It’s February 24rd and I’m sitting outside the local downtown Paso Robles coffee shop drinking my morning cappuccino in shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals and thinking to myself, “Man, what an amazing place I live in.” It’s winter, 71 degrees, and it’s only 9am. I love California! However, this strange weather has definitely thrown us a curveball this year. If we were in the Southern Hemisphere, this warm and dry February weather would be a much welcome end to the growing season and to the harvest. However, here in the Northern Hemisphere, these conditions are causing a bit of confusion in the vineyard.
The vines think it’s time to snap out of their winter dormancy!!
Because we’ve been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures, the vines are starting to wake up, the roots are beginning to uptake water, and sap is starting to flow through the vines. The next big step in the vine’s annual lifecycle is bud-break; when small shoots and leaves break through the buds left behind by winter pruning. This process usually takes place in late March or early April, but we are already seeing signs that indicate this could be happening much sooner. When bud-break occurs early, the vine is much more susceptible to frost. Enter the JUSTIN Vineyard Team! By analyzing weather patterns and realizing that early bud-break was a definite possibility this spring, and the chance of a spring frost being ever present, when conducting our winter pruning, the vineyard team decided to employ a technique called “pre-pruning” in some of our lower-lying, more frost-prone vineyard blocks.
Pre-pruning is when the vine is cut back to about a 12 inch spur, as opposed to the 2 - 3 bud (usually 2 inch long) spur that is normally left behind. This process is mean to inhibit the development of the buds by effectively delaying bud-break for up to a few weeks, and reducing the risk or late spring frost damage. Once the threat of frost has completely passed, the vines will be cut back to their normal 2-3 buds, and resume growing like they would in any other year.
While sitting here at the coffee shop, finishing my drink (wishing now that I had opted for something iced) I can rest assured that the 2012 growing season is off to a good start. We have an extremely knowledgeable vineyard team and they have taken all steps necessary to ensure our vines get a healthy start to the 2012 growing season.
-Mike Giese, CSW