Rain! We actually got some rain. We have received 3 to 4 inches of rain in 4 days. We are thankful to God for these much needed rains. Cliff was saying that it might actually be nice if it would not rain for a couple of weeks. Of course by then, we will be praying for more. Some sunny weather would give us time to clean up the fields and make sure that the vines and grapes are aired and treated to discourage powdery mildew. These pictures are of Cabernet Sauvignon vines taken on May 27th.
The rains will also enable us to plant organic row crops of peanuts and cotton. But today we will take a look at the vines.
The brownish tint on these clusters are blooms that are about to fall off as part of the natural process of the buds forming.
Ahhh, the green and freshness of spring. How refreshing to the soul, the emerging of new buds…
We are so thankful for all the buds coming out. Quite often when there is a late spring freeze and a grower is relying on secondary buds to fill out his crop, he is afraid there will actually be “two” crops of grapes on the same vine. One that budded before the freeze and one that budded after the freeze. In the fall, there may be an inconsistency with the ripeness of the fruit when it comes time to harvest. The grapes that go into making a particular wine need to be of the same ripeness for the winemaking process to go well and to make wonderful wine. The vast majority of our varietals are either primaries that budded out after the April 15th freeze or in the case of Viognier almost all are secondary buds with the earlier buds dead. In either case, we are seeing relative uniformity in ripening of the clusters. That is why we discourage our vines from budding out till later in the spring. Most of the buds you are seeing emerged after the freeze.
We are sooooo thankful to see those buds.
We work towards just the right balance between number of leaves and number of clusters to each vine. Time and attention to the vines in the vineyards is where great wine making begins.
You have to look closely at times to see all of the clusters, but they are coming a long. As I said earlier, we are very thankful to God, the giver of all good gifts.
Blessings,
Betty
