Our vineyards, surging forward in this idyllic and mild spring, are once again showing visible signs of life; yet some of the most exciting developments are still hidden from our direct view. Inside protective paper boxes, newly planted grape vines have sprung to life.
A young vine in its protective cover
Some of the original blocks of vines that were planted back in 1981 were not producing the same quality of fruit that we wanted. These cabernet sauvignon and merlot grapes were planted in the standard fashion of the early 80’s, with rows spaced 12 feet apart and grapes planted every 6 feet. This layout worked amazingly well with some of our vineyard blocks, such as, Block 15; producing some of the best cabernet sauvignon we have grown to date. Cabernet from this block always ends up finding a home in our ISOSCELES and ISOSCELES Reserve blends.
A few of these original blocks, however, have not produced the caliber of grapes we have come to expect from the rest of our vineyard. Even though these select blocks were only a few feet away from those such as Block 15, we found the less successful ones did not produce the same quality of fruit due to the difference in soils, and slope of the hill it was on. Luckily, we now understand a lot more about the plethora of factors that go into the layout of a vineyard, as opposed to 30 years ago. With this knowledge, we came to the realization that the time had come to modify the row orientation of these vineyard blocks.
In the early winter months of this year, trellis systems were put into place in order to provide support for the new vines to come. Following this, in early spring we were able to begin the replanting of the newly designed blocks, as well as utilize new areas that were previously unplanted. To complete this project, a crew of almost 40 vineyard employees was hard at work, planting just over 16 acres of grapes.
The replanting process for each vine is undertaken by hand. First, a hole about a foot deep is dug, and into it fertilizer and organic compost is placed. This helps the fledgling vine to grow quickly and establish itself before our warm, dry summer arrives. The baby vine is then placed into the hole, tied to a support stake, and gently surrounded by earth. After planted, a protective paper cover is placed around the vine, ensuring that pest and cold don’t damage the new vine; essentially, acting as a small greenhouse. While we will dry farm these vines in the future, they are currently being irrigated in order to compensate for the meager rainfall we receive each year, and to ensure the young vine develops the deep root system it needs in order to excel.
A newly planted cabernet sauvignon grape vine
We drastically reduced the vine spacing from 12 feet to 8 feet and planted the new grapes only 3 feet apart instead of the previous 6 feet. The increase in vines per acre will cause the vines to compete for water and nutrients; a stress that we believe will cause more intense and desirable flavors. We also used several different row orientations to make sure that each type of grape gets the perfect amount of sun in needs to ripen.
Rows of newly planted vines in their protective coverings
It will take several years for these vines to begin producing useful fruit, but we have great hope for them. We are excited to keep you posted on the progress of our newly planted grapes. In the mean time, I hope you will continue to enjoy the fruit of the rest of our happily producing vineyard.
Cheers,
Chris Jahns, CSW
Recent Comments