Our summer so far: June was a month of hot and humid days followed by days of rain and July continued that trend. In looking back at July, it doesn't appear that there were too many days of rain, but what Mother Nature provided was enough to make our young shoots reach the top trellis wire and more!
When that happens, we are not in the vineyard and the vineyard will do it's own thing. In this case, the Chenin blanc will grow and reach across the alley and "hold hands".
In the photo above, the left side shows what the Chenin blanc looked like before we hedged and shoot tucked. On the right hand side shows what the alley looked like after we have hedged and shoot tucked. Ideally, the entire vineyard should look like the right side photo.
August is also when our white grapes begin to undergo the beginning of sugar accumulation called véraison in French. What this means for our work in the vineyard, is simultaneous to hedging and shoot tucking, we must also deploy our nets to protect the ripening grapes from birds and other critters that love sweet grapes.
We have a lot to do in August. We are hoping that Mother Nature is kind to us. Crossing my fingers!
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