The power of the internet still amazes me. To realize that the entire method of communication has now shifted again and still hasn’t finished it’s final transformation. Some say it’s good, some say’s it’s bad. That’s there’s less personal communication between real humans. Text me, email me, facebook me, tweet me, blackberry, blueberry, yellow and green berries……. yes even the occasional phone call…….and rarely ever an actual paper letter in the mail. Good or bad the internet is here to stay.

Now more than ever we have an incredible power to “connect” with people in our “circle of influence” in a very powerful way. This website and the ideas behind it are all based on this connectivity and involvement. We want to bring wine lovers closer to the creation of great wines and allow their opinions to have an impact in real winemaking.

With that being said I think you’ll find this article interesting. Our winemaker Brian is an avid Tweeter! and after building a nice following decided it would be a cool idea to invite a select group from Twitter to participate in the first ever public Riesling blending. It was a successful experiment in “Democratic Riesling”.

Take a look here for the whole story:
http://communityfoodist.com/index.php/menu-learning/133-vineland-riesling

Enjoy!

As we are inaugurating MyWine well into the growing season for 2010 we have naturally had to make choices in the vineyard without you.  Time waits for no one and neither do vines.  There is a season and a specific timing to everything we do so there are a number of processes that we’ve carried out to prepare the vineyard for this year’ harvest.  Don’t worry, there are still dozens of decisions to be made and they are all yours to make.  Please allow me to update you on what we’ve been doing to start the process for your wine.

Pruning

Pruning is the first event that happens in the vineyard and it is ultimately important as it sets the harvest.  As Riesling is a very hardy and adaptive grape variety we normally start our overall pruning with it.  First it must be cold and the vines must be dormant for pruning to commence.  As it turns out “your” vineyard was pruned before Christmas of last year because the weather conditions were right to put the vines into dormancy and to allow the new growth of last year to “harden off”.  With pruning we like to leave 18-20 buds on a vine split between two canes depending on the strength and health of the individual vine.  All of the other excess growth is cut off and collected out of the vineyard.  Being a little weary of what the winter might bring in terms of damage to the buds we left an extra cane on (an extra 8-10 bud) “just in case”.  This would prove to be a very wise decision as you will soon find out.

Tying

As the warm spring arrived much sooner than we expect we had to get to tying three weeks earlier than normal.  Vines need to be tied before the buds are swollen to prevent damage.  We should note that carefully tying the pruned canes to the permanent trellis wires allows the plant to properly carry the weight of the new growth and grapes without collapsing.  We are using the Pendelbogen training system which means that the canes are tied to the wires in an arched format.   This training system encourages the new shoots to push upwards which is most beneficial to capturing the sun’s energy and putting it into the grapes.  As we were experiencing an unusually early and warm spring we decided to tie all three canes as opposed to removing one and only tying two.  We had stopped worrying about winter damage and started to worry about damaging spring frosts and were again playing it conservatively.  We always worry; we’re farmers!

Disking and Cultivating

This is an ancient method of breaking up the soil between the rows of vines with a series of discuss cutters to turn the previous year’s cover crop into the soil.  As the turned in cover crop decomposes it gently fertilizes the surrounding vines.  Also, beneficial air is mixed into the soil at the same time and it also helps to keep the soil from compacting.  Disking is a very green and natural way to manage the health of the soil and the plants within it.  We should also note that we only disk every other row as the remaining rows with cover crops give us a solid place to drive the tractors even in marginal weather.  As you can well imagine the rows are quick rough once the disking is done.  To smooth and even things out we cultivate. It is so satisfying to look at well disked and cultivated vineyard.

Mechanical Weed Removal with a Grape Hoe

We have worked hard to eliminate the use of herbicides in the vineyard by employing a grape hoe attachment on the tractor and performing mechanical weed removal.  This method takes much more skill and effort than just spraying but we feel that the extra time and expense is beneficial for all.  Why are weeds around the vines bad?  Are we just looking to be neat and tidy?  No.  There are very practical reasons for going to all this trouble.  If weeds are allowed to grow up and interfere with the fruit zone of the vine, air movement is restricted and dangerous, humid conditions may arise.  In addition, weeds invite pests that may be a threat to the vine and the grape.  Lastly, weeds may in some conditions pose the threat of competition for water and nutrients.  We don’t like weeds as much as you!

Suckering

At this latest point of the early growing season we are feeling very confident that the weather has been our ally and that we may forward confidently but still with some caution.  Now is the time for suckering and removing excess growth that is not needed to ripen the crop we have set.  Suckers, or extra green growth in areas that we do not desire are considered “energy vampires” for the vine.  Suckers take valuable energy that the vine needs to grow, be healthy, prepare for next year and develop the grapes for harvest.  Each vine is accessed individually and this surplus growth is removed.  We are not looking for “bushy” vines.  We want trim and efficient vines that have all they need to thrive and make excellent grapes….with an emphasis on excellent grapes!!