Well... if mildew, drought, leaf hopper, gophers, bears, and forest fires are not a sign of an impending vineyard apocalypse then it would just be another year.
On any given year we MAY have one of these things to contend with and when i say contend with..i mean in a minor way...but this year 2026, its game on for pests.
So in 18 years this is first time we've had to spray for mildew and now sadly cannot say we don't spray our grapes.
The grapes are one thing, but the leaves are severely hit by the mildew, drought, and leaf hoppers...and this is problematic as the leaves are the energy source for the grapes (and vine) to ripen up and store energy for winter and the following spring. With the leaves damaged, the ripening may be delayed or will not reach the optimum levels. Fortunately this Trifecta of destruction (leaf hoppers, drought and mildew) has impacted a smaller part of the overall crop.
The smoke from forest fires hasn't helped as well as its keeping the vineyard cooler than normal and blocks out the UV rays. The high heat 37c and better slows or kills the powdery mildew and is helped by the UV rays. That's why the need for sun exposure and air flow is so important. On that note we pulled leaves in and around the fruit to give better sun exposure to help with managing the mildew. Was a tough decision, pull leaves that are crucial for ripening the grapes or leave them but exacerbate the powdery mildew problem. We pulled leaves, especially those that were already yellowed by mildew, drought or leaf hopper, as those were already not going to help any more with the ripening but would blocked sun and airflow.
Not sure why we have the gophers that we do but many this year, it seems to be a cyclical thing, but the bears seem to come with the forest fires. If the fires are near, it chases the bears from that habitat to areas they don't normally go and that why we are seeing lots of them. Same thing happened last time we had forest fires nearby.
Of interest is the rank order of powdery mildew impact. Not even going to list Pinot Noir, Zweigelt, or Siegerebbe as they are gone already 100% infected and lost. Of note here is that are our vineyard we've never sprayed these varieties and they usually were ok. Biggest surprise is Petite Milo, as I was under the impression that it had strong fungal resistance but all of our plants are among those most severely infected.
Here is best to worst list with description of powdery mildew on grapes and leaves for various varieties. Impact on scale of 1 -10, with 1 = Good (no powdery mildew and up to 10% affected) and 10 = Bad (crop is lost 100% affected)
One of the factors is the proximity of varieties to infection. So if one variety gets infected easily, the mildew can spread quick to the neighboring plants and cause pressure on those varieties, even if they have some resistance. So in that respect, we see the proximity of both the L'Acadie and Marechal Joffre being on the edge of the vineyard and not surrounded by infection as perhaps a reason why they are showing less infection this year.
