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Growers and the Weather April 2012
This year’s weather has certainly been interesting. Rain, snow, hail, freezing temperatures and 80 degree days… El nino, la nina, whatever the name we attach to the chaos, it is creating havoc for a lot of winegrape growers, myself included. Certain things need to be done in the vineyard at certain times of the year. This crazy weather impacts the growth pat-terns and the grower’s normal routines. Some things are delayed by the erratic weather and then we have to rush to catch up with where we should be on the vineyard schedule. (Sure, like should I be on the tractor with my legs wrapped around that 40 horsepower engine mowing the same row for the 14th time or should I be sneaking barrel samples from last year’s vintage just to make sure it is aging properly?)
So, you may ask, what are some of those things that need to be done and when do they need to be done? (Uh, huh, change the subject there, sneaky Pete.) In winter, when the months are colder, the vines lose their leaves and go dormant. Some growers begin pruning as soon as the weather starts to turn cold. Many growers will only "pre-prune"; that is, they prune the vine just down to the fruiting wire or leave several buds on the shoot as a precaution against diseases and potential freezing damage. Then, final pruning is done at the end of winter or early spring.
We’ve previously talked about the physiology of a grape vine and how the buds from one year determine the fruiting potential the following season. I mention this just to say that pruning is extremely important and requires experience and caution. Too much pruning will cause less fruit; too little pruning can effect fruit quality. (No pruning will turn your vineyard into the briar patch that surrounded Sleeping Beauty’s castle and your grapes into pea sized bullets.)
During springtime, buds begin to swell and tiny shoots appear. This is known as bud-break. These buds are very sensitive to temperature and can easily be damaged by frost. Growers in many locations may use a variety of methods to protect their vines from frost. They use wind machines to circulate warmer air, heaters, or sprinklers that coat the shoots with a protective layer of water. This can be a tough time for growers. Alarms are set in the vineyard to sound when the temperatures drop below freezing. Of course, this happens in the wee hours of the morning, disrupting the sound sleep of the intrepid grower. (Don’t get me started on this one, you who slept through the first 9 months of each of our 3 childrens’ lives while momma mia took care of their feeding, burping and diapering.)
Spring is a busy time of year. As the chances of frost diminish and temperatures begin to warm up, the vines start to push shoots, leaves, flowers and tendrils at breakneck speeds. The growers are busy tying, training, trellising, suckering and shoot thinning. To ward off mildew and other potential calamities, growers spend a lot of time spraying various products and chemicals on the vines. Mowing and con-trolling weeds in the vineyard also keeps the grower busy.
By the time summer arrives grape clusters are forming. Growers continue trellising, leave removal and perhaps some fruit thinning. Towards the end of summer the grape berries will begin to soften and "color up". This is known as Verasion. (I seem to remember this as the time last year when a horde of grasshoppers descended on the Petite Syrah. Since the seagulls were all too busy over in Utah to help out, you had to walk up and down the rows spreading Grasshopper Begone. Remember. I tried to tell you it was "farming"!)
Finally fall arrives, and in most years, that means harvest. Timing, once again, is crucial to harvesting quality fruit. The growers and often times the winemakers will walk the vine-yard and take berry samples. They check the sugar levels (brix), pH, acid levels and flavors. During this period, grapes can change dramatically in just a matter of days. Samples may be taken weekly or even daily so grapes can be picked at their optimum. When it’s time to pick, crews descend like locusts (or grasshoppers) into the vineyard to harvest the fruit as quickly as possible.
Until next time, Gary and Sue Drop us a line and let us know what’s on your mind… fromthevine@pacbell.net or PO Box 897, Sutter Creek, CA 95685 "Wine had such ill effects on Noah’s health that it was all he could do to live 950 years. Show me a total abstainer that ever lived that long." Will Rogers
Growers and Wineries February 2012
The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here! Oh, wait it’s the California Grape Crush Report Preliminary 2011. (Ooooweeee, how exciting) Yes, it is and it has just been released. To no one’s surprise, total California wine grape tonnage was down. It dropped from 3.6 million tons to 3.3 million tons (down 7%) from 2010. For the Sierra Foothills Appellation (District 10) grape production tonnage dropped from 17.5 thousand tons to 17.1 thousand tons.
The major culprit: The Weather - A lackluster summer with few 100+ degree days, rain at the wrong time during harvest, and, in many areas, frost. (It’s called farming). Well, that farming is starting to poke its ugly head out again this year. No rain, warmer than usual winter ... yada yada yada. What does all this mean? It could mean an increase in grape prices for growers as wineries looking for a hedge from last year’s problems lock into grape contracts for this year. As a matter of fact, average grape prices rose 8% over 2010. Good news for growers. It could mean that wine prices may increase as wineries try to figure out how to recover from less wine production.
Good news for wineries, maybe? As for consumers looking for cheaper wines, bad news, perhaps. Higher wine prices could also hamper the current growth rate of new wine consumers. This could be bad news for growers and wineries. (Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine) Sorry, don’t kill the messenger. So what were the most popular grapes grown last year? No real surprises here either. Chardonnay was Queen in the white grape category with over 558 thousand tons statewide (I thought I was the Queen). You are at our house. Chardonnay was followed by French Colombard (314 thousand tons), Pinot Gris (173 thousand tons) and Sauvignon Blanc (78 thousand tons). The Sierra Foothills saw Pinot Gris at 512 tons top the list of whites followed by Chardonnay (434 tons), Viognier (194 tons) and White Reisling (122 tons).
On the red side, Cabernet Sauvignon was King (You’ll always be my King) statewide with 383 thousand tons followed by Zinfandel (344 thousand tons), Merlot (285 thousand tons) and Rubired (256 thousand tons). The Sierra Foothills on the other hand saw Zinfandel top the list with over 5.6 thousand tons grown followed by Cabernet Sauvignon (2.2 thousand tons), Syrah (1.6 thousand tons), and Barbera (1.0 thousand tons). One of the key factors growers and winemakers look for in grapes is brix or the amount of sugar in the grapes. The cooler summer and extended harvest resulted in slightly lower average brix for both white (-3%) and red grapes (-2%. Yawn! Just sayin…) Okay, I know this is boring but it’s hard to make some of this data interesting. I think this information has value.
For growers, it gives them an idea of what to plant in the future and what kind of price point they should ask for their fruit without being too extreme one way or the other. For the wineries, they can see what grapes are being planted in abundance and which grapes are scarcer and therefore, may translate into more expensive wines. It also gives them an idea of what to expect to pay for grapes. What would you like to talk about? (I dunno, what’s going on in the vineyard right now? You seem to be spending a lot of time there.) You mean besides drinking beer all day and playing with the dogs?
We are pre-pruning the vineyard and beginning to do our pre-emergent weed sprays. It’s time to get the vineyard prepped for spring. Before you know it we’ll have bud break. (Is that have bud break or have a Bud break?) Maybe some of both but I’m a Tecate man myself. We had a little mildew in a few spots in the upper portion of the canopy last year and pre-pruning helps minimize the impact it will have this year by removing the infected part of the cane before it can spread. We’ve talked about the importance of getting an early start in controlling weeds under the vine. It’s much easier to deal with this problem when the weeds are small or before they germinate. The ground is soft right now and those of you who use mechanical weed control will have a much easier time. Until next time, Gary and Sue.
Drop us a line and let us know what’s on your mind… fromthevine@pacbell.net or PO Box 897, Sutter Creek, CA 95685.
"What though youth gave love and roses, age still leaves us friends and wine."
Thomas Moore
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A Look Back at 2011 January 2012
Happy 2012! We hope you all had a great entry into the new year and, like Sue and I, are looking forward to a fantastic year. (Unless of course, you believe the world will end in 2012. If so, we wish you well and hope you get your affairs in order before the end comes.) As we look forward to 2012 we would like to take a look back at 2011 and some lessons we learned.
1. When it’s time to work in the vineyard, harvest grapes, and assist with crush or otherwise volunteer to help "whenever you need me" don’t rely on friends, partners or other would-be participants. Although having the best of intentions, few believe you will actually call them. If you are one of those volunteers, please understand the unique mind set of God’s little grape. When it’s time to pick, it’s time to pick. That means early morning (can you say, 4am or 5am.) Coming by at 10 or 11 doesn’t help. Also, harvest timing is critical. If the grapes are ready on Tuesday then they won’t wait until the following week when you are available.
2. It’s NO FUN picking grapes in the rain. Enough said…
3.There are no miraculous seagulls in the Sierra Foothills. Unlike Utah, the seagulls won’t swoop in and rescue you from an invasion of grasshoppers.
4. Make sure a loaded bin of grapes is fully seated in your bin dumper before tilting it toward the hopper. If not, the bin, as well as the grapes, crashes into the hopper. Can you believe this happened at least 3 times last year? It’s especially frustrating when you’re alone and have to hand scoop a half ton of grapes out of the bin in order to remove it from the hopper.
5.The birds will eventually find your grapes. We have skated by the last few years with little to no bird damage. However, all good things end and our feathered friends enjoyed a snack on us last year. Still, not as bad as some vineyards, knock on wood.
6. Don’t put your empty bin under the crusher incorrectly. There are openings on two opposing sides that allow for forklift or pallet jack entry. The other sides have no openings. It’s difficult to remove the bin once it is filled with 1,000 pounds of crushed must and is facing the wrong way.
7. Propane forklifts won’t run without propane. Keep your propane tank filled or have a spare available. There’s nothing worse (ok, maybe there is, but this one is pretty bad) than having a loaded bin set to dump and the forklift dies from lack of fuel.
8. Have a winery dog to keep you company on those late nights at the winery. Wish I could just teach him to bring me a beer or drive the forklift.
9. Make sure there is plenty of beer and wine available to get through crush.
10. Don’t get distracted and walk away from the jug you are filling with SO2. The SO2 filling wand runs slow and takes a while to fill a gallon jug but not as long as it takes to play with the dog, top some wine, and get a beer from the fridge. You would think I would learn after the first time. Wrong!
11. Tartaric Acid may look harmless but isn’t meant to be ground into your knuckles when you try to break up the solid clumps. Don’t use your bare hands.
12. Washing the crusher and press during harvest in the fall, not so bad. Washing the crusher and press during the winter, not so good. Bring a change of dry clothes and try to finish before sundown.
13. People still think it’s "cool to be a winemaker". All day long, baby!
14. Your winery will never have enough space. It has become painfully apparent that our winery facility needs more pad space, storage space, and working space. All of these are on my wish list for the coming year.
15. Know when to say when…You cannot grow every grape varietals nor make every known wine. Sometimes it’s better to just get the finished product from someone else. As a new winemaker, I have a hard time saying no when I taste really good grapes that I do not currently grow. I say, "Maybe I should plant some of those." Or I taste wonderful wines made from varietals that I do not currently use and say, "Maybe I should get some of those grapes and make that wine." Not enough time, money or SPACE.
So there you have it. A few of the many things learned from last years’ experience. Until next time, Gary and Sue
Drop us a line and let us know what’s on your mind… fromthevine@pacbell.net or PO Box 897, Sutter Creek, CA 95685.
"May our love be like good wine, grow stronger as it grows older." Old English Toast
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