1995 Domaine Maume Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques

Recently, we had Mary over for dinner to thank her for taking the soil samples for us. My husband made a pan seared beef tenderloin and deglazed the pan to make a crimini mushroom sauce. We paired the tenderloin with this 1995 Domaine Maume Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques. It is nearly 20 years old but the flavors were still holding together wonderfully. It was dark purple in color with cherry and raspberry notes, with a well balanced acidity. My husband remembers that he purchased this wine on auction and we still have some left.
Here is an interesting online article I found about Domaine Maume.

Dowsing for Water: My Husband is a Believer

We are in the process of having our well drilled and after interviewing 3 well drillers in our area, we selected Tony. When we met with Tony about a week ago, my husband nudged me so that I could ask Tony if he knew of any dowsers. Tony mentioned that he is a dowser as is his father! I was elated.
Yesterday, Tony came to dowse for water. My husband came to get me from the vineyard where I was weed wacking with my wheeled trimmer. I asked Tony if he was holding a willow branch and he said that any type of branch would do. Tony had made a dowsing rod from a tree growing on the property. Tony had already figured out where the well should go and it wasn't where we wanted it, but it was close enough. After showing us where the dowsing rod was pointing to, Tony asked if I wanted to try it. Definitely! Suffice it to say that I am not a dowser. Then, Tony asked if my husband, the skeptic wanted to try it, and wouldn't you know, my husband can dowse! This turned by husband from a skeptic to a believer! He said that it felt like the rod was rotating in his palm and then would point down to the location that Tony found. Tony said that it would be okay for me to take and post the video shown below:

Determining When and How Much to Irrigate

In my previous blog on An Acre Inch of Water, I wrote that the number 27,154 is important to know because that represents the number of gallons of water it would take to cover one acre of land with one inch of water.
A really good article that explains when to irrigate can be found on line in the November/December 2001 issue of Practical Winery and Vineyard. It is written by Larry E. Williams, titled Irrigation of Winegrapes in California. This article encapsulates and explains what I learned in Lesson 7 of the U.C. Davis Online course, Viticulture for Winemakers. It answers two questions (1) when to irrigate and (2) how much water to apply.
When to irrigate can be determined by using:

• Soil-based tools can determine the actual or relative amounts of water in the rooting zone of grapevines
• Neutron probe
• Capacitance sensors
• Plant-based tools can be used to measure vine water status
• Pressure chamber

How much water to apply is determined by:

• Evaporative demand at the location of the vineyard
• Stage of vine development
• Percent ground cover by the vine’s canopy

To determine the vineyard's irrigation requirement, the following equation for full crop water use in inches is given by:

• ET_c is the crop ET (evapotranspiration) or vine water use
• ET_o is the potential evapotranspiration or the reference ET
• k_c is the seasonal crop coefficient, or the fraction of water a non- water-stressed crop uses in relation to the ET_o and is dependent on:
• Stage of vine growth
• Degree of ground cover (shading )
• Height or the canopy
• Canopy resistance (regulation by the vine or crop)
• k_c will vary throughout the growing season; it is not a constant fraction of ET_o

The above equation is used to calculate how much water we would need to irrigate in inches. Since this blog is getting a bit long, stay tuned for the next installment on how to convert inches to gallons for irrigating.
Reference:
1. Larry E. Williams, Irrigation of Winegrapes in California, Practical Winery and Vineyard, November/December 2001.

An Acre Inch of Water

One of the things I learned (and have already forgotten) was the importance of the number 27,154 gallons, or the number of gallons in an acre inch of water. When talking about irrigation, it is important to know (memorize it!) this number.
I found a good article that explains this measurement written by Bill Peacock, Tulare County Farm Advisor called Understanding Water Units. Knowing the number of gallons in an acre inch, or an acre foot will aide in determining how long we have to run our pump to apply a given irrigation amount.
When we planted our vineyard in 2013, we had one of the driest summers that we have experienced. When we went to Brookdale Farm to speak with Trevor, he agreed but also mentioned that he thought that this summer was even drier, albeit a little cooler and less humid. We didn't realize that Connecticut summers can be so dry. The past records show that Connecticut has an average of 4 inches of rain every month, but this average can come from a flash flood or from a hurricane. In order to grow quality grapes, a reliable source of water is an imperative.