Morning ya'll,
Well, the weather is quite different now from one week ago. The past week has been a more typical week in April. The rain was well needed as the earth was quite dry. However, the amount of rainfall we have had has put a delay on planting. We had several vineyards that we were scheduled to plant this week. As a result of the rain this has been put on hold.
Planting a vineyard requires much soil preparation. First the cover crop must be cut, then the earth must be sub soiled, and lastly the surface must be disked several times. A subsoiler is a piece of equipment that turns the earth approximately 2-3 feet below the surface. Sub soiling is followed by disking to break up surface clumps of earth. Ideally when planting we desire finer particles of earth, large clumps make planting more difficult. The rain creates additional headaches because it essentially forms an earth cake batter (I think as kids we have all made mud pies?). Wojtek our vineyard manager needs the soil to be relatively dry to plant. A wet vineyard causes difficulty in getting equipment through the vineyard. In fact the equipment could just get stuck. Earlier in the week we had some pretty serious downpours that required a few days of drying. Well the drying occurred, but now it is raining again! The forecast indicates that there are chances of showers through Sunday. So, all of these projects are tentatively on hold.
Mother Nature really has the last word when it comes to the vineyard. Nature is the part of the wine industry that makes it so interesting, but this also is the part that can cause the headaches. I would not have it any other way. Every year is different and unique, especially in grape growing and winemaking. Some people have asked if this rain effects the vineyard? Other than Wojtek using a few more explicative's in regards to putting the planting a few days behind... no, not at all. Talk with ya'll soon and remember to drink local stuff and shoot me some questions should you have them!
Well, the weather is quite different now from one week ago. The past week has been a more typical week in April. The rain was well needed as the earth was quite dry. However, the amount of rainfall we have had has put a delay on planting. We had several vineyards that we were scheduled to plant this week. As a result of the rain this has been put on hold.
Planting a vineyard requires much soil preparation. First the cover crop must be cut, then the earth must be sub soiled, and lastly the surface must be disked several times. A subsoiler is a piece of equipment that turns the earth approximately 2-3 feet below the surface. Sub soiling is followed by disking to break up surface clumps of earth. Ideally when planting we desire finer particles of earth, large clumps make planting more difficult. The rain creates additional headaches because it essentially forms an earth cake batter (I think as kids we have all made mud pies?). Wojtek our vineyard manager needs the soil to be relatively dry to plant. A wet vineyard causes difficulty in getting equipment through the vineyard. In fact the equipment could just get stuck. Earlier in the week we had some pretty serious downpours that required a few days of drying. Well the drying occurred, but now it is raining again! The forecast indicates that there are chances of showers through Sunday. So, all of these projects are tentatively on hold.
Mother Nature really has the last word when it comes to the vineyard. Nature is the part of the wine industry that makes it so interesting, but this also is the part that can cause the headaches. I would not have it any other way. Every year is different and unique, especially in grape growing and winemaking. Some people have asked if this rain effects the vineyard? Other than Wojtek using a few more explicative's in regards to putting the planting a few days behind... no, not at all. Talk with ya'll soon and remember to drink local stuff and shoot me some questions should you have them!
Cheers,
Juan.
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