Favorable weather combines to improve prospects for vineyard
By CnAgri
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While this year’s much wetter weather has provided enough forage to keep deer out of the vineyards, it’s also enabled the natural vegetation within the fenced boundaries to flourish. So far this season, Dan has made half a dozen passes down the rows to control weeds. Prior to bud break he uses his ATV, equipped with a boom sprayer, to treat the area under the vines with Roundup.
After bud break, he uses a backpack sprayer with large-opening nozzles to apply the herbicide, as these heavier droplets reduce the risk of vine-damaging spray drift. In addition, he mows the natural permanent vegetation in the row middles after desirable plants, particularly red clover, have gone to seed.
Although all his blocks of grapes are set up for drip irrigation, only the upper vineyard requires regular watering. There a clay layer limits vine-root growth to a depth of just five feet.
“We haven’t had to irrigate the lower vineyard for the past 15 years,” Dan says. “Here in the mountains soil types can change rapidly within a relatively short distance and elevation. In fact, within our 14 acres of grapes, there are seven distinct areas that differ in types of soil and orientation to the sun.”
Up until a few years ago, the Martins burned their cane prunings. However, because the vineyards lies within what is now classified as an Urban Wildfire Area, he uses a flail mower to chop up the prunings, which are left in place to decompose.
Assuming no big changes in the weather between now and when the grapes are ready to pick, Dan expects the harvest to begin in his area in mid-August with Sauvignon Blanc. He looks for his Cabernet Sauvignon to be ready as usual in the latter part of September.
“I want the fruit to mature to the point where the seeds are brown,” Dan says. “I like to pick the grapes with pH in the range of 3.45 to 3.55 and sugar around 25.0º to 25.5º Brix.”
Achieving that was especially challenging last year, he notes. “Because of a heat wave during harvest, all our varieties came on at once,” he recalls. “We really had to hustle to get everything picked at the quality we wanted.”
