*This spring we are seeing two or even three large flower clusters per shoot.*

Timing is Everything

This week’s cooler weather will slow vine growth. This is good for our work pace. We are now in the “timing is everything” mode in the vineyard. A heat wave would stimulate shoot growth and most likely put us behind with shoot tying and positioning.

The flower clusters have now unfolded and are visible. The bunches are abundant. We are looking at a potentially large crop. Flowering will occur in a few weeks. Typically about 30% of the flowers on any given cluster will successfully pollinate and become a grape. This is determined by the weather. If it is warm and dry this percentage increases. If it is cold and wet pollination and “fruit set” (successfully fertilized and developed berries) could be low.

This year if the vines experience good fruit set it will make more work for us. In July we will have to spend a lot of time removing some clusters from the vines in order to balance each vine’s leaf-to-cluster ratio. If we didn’t do this the crop would be abundant but the wine would be lackluster.