We keep checking our refractometers (devices that measure sugar content by refraction of light) and comparing results, because nothing seems to be happening. But they all read the same.

The flavors are there now, in most cases. The seeds and skins are mature. All the numbers are good except the sugars are low. The canopies are nearing the end of their cycle, so we will have to pick soon.

This has been a dry year, so there should be less chance of mildew or botrytis mold. Yet I have seen more mildew than last year. This puzzles me, and I’m sure the guys from the universities are puzzled, too.

I’m noticing symptoms of leaf roll virus (margins of the leaf blade roll downward; areas between major veins turn red) quite a bit. Maybe the dry and late year has produced more expression of virus. I wonder if those leaves are working properly. We did some minimal irrigating to make sure the vines weren’t stressed.

Virus can be spread by grape and vine mealy bugs – we think the flying males may spread it because we catch them in traps and track their movement. In the past, we have marked virused and non-virused vines and have made wine from both of them. The virused vines produced lower sugars but softer, more evolved textures. The virused fruit actually tastes great, but sugar is a concern.

Anne wants to set up trials in one block, marking the virus-free or slightly virused vines as well as those with medium and heavy virus. We can farm part of each group of vines normally and part of each with earlier or more extreme crop thinning, perhaps one cluster per shoot. Then we can track whether the expression will decrease or increase next year and overlay the weather factor.

Vines are like humans in that we all have viruses, but we can minimize their effect with proper care. We can adjust our farming practices so that the vines aren’t stressed and are able to function and accommodate the virus.

Despite the dry year, all the grapes have remained juicy in this mild weather and with the small amount of water we have applied. In the fruit we have already picked, we are seeing juice in the boxes and bins.

Our cluster counts are good, but yields are down by about a third. We have shot berries, although they are not shriveled as they were in 2003, and there are fewer berries in the clusters.

I want to pick, but a watched pot never boils. We assume responsibility for the character of the fruit, because we do have tools to prepare for and deal with surprises. Winemakers have tools, too, as simple as sorting. We deal with what a vintage presents to us, and we don’t use the vintage as an excuse.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites