Our first year in the vineyard has come to a close with the pruning of the vines. The annual cycle from bud break, leaf out, flower, berry set, shoot development, canopy management, harvest and pruning is complete, minus the harvesting part this year, as we pinched off the berries to concentrate on root development.
As a winegrower, the pleasures of tending the vines and making your own wine are many . The beauty of the vines and the annual lifecycle is one of the most beautiful forms of landscaping imaginable. Making wine is an art form I am beginning to get my arms around. Winging it 06 Merlot is a great wine and my yet unnamed 07 Brunello and 07 Cabernet are tasting very nice for a Vin Nuevo, now sleeping in their French oak barrels.
The growth of the vines far exceeded our expectations for the first year as we were able to establish a trunk, cordon/arm, and spurs. This is normally a two year process. This is both good and bad. It means we have very vigorous vines that are going to require a lot of hedge pruning and shoot thinning throughout the coming years. It also means we have healthy vines and a good vineyard layout, orientation for the vines and that they are happy.
Below are pics of the first year. I did not take any pictures during the fall of the leaves turning colors. sorry about that :)
The irrigation goes in
The front vineyard with irrigation, trellis system and augured holes.
Rear vineyard with trellis and 3ft deep by 10" wide holes augured for each vine location
Day 1 of the vineyard, March 17th 2007
Friends and Family help plant the vines.
Measuring for correct depth.
The end of April brings the first shoots above the grow tubes
The vineyard in June
October
First grapes, we pinched off all of the berry clusters except a few so that we could gauge our mildew and pest pressures on the grapes. Yummy!
January, 20th 2008, vines spur pruned.
The Brunello VCR06 clone of Sangiovese is a very vigorous vine. It's grafted on a low vigor root stock and we selected the single arm cordon system as a methodology to de-vigor the vine.
Here you can see the single arm cordon system deployed in the rear vineyard. Vines are spaced 42" apart with the single arm cordon at 30" above the ground in dress right fashion. The goal is to develop a spur every 6" or so or approx 7 per vine. It is from these spurs that each year a shoot will grow, on each shoot, one large or two small berry clusters will be carried, the rest pinched of. Each cluster weighs about a 1.25 pounds. So each vine will carry approx 10 pounds of fruit each year. That's around a gallon of finished wine, or 5 bottles of wine.
In 2008 we will be aiming for a partial crop of 30% to 50% of that number. The spurs closet to the trunk will be allowed to carry fruit and the ones farthest away will be pinched off. We are doing this to again put development into the roots and to grow the vine diameter. In 2009 we go for a full crop assuming good conditions in 2008.
Farming can be intoxicating!