Cuttings Are a Fact of Vineyard Pruning

We do this every year. What am I talking about? Pruning! Every year we vow that we will start earlier, do simple tasks in the dead of winter and every year, we hit the hard deadline which is budburst. In 2019, we learned that we could use a tarp to remove the vineyard cuttings. Two years later, while we are still using a tarp, cuttings that were easily removed in two passes are now taking three to six passes since the vines are maturing.
Our friend was helping us by raking the cuttings and putting it into large piles.

In one of the alleys, our friend made 9 piles of cuttings. It turned out that each pile was one tarpload!
My husband, ever on the lookout for what can help us in the vineyard found the perfect gizmo! It is the Berti Picker LC. Here is what it looks like:

The Berti will pick up the vineyard cuttings, mulch it into the hopper, then the hopper contents can be loaded on to the dump truck for easy vineyard removal. Looks like a wonderful vineyard tool, the only problem is no one in the USA sells this! So, it is back to dreaming and facing the reality of cutting removal by tarploads.
Maybe someday we can have a Berti so that the vineyard can look like this mechanically instead of manually.

2018 Shiba Wichern

Recently, my husband received his shipment from Shiba Wichern Cellars which included this 2018 Shiba Wichern Willamette Blanc. We were interested in obtaining this wine because it is made mostly from Auxerrois (83%). I do think it is nice when the label includes the grapes used in the blend and their percentages.
We had this wine with a soft, triple cream cheese and it worked! Even the rind and wine worked well together.
We are also growing Auxerrois and the reason can be traced back to my first tasting of Auxerrois which I blogged about in 2012 in the post A Name Confusion: Our Introduction to Auxerrois. At that time, I thought that the wine had a crisp acidity but tasted nothing like Sauvignon Blanc or Chablis. It had it's own unique flavor which was really delightful.
Since that time, we've come to learn that Auxerrois is an offspring of Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc which is why a blend of Auxerrois, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir really works!
The Shiba Wichern Cellars Website gives more information about the wine: 98 cases, pH 3.23, 11.7% ABV, Stainless tank and Neutral French Oak, Auxerrois (83%) with Pinot gris (9%) & Pinot noir (8%), native yeast fermentation, no filtering or fining, no additions except a tiny bit of SO₂. You can really taste the purity of the wine upon drinking it!

Vintage 2021: April Update

April has brought some beautiful weather as well as some bizarre weather, snow on April 16, but not too much in the way of showers as the proverb would suggest. We are in a bit of a water deficit, although we have had some decent rainfall on April 1, 15, and 16.
We are still pruning but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Yesterday, we took photos of the state of our buds. Most of them still appear to have their buds enclosed by the scales, so still dormant. But, there is warm weather ahead so it would be interesting to know how quickly them come out of dormancy.

We also saw this phenomenon, in the photos below, where the bud at the apical end is further along way to budbreak than the bud nearer the trunk. This is called apical dominance where the terminal bud on a shoot inhibits the growth of the other buds on the shoot.

2016 Ultramarine Blanc de Blanc Champagne

We got together with our friends on Wednesday, April 14. It was a day to celebrate! Our friends were bringing what my husband has called an "unobtainium" champagne, an Ultramarine. It's so unobtainable that our friends were on a waiting list for 2 years just to get on the selection list. We were honored that they wanted to share this champagne with us.

For the appetizer, my husband made oysters two ways, fresh shucked and baked with roasted garlic, lemon, and parsley drizzle. We also purchased uni for this occasion. When our friend opened the champagne and poured it we all remarked what tiny bubbles were in the glass. The Ultramarine Blanc de Blanc was a vintage 2016 with a disgorgement date of November 11, 2020.

We all liked the Ultramarine, but my friend and I agreed that in our memory banks was the indelible impression of two bottles of 1985 Krug, that they shared with us in 2013 in which I posted "the essence of crème brûlée from the Clos du Mesnil...the Grand Cuvee to be a bit more of tart green apples and less of the creaminess we remembered from the vintage champagne."
For the main course, my husband made smoked cowboy steaks and baked potato. We had another Cruse wine, a 2018 Tannat with the meal. Then there was dessert from our local bakery, Zest.

All in all it was a wonderful evening shared with friends!

Grapevine Trunk Diseases--- Botryosphaeria Dieback

This is the third blog on Grapevine Trunk Diseases. The previous blogs include the following:

• Grapevine Trunk Diseases---Eutypa Dieback
• Grapevine Trunk Diseases---Esca

Botryosphaeria Dieback
General Information¹
Botryosphaeria dieback was formerly called bot canker. The disease is caused by species of fungi within the family Botryosphaeriaceae. These fungi infect a wide range of hosts, they are most commonly associated with diseases of woody plants, such as acacia and eucalyptus.
Fungi Implicated²

• The most common fungal species isolated from grapevine-growing regions worldwide implicated in causing Botryosphaeria dieback are:
  ⇾Diplodia seriata (teleomorph Botryosphaeria obtusa)
  ⇾Diplodia mutila (teleomorph Botryosphaeria stevensii)
  ⇾Neofusicoccum parvum (teleomorph Botryosphaeria parva)
  ⇾Neofusicoccum australe (teleomorph Botryosphaeria australis)
  ⇾Neofusicoccum luteum (teleomorph Botryosphaeria lutea)
  ⇾Botryosphaeria dothidea (anamorph Fusicoccum aesculi)
  ⇾Lasiodiplodia theobromae (teleomorph Botryosphaeria rhodina)
  
• Lifecycle:¹
  ⇾The fungus over-winters as pycnidia (small dark ‘pimple-like’ structures) on the outside of diseased wood producing and releasing conidia (spores) throughout the growing season
  ⇾Conidia are spread by wind and rain splash, disseminating the fungi from vine to vine, and from one part of the vine to another
  ⇾The disease develops when conidia land on freshly cut or damaged wood from fresh pruning wounds or mechanical damage
  ⇾The conidia germinate and invade the woody tissue via xylem vessels and damage the vascular system
  ⇾Cankers form around the initial infection point
  ⇾Damage to the vascular system causes wood necrosis and dieback
  ⇾In some species, pseudothecia form on the outside of cankers and produce ascospores. Like conidia, ascospores are disseminated by wind and rain splash and enter the plant via fresh pruning wounds
  

Disease³

• Botryosphaeria dieback often presents as lack of spring growth from affected spurs with shoot dieback, bud and xylem necrosis
• The main wood symptom of Botryosphaeria dieback is wedge-shaped perennial cankers, indistinguishable to that of Eutypa dieback or circular to nonuniform central staining of the wood observed in cross-sections of affected wood
• Botryosphaeria dieback shows exterior symptoms similar to esca, only by cutting the trunk is it possible to diagnose the disease
• Botryosphaeria dieback symptoms can appear in the field only 1 or 2 years after infections have occurred, but are mainly observed in mature vineyards (<8 years old)
• Cankers, dieback, and plant death have been recorded in 3- to 5-year-old table-grape vines

References:
1. Botryosphaeria Dieback---identification and management, Charles Sturt University.
2. C. Bertsch M. Ramírez‐Suero M. Magnin‐Robert P. Larignon J. Chong E. Abou‐Mansour A. Spagnolo C. Clément F. Fontaine, Grapevine trunk diseases: complex and still poorly understood, Plant Pathology, Volume62, Issue 2, April 2013, Pages 243-265.
3. Disease P, Gramaje D., Managing Grapevine Trunk Diseases With Respect to Etiology and Epidemiology: Current Strategies and Future Prospects, The American Phytopathological Society 2018;102(1):12-39.
4. WineSicence, Fungi in the grapevine, that’s rotten!, September 7, 2019.

Grapevine Trunk Diseases---Esca

The first post related to grapvine trunk diseases was on Eutypa Dieback. Today, I'm writing about Esca.¹
Esca
General Information
The current understanding of Esca is that it is a disease complex with many fungi implicated as the causes of the disease. A number of the diseases manifested as "esca" are caused by the same fungi, but depending on the age of the vine and the duration of the infection can cause different symptoms.² Fungi Implicated¹

• Esca is a disease complex and the causative agents are considered to be the following:
  ⇾Tracheomycotic agents Phaeomoniella chlamydospora (Chaetothyriales, Herpotrichiellaceae) and Phaeoacremonium aleophilum (Diaporthales, Togniniaceae)
  ⇾Togninia minima was identified as the teleomorph of Pm. aleophilum
  ⇾Several basidiomycetes species the most common of which is Fomitiporia mediterranea (F. mediterranea)
  ⇾Eutypa lata and Stereum hirsutum could also play roles in the esca disease complex
  
• However, the main causal agents of Esca are considered to be the tracheomycotic agents Phaeomoniella chlamydospora (Pa. chlamydospora), Phaeoacremonium aleophilum (Pm. aleophilum) (teleomorph Togninia minima), and other Phaeoacremonium species
• Lifecycles of the major Esca complex agents are:
  ⇾Pa. chlamydospora and Pm. aleophilum are characterized by their aerial dispersal
  ⇾Spore liberation for Pa. chlamydospora is correlated to rainfall, while for Pm. aleophilum spore liberation occurs during the vegetative period without any link to rainfall
  ⇾Spores of Pa. chlamydospora and Pm. aleophilum penetrate the plant through pruning wounds
  ⇾Sources of inoculum and pycnidia for Pa. chlamydospora and perithecia for Pm. aleophilum have been observed on protected wood surfaces inside deep cracks
  ⇾Pa. chlamydospora and Pm. aleophilum can also be spread through vine propagation material
  ⇾F. mediterranea spreads by means of airborne basidiospores and regularly outcrosses in nature
  

Disease

• The five described syndromes of the esca complex are:
  (1) Brown/dark wood streaking (mostly affecting rooted cuttings)
  (2) Petri disease
  (3) Grapevine leaf stripe disease
  (4) White rot
  (5) Esca proper

• Brown/dark wood streaking
  ⇾Pa. chlamydospora and Pm. aleophilum are associated with brown wood streaking in young vines
  ⇾Brown vasculature observed when making a cross-section in very young plants (<2 years), is defined as dark wood streaking
  ⇾Can be observed as single or several xylem vessels and areas with darkened or brown necrosis around the pith
  ⇾The leaves do not yet show any symptoms of the fungal disease
  
• Petri disease
  ⇾Occurs in slightly older, but still young plantings (<7 years) and are caused by the fungi Phaeoacremonium minimum, Phaeomoniella chlamydospora, and by Cadophora luteo-olivacea
  ⇾The external symptoms of Petri disease affecting very young vines (from 1 year), include the complete cessation of growth, leaf chlorosis, loss of yield and a decline in vigour
  ⇾Shows the discolored vasculature
  ⇾The leaves may also show chlorosis and wither, and the vine can even die in its entirety

• Grape leaf stripe disease
  ⇾Mainly caused by Phaeoacremonium minimum and Pa. chlamydospora and can occur in both young and old vines
  ⇾Characteristic feature of this fungal disease is the tiger stripe pattern on the leaves
  ⇾This symptom is visible normally by the end of June, when high temperatures stress the vines
  ⇾ Reddish-brown patches on the leaves are observed in red cultivars, while yellow patches are more common on white grapes
  ⇾Grape leaf stripe affected vines produce grapes with less sugar and higher pH

• White rot
  ⇾Occurs in older vineyards
  ⇾Occurs in the trunk and branches of mature standing vines and is caused by F. mediterranea and⁄or other basidiomycetes
  ⇾The fungi break down lignin in the wood, leaving long white cellulose fibers and making the trunk brittle and fragile
  ⇾shows no external symptoms and is only perceptible when a cross-section of the wood is made
• Esca proper
  ⇾Is the combination of all fungi and symptoms that fall within the esca complex
  ⇾The trunk shows a discoloration of the wood as described for dark wood streaking and Petri disease, but also shows parts of the wood that are affected by white rot
  

• Other symptoms
  ⇾Characteristic spotting in the berry skin, described as "black measles" in the USA, is also observed
  ⇾Apoplexy characterized by the dieback of one or more shoots accompanied by leaf drop and the shrivelling and drying of fruit clusters
  
  

References:
1. C. Bertsch M. Ramírez‐Suero M. Magnin‐Robert P. Larignon J. Chong E. Abou‐Mansour A. Spagnolo C. Clément F. Fontaine, Grapevine trunk diseases: complex and still poorly understood, Plant Pathology, Volume62, Issue 2, April 2013, Pages 243-265.
2. WineSicence, Fungi in the grapevine, that’s rotten!, September 7, 2019.
3. WINETWORK, Grapevine Trunk Diseases, European Union Horizon 2020.
4. Gabriel Torres, UCCE farm advisor, Tulare County Grape Trunk Diseases and Management, Progressive Crop Consultant, October 3, 2019.

Grapevine Trunk Diseases---Eutypa Dieback

I am currently reading a research paper written in 2013 that goes into detail on the three major vine trunk diseases that can affect grape growers. Those diseases include eutypa dieback, esca and Botryosphaeria dieback. The review is a comprehensive discussion on (1) the symptomatologies in the trunk, leaves and berries, (2) the characteristics of the different fungal species associated with them, (3) the host–pathogen interactions and (4) disease management strategies. This review is 23 pages long so I thought that I would split the blog and focus on one disease at a time. Today's focus is on eutypa dieback.
Eutypa Dieback
Fungi Implicated

• The fungus Eutypa lata has a wide host range, occurring on more than 80 woody host species
• The fungus produces perithecial stroma on diseased grapevine wood
• Ascospores penetrate the plant by infecting susceptible pruning wounds during winter dormancy
• Ascospores are released throughout the entire year and are disseminated with each rainfall; but most spores appear to be released during winter or early spring, with relatively few being released during the summer months
• Eutypa dieback is associated with Eutypella vitis, Diatrype stigma, Diatrype whitmanensis, Cryptosphaeria pullmanensis and Cryptovalsa ampelina

Disease

• Symptoms are characterized by stunted shoots with shortened internodes, and small, chlorotic, cupped, tattered leaves with marginal necrosis and dead interveinal tissue
• Foliar symptom expression is mainly detected during the spring
• Most flowers dry before opening, and berries that develop from an infected spur position usually appear small and straggly
• After infection in the pruning wounds and colonization of the trunk vascular tissues and cordons, a brown, wedge-shaped necrosis usually develops
• Anatomical studies on the leaves of E. lata-infected grapevines showed changes in tissue ultrastructure including chloroplast degradation, lengthened thylakoids, cytoplasm lysis, bulked plastoglobules and endomembrane breakdown in severely affected leaves

Disease Management

• Remove infected trunks from the vineyard
• Best time to identify infected vines is spring (May and June) and when the leaf and shoot symptoms are most obvious; remove these shoots or mark them for later removal
• Sanitation is critical---all wood from infected plants must be removed from the vineyard and destroyed (either buried or burned), old infected trunks lying on the ground may continue to produce spores for several years
• Currently, no fungicide recommendations are available for control of this disease
• Painting large pruning wounds with a solution of fungicide has provided some level of control

References:
1. C. Bertsch M. Ramírez‐Suero M. Magnin‐Robert P. Larignon J. Chong E. Abou‐Mansour A. Spagnolo C. Clément F. Fontaine, Grapevine trunk diseases: complex and still poorly understood, Plant Pathology, Volume62, Issue 2, April 2013, Pages 243-265.
2. Illustration of Disease cycle of Eutypa Dieback from Ohio State University Extnesion.

Celebrating a 10 Year Anniversary

Yesterday, April Fool's Day was a special day for us. It was the day 10 years ago that we started this blog! I really couldn't believe that 10 years have already passed. In that time, we have posted 1340 blogsposts.
To celebrate the day, my husband made panko crusted summer flounder for dinner. To pair with dinner, we cracked open one of our rare 2019 Chardonnay (only 20 bottles!) fermented with the yeast D47.

Initially, the blog was started to keep our friends from the U.C. Davis Online Enology and Viticulture class in contact with each other but then it morphed as interest waned and we turned it into our journey into viticulture and enology. Although the blog was begun in 2011, we actually didn't plant our vineyard until 2013.
We found that keeping this blog was also important for us to look back at where we came from and how our vineyard and winemaking have evolved.
We thank you for your interest in our blog and our wine journey!