Spring in the Estate Vineyard

20 Apr Spring in the Estate Vineyard

As this goes to press, the 2021 vintage is off to a good start! January weather was on par with historical temperature norms but yielded minimal precipitation. February offered snow nearly every day which kept us blanketed with 2 feet of snow for much of the month. This meant plenty of snowshoeing for Susan and winery dog Raven but made it difficult to perform vineyard work. March was warmer than normal, and this trend continued in April.

People often ask what we do with all of our “free time” during the winter months, but the truth is that a dormant vineyard requires plenty of care and tending to prepare for the upcoming growing season.  In early March, we were thrilled when our H-2A vineyard team members returned to our vineyard after their seasonal trip home to Mexico.  This is our second year of collaborating with these gentlemen who did a superb job of keeping the vineyard in tip-top shape in 2020.  In just 2 days they performed the first pass of pruning on both of our vineyard blocks. 

After the first pruning pass, Tom began tying each vine in the vineyard. Our H-2A team leaves 2 fruiting canes on each vine, and Tom makes the final decision on which cane will bear this year’s fruit. When considering which cane to choose, he evaluates the node spacing (distance between the buds), the number of buds, and the thickness of the cane, and other factors. He prunes away the other cane, and then wraps the selected cane around the fruiting wire and ties it to the fruiting wire to position the vine is properly for growth.  

After we complete tying, we wait for bud break and the start of the growing season. The warm weather in March and April means that the plants are waking up. A cold snap is predicted for this week, so we hope that the warm water of Cayuga Lake protects the vines and the buds that are beginning to emerge.