Wet

So here we are in late May and it has been raining a lot. What does this mean for the vines and for the vintage.

The vines are entering growth spurt stage. This May’s combination of abundant soil moisture and warm temperatures has accelerated shoot growth and vigor. A sudden flush of growth is not a problem as far as the vines are concerned, but it is putting us behind in our canopy work.  We’ve lost some critical vineyard time due to lost rainy days, which is especially frustrating as we watch the vines grow with great exuberance.

The shoots have now elongated to the stage where they should start to catch the trellis wires. Some shoots do this on their own as their tendrils actively grab and attach to the wires. Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc are well adapted to this self-positioning. Other varieties are not. Chardonnay is the worst offender. Its tendrils are fairly useless and the shoots will often fall down and sometimes break off if they are not attended to in a timely manner. 

This is what we should be doing now: tying and positioning shoots, especially Chardonnay. But instead we are labeling wine bottles and maintaining equipment because the rain keeps falling.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: May 27, 2022