Yesterday, my husband and I were working in the Auxerrois, shoot tucking and shoot positioning this year's growth into the catch wires. As we were working, I asked myself (silently), we provide all this elaborate training system of catch wires for the vines so that they can achieve their ultimate self expression, but they refuse to grow in the catch wires. I am always looking at photos of last year and our spreadsheet for last year so that we can get to the vines that need the most help in a timely way. However, while working in the Auxerrois, it did seem as if the vines were growing much, much faster than it did last year. In looking at the Auxerrois from last year at this time and this year, this is what I found:
The view of the Auxerrois is from the north end of the vineyard looking to the south end of the vineyard. In each photo year, the Auxerrois is on the right hand side and the next row on the left hand side is the Chenin Blanc. These photos also show that the Chenin Blanc growth is also ahead of last year.
In the afternoon, we went to the Barbera on the far east side of the vineyard. The Barbera was just at the point of becoming unwieldy! The vines were growing over the top catchwires! The Barbera's tendrils can be 8 inches in length and can grab on to anything. We were cutting tendrils off of other shoots and positioning the shoots with Agfast. Here is a photo showing what the Barbera looked like last year compared with this year.
Yikes!
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