Spring in the vineyard

So far this spring the grape vines I planted this year are growing like crazy.  The Traminette has the most vigorous growth so far, already jumping out of the grow tubes.  So far this variety  is doing better than I expected, it will be a few years before I get some fruit from it, but I think these vines will be able to handle conditions here rather well.  The vigorous growth could be the result of the root stock I chose, 101-14.  Traminette is a variety that is not susceptible to black rot, and only moderately susceptible to downy or powdery mildew.  Those three diseases are the most common I have deal with in my little backyard vineyard.  The less I have to spray, the better.

The Regent grape vines I planted are also doing quite well.  They are on a less vigorous 3309 rootstock, but even still, considering they were planted a few weeks after the Traminette, are growing quite fast.  The Regent is also more disease resistant than most Vitis Vinifera, showing only a mild suseptibility to powdery mildew.  I am looking foward to seeing how this vine progresses in the coming years, as while it is a hybrid grape, it has more Vitis Vinifera in its heritage than most other hybrids, and from what I have read, makes a great wine with cherry and black currant flavors.

On the east coast, we have to spray grape vines quite a bit in order to have a decent crop of grapes to use for wine.  This can be expensive, so it will be interesting to see with hybrid vines like these two, which will win out.  Hybrid wines or heavy chemical spray usage. 

Finally, my good ol' reliable Cabernet Franc vine is still going strong.   This was the only row of Vitis Vinifera I kept in our vineyard.  It grows so well here, but is very suseptibile to fungal diseases like Black Rot and Downy Mildew.  Here is an image of a grape cluster in pre-bloom stage on my vine.  Maybe I will get enough grapes to make a little wine out of this year, if not, it does make an excellent jelly!

Bottling 2009 Windsor Zinfandel

This batch of zinfandel is one of the first wines I have made from frozen grape must.  I purchased it from Brehm Vineyards.  The fruit is sourced from Dommen Vineyards, located in the Windsor, Russian River region in Sonoma County, California.  The grapes came from very old vines that were planted in 1937 and are considered "ultra-premium" fruit.  The numbers on the grapes harvested were 24.5^o brix, 3.31 pH, and a TA of 0.85 g/100ml.  

I fermented this wine using D254 yeast, which is supposed to enhance the jammy characteristics.  I wouldn't say the wine is particularly jammy at this point.  Instead it is showing spicier characteristics.  There are very distinct pepper characteristics and it has a dark fruit flavor on the palate. 

This wine is the first red wine I bottled using the new filtration system.  I used a 1 micron filter in order to remove any particulates.  The wine has maintained a dark, rich color even after filtering. The wine is about 14% alcohol by volume.  Usually I am very critical of wines I make, and while I may have some from time to time, I rarely prefer my wine to wine purchased from the store.  That is not the case with this wine.  I will pick this wine over any purchased wine any day of the week. 

This batch produced 32 bottles of wine.

Planting Regent

The Regent grape vines I ordered from Raintree Nursey finally arrived!  This vine has rootstock 3309, which is different than what I am used to using (101-14).  The biggest difference I could find was that 101-14 can handle "wet feet" better than 3309.  But considering I am planting these vines on a slope, the extra drainage provided should compensate.

The first step was to soak the vines in a bucket of water for several hours to "wake them up."  Next it was time to remove the old Chardonnay vines.  I kept one of them and transplated it to another side of the yard.  Vinefera is not known to transplant well, so we'll see if it survives.  I cut the wires from the trellis so I could more easily access and dig out the existing vines.  Next, I had to form the holes for the new vines.  Planting on a slope is a bit different from flatter areas.  It is important to make sure that water doesn't just run down the hill.  You have to provide an environment where water has a chance to sink in and reach the roots. The hole is dug straight down at an angle to the slope and is a little deeper than normal.  That way when the vine is planted, you have a sharp ledge, a flat area around the vine, and then a wall of dirt before the slope continues downhill. 

After the holes were dug, I performed a quick soil test.  The result was approximately 7.0pH.  I added some peat to the ground at each hole to increase the acidity of the soil.  Grape vines prefer pH's between 5.5 and 6.5.  Oddly enough, the row at the bottle of the slope was on the acidic side and needed lime added.  I believe the reason for this is that when they were bulldozing the ground around my house when it was built (4 1/2 years ago), they moved all the topsoil to the top of the hill.

Finally it was time to plant the vines.  Each vine was placed in a hole, spreading the roots out in all directions.  I sprinkled root maximizer around each of them.  Finally, each hole was filled with a mixture of the displaced dirt and peat.  Then each vine was watered heavily.

It will be exciting to see how this variety does in North Carolina!