Visit with Rob Russell at Westport Rivers

On Monday, May 2, a beautiful spring day, unlike most of the days this spring which have either been rainy or foggy,we visited with Rob Russell at Westport Rivers, MA at the Winery and Vineyard site. Rob graciously gave us his time to explain his use of tall grafts for his vineyard. In the vineyard, the canes were pruned and tied to the guide wire and the buds were waiting for a few more sunny days to begin their annual journey to grapes. Rob explained that he had found that along the coastal region of Massachusetts where his family's vineyard is located, there really was no need to hill up and hill down to protect the graft union during the winter. Rob's interest in tall grafts began after hearing about the tall grafts that German winemakers were using. While Rob now makes all of his grafts, he mentioned that if our land was near the Long Island Sound, we shouldn't have a problem with hilling and unhilling so either the standard graft or tall grafts should work for us.
Here is a link to Westport Rivers Winery: Westport Rivers Winery