June 1/15

This season got off to a slow start but we have caught up a bit. The grapes are all tied and ready to go for the year with extra cane tied down just in case of a late frost, however, it is now June so a late frost should be out of the question, but after 2 very cold winters I’m not ready to call an end to frost just yet. Ontario just recently had a severe frost episode in late May, so it goes to show it can still happen, and after these 2 years who knows?

The other reason tying down more fruit than you need is it gives you the option to do some shoot positioning at an early stage, by removing buds that are too close and would be remover at a later date anyway.

The high temperature for today was 9C which is quite low for this time of year, hopefully it will warm up soon, but we will persevere none the less.

So far the difference between the 2 Chardonnay clones (95 & 548) seems negligible, the only difference seems to be in the aforementioned brittleness of the other 2 Chardonnay clones which I mentioned in the previous post. The brittleness seems to be caused strictly by environmental factors heavy winds from this past year, a category 2 hurricane as well as high winds throughout the winter. This is most likely a non-issue or a one time event as it hasn’t happened before, anyway, enough about that.

Here are a couple of pics of the vines that are now tied down and the 1^st leaves beginning to unfold.     

Vineyard observations May 2015

I was tying down the chardonnays tonight (in my own vineyard) and noticed that some of the canes seemed brittle, but only the chardonnay clone 548. The other Chardonnay clone 95 tied down very nicely and easily. Both clones are on 3309 and S04 rootstocks so the rootstock had nothing to do with it. My guess is that the canes were not fully prepared for the winter and didn’t harden off sufficiently before the cold weather started?

The other possibility is that the temperatures were just too cold for an extended period of time and it caused the damage to the canes? I’m not really sure what the direct cause of the injury was whether; winter came too quickly or it was too cold for too long (I’m leaning towards too cold for too long) I will have to see if I can find out.

This past winter we had a lot of snow, far more than we have been used to getting over the last 20 years.

We also had a cold stretch where the temperature reached between -17C to -19C for an extended period of time about 2 weeks perhaps a little more. At least the majority of the vines were buried in snow and protected from the cold stretch.   

There is also another element to add to this puzzle: At the end of May 2014 there was a cold snap that lasted 3 days and the temperature dipped to -3C. Over 80% of the primary buds were outright killed and the secondary buds took over. My question is do the secondary buds harden off just as efficiently as the primary buds do? Or is this grasping at straws and seeing little green men where there are none?

     

While working in the other vineyard today (my main job) I noticed that the chardonnays were brittle as well, they are Chardonnay clone 96. The canes were difficult to tie down and some of the canes even split before I could tie them to the wire, thankfully not very many split or broke and in the end all the canes were tied successfully to the wire and the Chardonnay in the lower vineyard are now ready for the season.  

The 2 vineyards are 1 Km apart.

I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that 1 clone (95)was more successful in these last 2 cold winters than the other 2 clones (548, 96) That is an important point to remember whatever the cause of the injury Chardonnay clone 95 fared better these past 2 winters than Chardonnay clone 548 and Chardonnay clone 96.   

I will post a few pics of the vineyard soon, showing the canes tied down and 1 extra cane left just in case we get more cold weather; this is Nova Scotia after all and we're growing vinifera.   

Today is a snow day for Northeastern North America, most of the NE is shut down due to a blizzard. It looks like Boston, Mass. and all surrounding areas are getting the brunt of the storm. Here in the Western end of the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia we're getting what appears to be a typical snow storm with quite a bit of wind. It will most likely be in the neighbourhood of 20-25 cm when it is over, no where near what Boston will get.(60-90 cm)

Last year 2014 it was reported to be the warmest on record. It is funny but since I have been recording rainfall totals, 2014 was also the wettest since 2002 when I started the recordings. We received a total of 1128.5 mm of rain in 2014.

The winter of 2013-2014 was very cold and long it started in mid November 2013 and lasted until March 2014 we haven't had a winter like that for about 20 years. We didn't have particularly cold temperatures (-19 C was the coldest)but the duration of the cold spells was notable.

The real problem with 2014 came in May, we had an unusually cold spring that seemed to drag on forever, but during the last week of May ( May 29-30) we had a cold snap where the temperature dipped below -3C which did a tremendous amount of damage all over the province, primary buds on the grape vines were killed in droves, which left everyone with the lesser quality secondary and tertiary buds, so right out of the starting gate we were down significantly in crop if no one left themselves some wiggle room by tying down extra buds, thankfully most growers here in NS realize this and give themselves more buds to start with to make up for any unexpected frost damage. Once the weather turned for the better it was really a very good growing year the quality of the crop was exceptional and the fall temperatures were mild and stayed until late October, after harvest we had lots of time for the vines to prepare themselves for the coming winter, so the vines went into this winter 2014-2015 in good to very good shape. All in all it was a good year in spite of the rough start.

The Pinot noir 828 was entering its 3 year last year and was in good shape so I tied down a half a crop where it was possible. I say where it was possible because I have Pinot noir 828 on 2 different rootstocks (in the same row) Riparia Glorie and 3309. The vines on 3309 looked as one would expect they would look for vines that are entering their 3rd year, the trunk size was good(1"+) and the canes were a good diameter as well about 5/16" so they were allowed to retain a half crop. The vines on Rg rootstock were noticeably smaller, they looked like they were entering their 2nd year instead of their 3rd, this was because they were grafted onto a devigorating rootstock(Rg) because of the smaller caliper size I didn't allow any of these vines to bear fruit. They will have a full crop this year. (unless the trunk size is still too small) I would rather error on the side of caution when it comes to tying down a full crop to give the roots more time to develop a strong root system, that way the vines will be in better shape to withstand any environmental challenges that may/will come their way. (at least that is the hope, a healthy plant will more easily handle adverse conditions than a vine that is less healthy)

The Chardonnays were also in their 3rd year and the vines looked very good, caliper size was about 5/16" which is a little large but that will work itself out as the vines will from now on have a full crop tied down. All in all I am happy with the quality of fruit that they are producing (so is the winery) and hope to continue being able to maintain this quality from year to year, as consistency is the most important factor that wineries are looking for. 

I am looking forward to this year as it will be (for the most part) a full crop from here on in. I will be adding to the vineyard as soon as I remove some trees that are causing too much shade in the evening. This expansion will be a little over an acre in size when it happens.

I will add a few pictures that my brother-in-law Ed Dyer took this summer

Finally, for a New Years Resolution I am going to update this blog more than once a year...hopefully, maybe...we'll see.

Have a great year!