Sucker Punch

Well Spring has made it's appearance at last. True signs that the vineyard is in full growth mode are the emerging "suckers" found at the base and all along the vine's trunk. These innocent looking leaves will feed off of the vine's energy "sucking" the life from the rest of the buds that we need to produce fruit clusters later in the year. This year's rains will no likely lead to a few million of these fellows springing up everywhere denoting the vigor that can occur with a wet vineyard floor. So what to do?

Get rid of them before they become hardened stems. By just running the palm of your hand down the trunk of the vine at this time, they will easily fall off. We will allow them to grow a bit before removing them just to let the vine blow off a little steam so that the vines will not exert new excessive energy into the upper shoot growth for the rest of spring. It is all a matter of timing and balance. When to slow down the vine and when to knudge the growth in the right direction. This year should be a challenge.


Along with the suckers, it is time to mow the cover crop. We've kept the weedy looking wild radish, clovers and natural cover crop for awhile longer than we'd normally like, just to soak up some of the extra moisture from the unusually wet soil. This too will help us balance the vine growth for a bit. But not for long, although frost is rarely a worry for our hillside vineyard, the high weeds will lower the temperature near the new shoots to that of near ground level temps. So Tom's off to mow this week, still a little tricky to drive the ATV and mowing unit through the soft wet vineyard, but it has to be done and he's the designated driver this time.

Is it Spring yet?

Welcome to my first entry. This is my attempt to provide an up-close look at our vineyard as it progresses each season. We're just a small winery attempting to make the best Pinot Noir our little Maboroshi vineyard can. Now in its 6th year of growth, that has proved a daunting task this year. It appears spring may never come to our region of Sonoma County. Now in our second consecutive month of overwhelmingly rainy weather, we're beginning to think the earth has shifted and Northern California is on the verge of becoming the new Seattle. But at last, the dormant vines are starting to awaken and the first signs of budbreak have appeared. Let's just hope the sun will muster a bit more courage so these little guys will have a chance to grow.

Check our our regular website for more information.

http://www.maboroshiwine.com

primary bud


secondary bud emerges


tertiary bud (3 for 1)