Notes on a growing season

Strange days.
The season started off promising, with an unusually early and warm spring. Gentle showers periodically brought welcome moisture to the growing vines through April and May.
June came with clear skies that did not end until well into August. The days were HOT and DRY. At one point, even the hardiest, oldest, most well established vines showed signs of being thirsty.
We thought the whites would come in early, but I think the heat and drought delayed ripening, so they came in about the usual time. Each variety had scattered raisins within the clusters. Very sweet, dried fruit that added considerable sugar concentration to the final juice.
After that the rains came.
Reds that were two weeks away from harvest at the beginning of September remained that far away well through October as one wet weather front after another moved through. No hurricanes, no tropical storms, just periodic, steady rains. The temperatures turned unseasonably cool at this time, helping to keep the fruit and canopy healthy the whole time.
We'll harvest our last four varieties this weekend: Touriga Nacional, Tinta Cao, Mourvedre, and the other half of the Marsanne we left hanging before the rains.

It's been a while...here's an update from west pete

Saturday:

- we were able to get samples for all varieties; VB brix have gone down
slightly with recent rains so outlook for harvest is likely Sept 11 or later

- all but one row in lot 12 have high catch wires run; ran out of wire on
last row and did not have time to respool; watch for wire on the ground in
that row if you mow

- still a few rows in lot 12 where we need to tie up the vines to get them
off the ground or off of other vines; focus on eastern 10 rows

- cleaned bottles at CH house for 2009 vintage


Sunday:

- inspected lot 12 perimeter for possible future acreage

- did not spray

- rain starting around 1030

- GB bottled much of 2009 vintage; need shelf space for them

- PB worked 8 hours at winery pressing Cayuga and recruiting
pickers/stompers


Monday:

- 1/8th inch in gauge at farm; seemed like more than that at house and at
winery

- grass is growing like crazy

Bottling Day is Scheduled!

It's the very first vintage for Port of Leonardtown Winery!

west Pete situation report

Another 4 or 5 inches of snow here before it seemed to stop around 3:00 today.



I think what I will do is get Bill to drop me off at the farm Friday morning and then I will dig out the barn door, get the tractor out, and start trying to plow some access paths so we can try to get in and out of sheds, barns, vineyards, and house on the weekend.

Then I will just drive the tractor to my house and plow my driveway. Can return it when someone else can give me a ride back from the farm.

I will talk to Samuel after I firm up my plans with Bill tomorrow and see if he wants to come over. We can split tractor, shovel, and fireman duties. He would have to walk or get a ride both ways, though.

Thought about trying to do this tomorrow, but I think it will just be too rough on the roads and weather to try then. Plus my work schedule is better with Friday and I don’t see much advantage to starting a day early.

Does anyone know how we are stocked on diesel fuel?