Adapting to the Weather and Thinning the Vines

When I asked for less rain, I didn’t mean any rain! July has seen just a few thunderstorms and a little bit of rain. This creates concern for our vineyard because of drought stress. Even Norton needs a little rain to produce that delicious fruit. Freddi was quick to act and our drip irrigation is already at work keeping the vines watered.  

The canopies are open allowing the fruit to receive just the right amount of sunshine. Due to the intense heat, the overall disease pressure seems to be down but we are maintaining a very close eye. While things appear to be just right, the vineyard crew is taking some time to thin some fruit. 

Thinning fruit refers to removing any excessive clusters from the shoots. We make this determination by looking at the total amount of leaves per shoot. On average, it takes roughly 12-14 leaves per shoot to ripen a single cluster of grapes. For two or more clusters its safe to assume at least 24-30 leaves. Removing extra clusters not only encourages ripeness but also helps with the phenolic development in the fruit itself. The vine will pour more energy into developing quality fruit if it doesn’t have to spread energy between multiple clusters. Think of it as concentrating ripeness. 

Like all agriculture, it’s important to produce the proper yield. It takes a lot of energy and nutrients from the vines to produce fruit. Over producing in the vineyard leads to weak vines, which becomes problematic for dormancy in the cold months. This becomes especially important when temperatures drop below freezing. Over cropped vines will have thin or frail shoots that are easily broken. 

As always, the crew works exceptionally hard to produce the best fruit possible for each vintage. 2020 is shaping up to be a promising year!