Viticulture in Carlsbad. 

A winegrower is a fancy word for a farmer.  2008 marks the third year of growth for our vines, one in the field and two in our vineyard.   The first two years the berries are, with much regret, pinched off to direct growth to the trunks and roots. This year will be the first harvest.

We expect a partial harvest this year of approx 1000 lbs.  Next year and thereafter, we should average 1500 lbs with fully mature vines. This translates to approx 500 bottles of finished wine this year and 750 in the future.

The season got under way with pruning in late January. The pruning technique is critical as to yield. Too many buds results in over cropping which reduces wine quality and stresses the vines the following year, Too few buds means not enough grapes and too much vegetative growth thus giving an herbavacious quality to the wine.

We are winegrowing 100% organically. The first treatment with JMS organic stylet oil  is applied to the pruned vines as a suffricant to kill any powdery mildew that is over wintering on the buds or wood. The vineyard was well saturated with heavy rains in late January and early February, this was optimal for the vineyard and means we will be not be irrigating until summer if at all. Bud break for the Brunello vines was March 9^th and for the Cabernet Souv vines it was three weeks later around April first. 

The Brunello vines are very vigorous, the Cabernet less so.  We had shatter or flower on the Brunello vines May 1^st to May 8^th. This was our first piece of good luck  as that week was constant sunshine and stable temps, optimal for a compact shatter season. Our Cabernet vines are just now completing shatter and the have had a longer time frame due to the varied temperatures in mid-May ranging from cloudy all week to searing hot in the high 90’s.   Why this is important is that if shatter is compact, the harvest will be more uniformed, if it is lengthened due to weather than the grapes will be more uneven at harvest and multiple passes a few days apart may be necessary. 

Our trellis choice and orientation was an excellent selection (thank you Pete Anderson.)   We have had no problems with pest or powdery mildew,  There is a constant coastal breeze that the vineyard is oriented for, to blow dry the grapes in the morning thus reducing the likelihood of powdery mildew.  Pest and bugs in general seem to much less of a problem here than elsewhere, again the coastal influence and breezes most likely are the contributing factors. 

We utilized a vertical position trellis system and a hedge pruning technique that will keeps the clusters exposed to sunshine.   If the summer is mild, we will leaf pull to expose more of the clusters to sunshine.  In the hotter inland areas of Escondido, Ramona and Temecula, most of the winegrowers let their vines droop over to provide shade for the clusters. This is the right answer for 105 degree weather.  Coastal areas we average 85 degrees and we want to open the canopy to sunlight.

 We continue our spraying regime of JMS organic stylet oil every two weeks as a preventative measure.  Our Brunello vines are now going through berry set with hundreds of beautiful clusters of berries now beginning to hang in the fruit zone.  It really is a beautiful sight.  Our Cab vines are just finishing shatter and berry set is around the corner.

Our front vineyard block is attracting much attention from the neighbors with several inquisitive ones knocking on our door asking “if those are wine grapes in the front”  Cameras are also starting to appear on a regular basis.

So we are off to a great start in 2008.  Much still depends on the weather especially during the harvest season of late September to October and the bird/racoon control, but I am confidant that we will be in good shape at harvest time. 

 Cheers!

Peder