Got some rain last night (.17") so burn piles are the order of the day as the 10 day still looks dry.
Here comes that week where office folks get happy and farmers get jittery: we’re going to have some high temps touching 70. This always seems to happen this time of year. I call it false spring some of the early trees will pop out and the grape vines with start to think about rubbing their eyes and waking up. The ground is pretty dry and roots will warm a bit. Pruning wounds will start to bleed. If a fellow has a small vineyard it’s a great time to prune. This usually gets winery folks out of the cellar and thinking about grape purchase plans.
This fellow has a small vineyard, but I’m holding off a bit. Been concentrating on the wines in barrel and making some barreling and pricing decisions.
From my recent tasting on Friday night from my 2012 barrels, that vintage is going to live up to the hype. I hate hype, but I have not found barrel samples so accessible this early on since the 2007. Ok, I just hyped it. But I’ll back it up.
Wow, if I didn’t know any better I say Merrill is a wine pimp!
Yep, a grower and a wine… er…merchant, and just about everything in between.
It hit 70 here today and tomorrow is supposed to be warmer. Dry through the weekend. The vineyard looks gorgeous with its cover crop, but those soils are drying out, as Casey said. The quince and almond bushes/trees are in bloom, and some of the fruit trees are starting to pop. Hopefully we will get some more rain and cool temperatures - it’s only February.
And we have what…only about 6 weeks more before we start the cycle all over again? Somewhere around April 1, here, for budbreak. Six weeks from when the almond tree blooms. I think it’s an almond…it sits way back at the edge of another vineyard down the way.
Went out and pruned with the Day Ranch crew today. About 9 guys at Valley Foothills, 6 at Day Ranch. I’ve been riding hurt on the VF guys so much I hadn’t really noticed the DR guys needed an ass kicking. I wasn’t too fond of the big cuts they were making on 2006 planted cane pruned Chard. Anyway hard not to enjoy a day like today. Also WALKED next door to Lazy Creek Winery (they are building a brand new facility!) and met with the winemaker Christy and tasted our fruit in their wine. Peewee didn’t quite mind visiting the construction guys during lunch either.
77 degrees there this afternoon. Just lovely.
Pretty in Santa Clara AVA, pluot and plums at budbreak
Glad to se a cool patch of weather coming. Doesn’t sound like we’re going to get much rain here (.25" predicted in Ukiah) but it will be good to keep those vines sleeping. Sure hope there’s more solid rain coming in the next 4-6 weeks!
First blooming daffodil sighted yesterday. That’s three days earlier than last year. Neighbor’s vine maple has leafed out.
Saw a robin this morning.
Its a charming 38 degrees with moderate rain out there this morning. NICE!
I’ll take “Things Only a Vineyard Manager Would Say” for $1000, Alex.
love following these threads. fell behind last year, but good luck to everyone!
It’s around 30 degrees here at my place at around 8:00 p.m. That’s cold for here at this time of day. We got a bit of rain earlier, and a lot of wind. It’s all ok with me - we want the vines to stay asleep and any amount of rain is like money in the bank.
After a very busy holiday weekend, the Valley has slumped back in slumber and…that’s…just…fine.
28 degrees and 5" of snow. Winter is not over…
I opened the door a few hours ago and was greeted with the chilling sound of overhead sprinklers shooting off in all directions.
Chilling not just because it is cold, but because neighboring growers have decided it is time to tune them up to ensure readiness for the real event: early Spring frost. Uggh. I don’t even want to think about it. April is the cruelest month…
We ended up with .25" of rain from this cold storm. Looking at the 10 day doesn’t show much rain. Turn the worry meter up to 4-5 over the next week. The Navarro river is not flowing well for February.
HI Casey - I don’t think you ever addressed my question above about how/why you decided to go from cordons to canes in pruning.