Vintage 2024: Buds!

Happy May Day! April showers bring May flowers. In our vineyard, our buds are beginning to swell. I took photos of the various buds on April 24 and April 28 before the warm temperatures on Monday, April 29. Here is what they look like:

Variety	April 24	April 28
Auxerrois
Chenin Blanc
Chardonnay
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Franc
Barbera

At that time, most of the buds were in the wooly bud stage. The laggard is always the Cabernet Sauvignon which is at the dormant bud stage.
Sadly, we are still pruning! We have 5 more rows of vines to prune. The last to be pruned are the Chenin Blanc clone FPS-1 which I call the stepsisters because they are always the last to receive our attention. The buds there are at budburst. This picture shows the pretty pink tinge of the young leaves. The pink is actually a sunscreen for the developing leaves. There is also a tiny secondary bud below the primary bud. Off to the side is last year's summer lateral.
Our friend has come to give us some help in picking up the cuttings in the vineyard alley which now has grass growing through it, making it quite the task! If all goes well, we are hoping to wrap up our pruning by this weekend and our stretch goal is to pick up all of the cuttings!