Vineyard Hedging Completed

We began hedging our vineyard on July 13 and finished hedging on July 27. Here is a photo of our vineyard hedged to the halfway point and then a totally hedged vineyard. This is a view of the vineyard from the south end looking to the north end.

Here is the vineyard from the north end looking south.

Grapes at Beginning of Bunch Closure

We have been busy working on the top of the canopy, hedging the vines and paying attention to the grapes that we have been hedging. Our grape varieties have been growing but they are still at the Eicchorn-Lorenz berry formation stage 33, berries still hard and green. Eicchorn-Lorenz stage 32 is the beginning of bunch closure if the berries are tight.
The following photos show the comparison of the varieties between July 1 and July 27. It also shows that the Chenin Blanc clone 982 is a tight cluster. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc are loose cluster forming varieties.

Variety	July 1	July 27
Auxerrois
Chenin Blanc
Chardonnay
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Franc
Barbera

We still have a myriad of vineyard work to do before the beginning of veraison including lowering our netting before the vineyard birds even suspect that there is food growing there.
References:
1. Fritz Westover, Grapevine Phenology Revisited, Wines&Vines, March 2018.

2018 Rombauer Cabernet Sauvignon

Our neighbor said that he had been saving a Rombauer to share with us. So nice! We had them over for dinner recently. When you are drinking a California Cabernet Sauvignon, a no-fail pairing is with steak.
My husband has perfected his skill in making cold smoked steaks so that is what we had. During dinner, our neighbor said that he had been gifted the 2018 Rombauer Cabernet Sauvignon from someone who had really appreciated the work that he had done. We were honored that he wanted to share it with us.
The wine was very inky purple in color with luscious berry fruits that made it immediately drinkable. On the Rombauer Website, I learned that this wine is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon,3% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 3% Merlot. The grapes were hand harvested, optically sorted, tank and barrel fermented, basket pressed and racked to French oak barrels for aging.
Our neighbors also brought over the dessert, her home made summer fruit pie and vanilla ice cream! We all enjoyed the get together while sipping wine and having dinner.

Leaf Pulling in the Auxerrois

We have a few years of experience growing Auxerrois and this year, we wanted to try something a little different when it came to leaf pulling. The Auxerrois is the first to ripen in any given year. The skin of the Auxerrois seems to be very prone to turning a golden yellow when exposed to the full sunlight. We feel that this golden yellow gets extracted and ends up coloring the wine, almost as if it was oxidized. So, this year, we decided to pull the leaves from the east side of the grape bunch.
This is an illustration of what leaves we pulled.

This is an example of the Auxerrois canopy when it has been leaf pulled. The east side of the grapes are exposed to the morning sun but the west side of the grapes are somewhat shaded by a leaf.

Since this is an experiment, we will only know if the grapes benefitted from this partial shading once we harvest. Stay tuned!

Physiological consequences of vine leaf stripping - Literature review

We are right in the middle of leaf stripping or leaf removal. I came upon an article that summarized the pluses and minuses of leaf stripping. However, the article was written in French and happily, I did manage to translate it with Google Translate.
When we do leaf removal, we do it to give the grapes an improved microclimate, light penetration and higher cluster temperature. In the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon we leaf pull to decrease the influence of the methoxypyrazine or the herbaceous, green notes such as bell pepper flavors in the finished wine.
The article, Physiological consequences of vine leaf stripping - Literature review explained the benefits of leaf removal around the grapes, at the various stages from flowering to harvest.

• Improved health status: Leaf stripping effectively limits the incidence of the main fungal diseases (gray rot, downy mildew, powdery mildew) due to better aeration and better penetration of phytosanitary products
• Choice of period and intensity:
  →Early leaf stripping before fruit set increases the qualitative potential of wines in terms of aromas and polyphenols
  →Partial leaf stripping before or during flowering reduces the number and size of berries, which may greatly affect the final yield
  →Leaf stripping after fruit set only affects the size of the berries without reducing their number
  →Depending on temperature and exposure to the sun, the risk of scalding may also increase and require more moderate leaf stripping or only on one side of the row

Here is a summary of timing of leaf stripping and the consequences.

These are pictures in the article showing leaf stripping at fruitset and leaf stripping during flowering:

In summary, leaf stripping before veraison and the resulting change in the microclimate of the bunch can have the following consequences on the composition of the must:

• a small increase in sugar
• a decrease in total acidity, mainly due to decrease in malic acid
• a slight drop in tartaric acidity
• a drop in pH, mainly due to the lower level of potassium
• no variation in calcium level
• an increase in concentration of anthocyanins
• an increase in the polyphenol index totals (IPT)

References:
1. Thibaut Verdenal, Vivian Zufferey, Jean-Laurent Spring, Olivier Vire, Physiological consequences of vine leaf stripping - Literature review, Swiss journal Viticulture, Arboriculturev Horticulture | Vol. 45 (3): 148–155, 2013.

July is the Busiest Month

Every year, we know what to expect but every year, we find outselves at this point. July! This is especially true for this July as we have had periods of rain punctuated with some sunshine. We have never seen the canopy look so lush and tall! The good news is that the leaves at the top of the canopy are large, green, are great photosynthetic factories for sugar making and are relatively resistant to fungal disease. The bad news is that the canopy will need to be hedged soon before the vines really get out of control.

The grapes of the different varieties that we grow are putting on some weight. This is the first growth spurt.

Variety	Photo
Auxerrois
Chenin Blanc
Chardonnay
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Franc
Barbera

It is interesting to compare these photos with the photos of the grapes taken about 2 weeks ago when I blogged about Vintage 2021: Vineyard is at Berry Formation. We have about a month to go before the first of our varieties, the Auxerrois enters the next phase of the Modified Eicchorn-Lorenz stage of berry ripening.
We have some work to do!

2018 Stones and Bones

A few weeks ago, we had some friends over for dinner and they brought over this 2018 Stones and Bones wine made in Portugal. We had already planned what wines we would drink for dinner on that evening, so we saved their gift until last night.
I was unfamiliar with this wine but when we had it with the pizza from our local pizzaria, Woodfellas, it was a very good pairing.
My husband rattled off from the back label that it was made with terrific Touriga Nacional, sensual Syrah, spicy Tinta Roriz, and intense Alicante Bouschet.
The wine was very smooth, easy to drink and had rich flavors of dark cherries, plums and a hint of cedar.
This morning, I thought I would do a little investigating and learned that this is a wine from Lisboa in Southern Portugal. Also, the name, Stones and Bones comes from the fact that the grapes are grown on a landscape littered with ancient boulders and dinosaur fossils! The winemaker, Diogo Sepúlveda, worked in Pomerol, then in the Barossa with heirloom Shiraz vines.
I also learned that the wine can be purchased for under $10.00! This is a terrific value!
References:
1. Laithwaites, 2018 Stones and Bones.

Lacewings are Beneficial Insects

Yesterday, my husband and I were working in the Chenin Blanc, shoot tucking, removing excess shoots and cleaning the area around the graft union. The grapes are at fruitset and they look really good. It is time for leaf pulling.

While we were working in the Chenin Blanc, I found these cuties:

We stopped what we were doing to take photos. We went home to see what they were and it turns out to be lacewing eggs. More importantly, lacewings are beneficial insects. I learned a lot from the Ohio State University Extension article, Ohio’s Natural Enemies: Lacewings. For example, because these eggs were on a stalk they are eggs of the green lacewing and not the brown lacewing.

• green lacewings (Family Chrysopidae)
• lacewings are considered beneficial insects due to their voracious appetite for insect pests
• lacewings undergo complete metamorphosis with egg, larval, pupal and adult stages
• all lacewing larvae are predators and are important contributors to biological control
• green lacewing larvae have a reputation as voracious aphid predators, and are often referred to as “aphid lions”
• while lacewing larvae do feed on aphids, they are generalist predators and also feed on a wide range of soft-bodied insect pests including mites, whiteflies, mealybugs, and insect eggs
• adults feed on pollen, nectar or honeydew—the sweet, carbohydrate-rich excrement of sap-feeding aphids
• lacewing eggs, larvae and adults are available commercially for purchase

I put together the life cycle of the green lacewing from the two references cited below:

We learned that lacewings are beneficial insects and are happy to have them in the vineyard. While working in the vineyard these days is not for the faint-hearted (hot, humid, overall yucky), it's little treasures like these that make work in the vineyard very interesting and educational.
References:
1. Mary Griffith, Ohio State University Extension and Mary M. Gardiner, Department of Entomology, Ohio State University Extension, Ohio’s Natural Enemies: Lacewings.
2. Kellen, Pest Wiki, Lacewing – Knowing More About the Lacewing Life Stages, June 29, 2018.

Vintage 2021: Vineyard is at Berry Formation

Yesterday, we snuck in a bit of work at the vineyard before the rains came around 3:30 p.m. At the end of the morning work period, I had a chance to take a few photos of the various varieties that we are growing and where they are with respect to berry formation.

Variety	Photo
Auxerrois
Chenin Blanc
Chardonnay
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Franc
Barbera

These photos show that the Chardonnay, which bloomed first is farther along than the other varieties. The Cabernet Sauvignon which was last to flower and set fruit is still showing vestiges of the flower parts. We are in for some rain this July 4th weekend which should help further berry growth.
References:
1. Fritz Westover, Grapevine Phenology Revisited, Wines&Vines, March 2018.