cool breezes amidst the many-varied greens of the spring foliage.
Malvasia Bianca at bud break (March 30)Malvasia Bianca on April 13 Sauvignon Blanc after shoot thinning
Greetings from formerly freezing but now balmy Texas! It’s hard to believe it’s been a month since the record setting freezing weather and snow hit most of Texas (and much of the rest of the country). Fortunately our vines were already well into dormancy and the temperatures dropped gradually so the vines could adjust. The new vines planted in 2020 were a big concern but we were able to have compost delivered and with the help of some wonderful neighbors were able to cover all the graft unions before the really cold temperatures hit.
Once the freezing temps passed we had to wait 7 days to give the vine tissues time to either heal or die, then we collected several canes from mature vines of each variety and did a cross-section of the buds to determine what percentage of the buds were alive (green) or dead. We’re not experienced at evaluating buds but overall we think there are very few dead buds. Grapevines have compound buds. For most varieties the primary buds produce shoots that bear fruit and the secondary and tertiary buds are back ups that will produce shoots that will not have fruit but will provide growth to keep the vine alive until the next season. So the worst case scenario is that we will have live vines but a reduced crop load. For the new vines planted in 2020 we will just have to wait and see if they pop buds and push growth.
We were able to get our pruning done by March 7 and did not find any evidence of winter damage to the wood of the mature vines. All of the young vines looked alive and healthy as well so we were cautiously optimistic that everything was good.
SPOILER ALERT: Buds are popping! On the mature vines: the Sangiovese is nearly at 50% bud break. The Malbec will be popping any minute now. The Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Vermentino, and Malvasia Bianca have bud swell and will be popping soon. The Sauvignon Blanc is a little slower but coming along. The new vines planted in 2020 are popping buds everywhere!
This is all very promising. We should know for sure in the next two weeks whether the crop was affected since the inflorescences (flower clusters) are usually visible by the time the shoots are 4 inches long. Meanwhile, I’d better get my desk cleared off and clean the house because once the vines start growing things get VERY busy.
Cabernet Franc bud dissection SangioveseYoung Cabernet Franc (planted in 2020)
With temperatures predicted to drop into the single digits by Tuesday morning we are of course concerned about damage to the vines. There isn’t much we can do for the mature vines. If it gets down to 0°F we could be facing loss of crop for 2021, we’ll just have to wait and see. We could also have a total loss of the approximately 1,000 new vines we planted in 2020. As a precaution we ordered two 12 yd dump trucks of compost which were delivered on Friday (thank you Silver Creek Materials). With the help of some of our wonderful neighbors, we have shoveled compost up over the graft union of most of the young vines (as of Saturday evening) in an effort to protect them from permanent damage. We’ll work again tomorrow (weather permitting) to get the remaining vines covered before the super cold temperatures arrive in our area.
Our pruning season starts in late December with what we call Winter Pruning. We use a battery hedge trimmer to cut all the dormant canes in two places: just below the top wire and 12-18 inches above the cordon wire. We remove and shred all the canes as we go and build a compost pile along with the mulched leaves we collected at the onset of dormancy. Since we wrap the shoots on the top wire during the growing season it takes a little extra time to pull them off but we find the advantages are worth it for our vines.
Winter Pruning removes the majority of the wood from last season and allows us to see the vine’s structure for the next stage: Decision Pruning. In Decision Pruning we look at each vine to see how many strong shoots it produced last season which tells us how many buds to leave for the next season. For spur pruned varieties we select spurs with good spacing and adequate diameter and remove the rest of the growth. For cane pruned varieties we select canes to lay down and renewal spurs. The goal is to leave a balanced vine with the right amount of buds which will produce the correct amount of shoots to ripen its fruit – think of Goldilocks: not too many, not too few, just right. Tune in this summer to see if we accomplished our goal!
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!
The faithful old JD180 with our son Alan at the wheel. New mower and chemigator tankRoland and David collecting berry samples Sauvignon BlancCabernet FrancCabernet Franc replaces Cabernet Sauvignon in Zone 8Strawberry Cheesecake cupsKey Lime Pie cups
The morning started off at 66°F which was almost chilly. Before the sun was all the way up we had dozens of volunteers already at work. By the time we got into full swing there were 42 people on site and the first 3 bins were full and headed to the winery before we knew it. The volunteers continued picking and soon we had reached the halfway point and the next 4 bins were full. Sometimes the vines within a block ripen at different stages so our plan was to pick the north vines first and have them tested at the winery before picking the second half. The crew took a well deserved refreshment break while we waited for word of the test results……… (drumroll)…… YES! They were testing at 26° Brix and we were clear to continue and harvest the remaining half.
The volunteers were absolutely wonderful. Essentially we asked them to pick each row in 3 stages: the first 8 vines in each row that went into the first 3 bins, the remaining portion of the row up to the halfway point, and then the remaining second half of each row to finish the whole block. As soon as we got the all-clear they all leapt into action, folded up the remaining bird netting and had the entire harvest completed by 10 am!
We cannot fully express how much we appreciate everyone’s help during this complicated harvest. Harvest day is such a pleasure not only because of the satisfaction of having the crop safely off the vines, but because of the spirit of camaraderie from working together to reach that goal. I know we say it often but we really could not do it without you.
The final numbers for Cabernet Franc: 5.23 tons (25.5° Brix)
We think it’s the best fruit we’ve seen yet and we’re looking forward to tasting this harvest when it reaches the bottle in 2022!
Our 3rd leaf Syrah was harvested on Tuesday. We picked 1,476 lbs that tested at 26° Brix at the winery – just what they wanted, yahoo!
Syrah is definitely a winner on our site so we are working on getting vines ordered for our last expansion in 2022 (we couldn’t get them for 2021). When those vines come into production in 2024 we hope to produce 4 tons of Syrah.
Thanks to the folks who were able to come out for a quick pick, we appreciate you!
Cabernet Franc will be up next (this weekend), with Malbec looking to close out the season in another week or so.
With the heat wave unabated here in Texas we were hoping to get the grapes picked and get back to the air conditioning as soon as possible (especially for the sake of the humans). We estimated that we had 3,500 lbs of Malvasia Bianca and 700 lbs of Vermentino which is a relatively small harvest but it can be miserable if the morning stretches into noon in this weather.
We’re thrilled to report that we had 30 people here and were done picking by 8:30 am! A giant thank you to everyone who came out and made it happen! The total fruit picked for the day was 2.04 tons, with Malvasia Bianca at 3,296 lbs and Vermentino at 792 lbs. Today’s fruit went to Wintergrass Winery. We look forward to tasting Tyler’s handiwork. You can learn more about Tyler, Amy and Wintergrass Winery on their website: https://www.wintergrasswine.com/.
It looks like the Cabernet Franc will be ready very soon, possibly this coming Saturday (Aug 22). We’ll let you know when it’s official.
We will be harvesting the Malvasia Bianca on Sunday Aug 16 for Wintergrass Winery. Tyler was here for the Sauvignon Blanc harvest last week and you’ve most likely met him in previous seasons. You can learn more about Tyler, Amy and Wintergrass Winery on their website: https://www.wintergrasswine.com/
We’ll start at 7:00 am, if we have lots of folks here it will go faster and we will hopefully finish well before noon.
Due to health concerns with COVID-19 you can pick alongside those in your household group, but we ask that you maintain distance from others – fortunately there’s plenty of space out here. If you prefer to wear a mask please feel free to do so. We’ll have the usual supplies on hand: harvest shears, sunscreen, bug spray, water, Gatorade, and snacks. The food will be individually wrapped for an extra measure of caution.
We’re happy to report that today’s harvest of Sauvignon Blanc was completed by 10:00 am! At one point we had 32 people here before the first trailer load of bins went back to the winery to begin processing. The fearless volunteers and winery crew picked 6,973 lbs (3.49 tons) of very juicy clusters. At last report the sugars were testing at 23.5° Brix which is right on target.
Last week we did a small harvest of the south end of the Sauvignon Blanc (it needed an early intervention) and got 1,976 lbs so the total for 2020 is 8,949 lbs (4.47 tons). Many thanks to those who were able to pitch in at the last minute on a weekday, we greatly appreciate it! Harvest days have a festive spirit that combines the relief of getting fruit safely off the vine, the expectation of good wine to come, and the camaraderie of everyone working together. It is especially enjoyable in this season of limited social contact.
Up next: we are planning to pick the Malvasia Bianca on Sunday, August 16 for Wintergrass Winery. We’ll let you know via email if that date changes.
