Vineyard 101: Bloom & Fruit Set

30 Jun Vineyard 101: Bloom & Fruit Set

June always brings a flurry of activity in the vineyard – both in vine growth and farming activity. This year is no exception and is even more intense than usual due to warmer-than-normal weather in the region. Late May brought some unusually warm 80 and 90 degree days, and the warmth continued into June after a cool period over Memorial Day weekend. This heat means rapid vine growth and development and the earliest bloom on record in our Estate Vineyard!

Below, our botanical drawings show a close-up view of bloom and fruit set. During bloom, the flower clusters lengthen and the various parts of the grape flower emerge. Grape flowers have similar anatomy to other flowers in the plant kingdom – with anthers carrying the pollen that will fertilize the ovary and produce fruit. Our grapes are self-pollinating, meaning that they require no intervention from pollinator insects. During bloom, we hope for warm, dry weather which allows flowers to pollinate evenly, and results in even fruit set and beautifully formed clusters of potential grapes for the vintage. 

This year, Tom recorded the start of trace bloom in the original Estate Vineyard on June 7th, and full bloom on June 10th (image 1 below). The new Estate Vineyard block was a bit further behind, with full bloom on June 12th. Fortunately, after a bit of rain on June 7th and 8th, Mother Nature graced us with mostly dry weather between June 10th and 20th and we are happy with the quality and consistency of fruit set (image 2) throughout the entire vineyard.

As this post goes to press, fruit set is complete and the berries are beginning to swell and put on weight. The team is busy doing shoot positioning and is moving the bird nets into position in advance of veraison later this summer. We continue to hope for the perfect amount of rainfall and sunshine to shepherd the vines and grapes safely through the growing season!