Cool Spring 2012

Contrary to the Environment Canada prediction of above average temperatures for May and June we've experienced another cool spring and early summer.  In fact in the 5 years we have been taking temperature readings this is the coolest May-June yet.  May came in close to normal at 11.8c average and June was 14.2c average.  The rain has also been relentless and we've probably had 8-10 inches since May 1st.

The cool weather shows in slow growth of the vines.  We usually flower the first week of July this year and we're going to be flowering about 5-7 days later than normal.  As of July 3rd, the Leon Millot are the first to show signs of cap fall and some flowering within clusters and on July 4th Colmar Precoce Noir was also starting to show some flowering.  The Leon Millot looks good this year, the flower clusters are getting bigger as the vines mature although with the high rain and humidity we're seeing some fungal presure with powdery mildew on the leaves of some Leon millot and some downey mildew on the leaves of some Castel.  Photo's of the Leon Millot flower clusters below;

The Colmar precoce looks good also and shows great growth and large clusters.  The Lucy Kuhlman is slower this year, and the Marechal Foch is also looking good.  Photo's of Colmar Precoce flower clusters below;

The Triomphe D'Alsace also looks good but seems to be slower than than some of the other kuhlman varieties - kind of like how Lucy Kuhlman seems a bit slower.  Photo of Triomphe flowers below;

The Castel looks good for third year and we have several more clusters this year than last and will get a better idea of relative ripening times.  Photo of castel cluster below;

The Ravat 34 looks good again however, some of the clusters this year are small and several shoots produced only one cluster.  This could be a result of over cropping the vine last year and the drough impact on the vine also.  One thing about Ravat 34 is that it likes to send shoots out from secondary buds.  I had pruned the Ravat down to a low bud/shoot count in late May.  By the end of June I noticed that there were about 50% more shoots, mostly secondary buds, that had popped up and had to prune those off.  This is excellent if you were to get  a late frost as most of the secondary buds/shoots carry a small cluster.  The vines look excellent again, supper healthy setting nice flower clusters.  Photo of Rvata 34 flower clusters below;

We also have several flower clusters on the Evangeline this year and like the castel we'll get a good idea of relative ripening times of this variety versus the other varieties.

Bud Break 2012

The winter was mild this year but with less snow cover than usual. Bud break was between May 17th and May 25th with Petite Milo and Colmar comming first and Evangeline and Triompe d'Alsace the latest. Overall the vines survived quite well with the exceptions of Regent, Cabernet Foch, Cabernet Libre, and Ortega.  Again these died back significantly and while they are pushing buds they are starting out from canes close to the ground.  I believe that these varieties are all excellent grapes vines but for our climate, soil and conditions they have not proven suitable for our site.

This is exactly why we are experimenting with over 20 varieties and we are starting to see some that are proving well at our location.  The Ravat 34 consistently does well, is disease resistant and produces and ripens grapes every year - providing I don't over crop it as in 2011.  As the Rvaat 34 comes into bud break, I see that over cropped Ravat 34 last year has reduced some of the vines hardiness in bud and cane survival.  Overall it did fine but I notice the bud and cane survival is a bit less than in other years and again I'm attributing this to having over cropped the fruit and canes on this variety in 2011.  see bud break on the Ravat 34 below.

The Leon Millot does alright but it is not as consistent as the Ravat in bud/cane survival and this is very important with this variety.  The clusters are so small that you need alot of producing buds to produce a decent and balanced crop load.  I'm not getting this consistency but some of the other Kulhman varieties are showing well and show both good bud and cane survival including Lucy Kuhlman, Marechal Foch, and Colmar Precoce Noir.  Colmar Precoce and Lucy Kuhlman bud out quite early.  See Colmar Precoce Noir below;

Castel and Evangeline are doing quite well with great cane and bud survival. We're hoping for some good clusters on both these this year to assess the juice chemestry. The Acadie is comming along pretty good also and we will be adding Acadie where we pull out some of the Cab libre and Cab Foch vines this year.  We still have the Zweigelt and Pinot Noir but they struggle at our site.  Another vine that is doing well is the Petite Milo.  It has good disease resistance and bud/cane survival.  It buds out early but like the Castel, Lucy Kuhlman and Colmar Precoce Noir, our latest frosts don't seem to be enough to damage them.  See Petite Milo below.  Perhaps in years to come a late hard cold frost might cause problems.

We're going to be adding a new variety this year to replace the Ortega.  It is Vandal Cliche and was created in Quebec, Canada.  It is cold hardy, disease resitant and produces huge crops of white wine grapes that produce a neutral wine.  I've had Cliche before and it is a very nice wine. 

2011-2012 Warm Winter

The spring is a great time of the year at the vineyard, full of surprises and expectation for the new growing year.  The winter temperatures were great from November all through to April.  There were few days overall that went below -10c and the coldest day was February 27 when the temperature went to -18.6c and another cold day of -18c at the end of January.  Of particular interest was the day time temperatures that were experienced in February and March when several of the days reached the 5c-10c mark. 

We also experience lower snow pack than usual.  We often have 2-3 feet in February but by the end of the month there was none.  While the precipitation was near normal alot more of the moisture fell as rain than snow, especially in the month of February.  As such come early March the snow was all but gone. 

Not a hard winter by any stretch of the imagination but these condition present their own issues to overwintering grape vines.  While the temperature was not harsh, what we experienced this year was a tremendous diurnal fluctuation.  The day time highs in February almost always over 5c but the night time lows were in the -5 to -10 range depending on the day.  This freeze thaw action accompanying this diurnal fluctuation can begin to bring vines out of dormancy, especially the buds and canes.

While these types of temperatures are not uncommon in February, the usual snow pack moderates the temperature and limits the large day nigh temperature swings.  In addition the snow keeps the soil temperature low and often covers some of the canes, serving to inhibit vines coming out of dormancy.
The lack of snow and warm day temperatures followed by the cold nights and the deep freeze in late February appears to have been injurious to some of the vines.  As of early May most of the varieties were showing bud push and we could assess winter damage.

The vines showing most damage are Regent, Cabernet Foch, Cabernet Libre, Ortega and Ravat 34.  The damage to the Ravat 34 can be more likely attributed to the over cropping of the vine last year in combination with the winter climate and we'll be able to assess this better at bud break.  The Leon Millot and Triompe D'Alsace (TDA) showed some moderate bud damage but not unlike what is experienced most winters and in the case of the TDA the buds were just starting to push and full assessment can not be made.  Lastly, the Castel, Lucy Kuhlman, Foch, Colmar Precoce Noir, Petite Milo and Evangeline did very well and show excellent bud/cane survival. 

I was surprised at the poor survival of the Regent as this was the mildest winter we've experienced.  it has been 3 winters now and these vines just don't do well at our site.  It may be the freeze thaw action in the winter, it may bee we don't have a long period for the vine to go into dormancy.  Regardless they don't do well while other vines excel.  Similarly the Cab Foch, Cabernet Libre, and Ortega have not done well and we will pull them this year.

Seyval Blanc Grape and Wine

Seyval Blanc is a white wine grape that has been extensively grown in eastern Canada and the North-Eastern U.S for several decades.  It is sometimes known simply as "seyval" and was bread in the early 1900's  by Seyve-Villard of France.

This vine produces large clusters of grapes and almost always requires crop thinning to reduce crop load.  It can produce massive crops of grapes but in short season areas and cold climates needs to be thinned to ensure the remaining grapes ripen and the vine has sufficient time and energy to harden off for winter.

The vine grows fairly upright and vinifera like in a trellis however, not so much that it can not be adapted to various style suitable to vinifera or hybrid varieties.  It has moderate resistance to the mildews and has little disease pressure.

Seyval Blanc is definitely a mid season grape.  It can be picked in some locations in approximately 100 days from bloom to harvest but it is more likely a 110 day period.  Often ripening to 22-24 brix, it can be picked earlier at 18-19 brix and still makes nice wine.  Of particular cultural value, especially in areas prone to late spring frosts is it's tendency to bud out later than most other varieties.

The wine from Seyval Blanc can be pale yellow (in under - ripe fruit) to golden colour and highly acidic, green apple like (in under-ripe fruit) to rich full tropical fruit flavours in fully ripened seyval grapes.  However, even the Seyval's that I have tried that were from cooler years or from vintages that did not fully ripen the fruit, the wine was still quite nice.

One of the finest wines made from Seyval comes from Jost vineyard in Nova Scotia.  Year over year, Jost produces a consistent high quality wine from this grape.  They leave a little residual sugar for an exceptional wine suitable for the deck or dinner.

More on seyval http://viticulture.hort.iastate.edu/cultivars/Seyval%20blanc.pdf

2011 Season Review

We harvested the grapes on October 6th this year.  That gave us 158 frost free days and about 934 degree days growing.  The season started with good winter survival of the vines/buds with the coldest winter temperature being -22. (see link to climate data for details).  Last spring frost was May 2nd and fall frost was October 8th.
 
May was cool, below normal with the usual abundant rainfall.  Bud break for most varieties was approximately May 18/19th.  All varieties were given a 8-8-8 fertilizer treatment and a micro-nutrient treatment (Scotts Micro-Max).  Practice double pruning to reduce potential loss to late spring frost.

June was fairly close to normal temperature, except the last 10 days of the month and first week into July was below normal and delayed flowering a few days.  Average rainfall.

July was cool and continued the cool spring trend.  Flowering was first week in July for all varieties except Ravat 34.  Ravat was about 4-5 days behind the other varieties which is unusual as Ravat typically flowers the same time (+/- a day) as the other varieties. (This should have been my first clue that this variety was over cropped).  Rain was moderate to low and the last rain in July was on the 23rd.  This was the start of the drought that lasted until mid September.

August was normal for heat, hot days on average, no rain the entire month.  By August 23rd the vines were looking fine, Leon Millot was well filled out as were most other varieties, however the berry development of Ravat 34 was delayed.  The Lucy Kuhlman and Colmar Precoce Noir were just starting to show some colour on the 23rd.

September was above normal for heat (monthly average of 15.3 degrees c) and the drought continued until September 17th (8 full weeks without any rain).  As of the 10th most varieties were showing moderate to high water stress, Ravat was showing severe water stress and was given some water.  Most varieties were colouring well, but the berries are noticeably small compared to normal especially Ravat. Deployed the nets.

October - Harvest was on October 6th, followed by a hard frost on the 8th.  The week prior to harvest it rained several inches and the vines soaked up the water they had been denied all summer.  Many varieties cracked, the worst was Ravat 34, the best was Leon Millot and Regent.

  Cracked Ravat with small berries pictured below;

Below - photo of one of the few Ravat clusters that somewhat filled out;

The juice brix readings taken at the vine was noticeably lower than normal (1-2 brix below what was expected) diluted by the uptake of water from the rains.  In addition it can be expected that the drought served to shut down the vine sugar accumulation and photosynthesis activity for several weeks leading up to veraison and through a portion of the ripening period.  Interestingly the must weights were 1 brix higher.  The vines were hardening off well already with canes on some varieties showing several feet of wood.  Photos below of Leon Millot followed by Lucy Kuhlman

This season I learned a great deal about crop load, especially for vines 3-4 years old in dry land viticulture.  Likely a more experienced grower would have recognized that the delay in flowering of the Ravat 34 was a function of over cropping the vines or would have cropped accordingly in the first place.  Secondly, I should have thinned the Ravat shoots in August rather than September when the berry development was noticeably behind schedule historically and relative to the other varieties.  This would have reduced the water stress and given the berries on the vine a chance to catch up.  As for the other varieties it appears they were cropped properly however, a thick mulch would have helped reduce the water stress.  In short, the long growing season was about 10-12 days better than normal, the heat accumulation was about normal, but the drought significantly reduced the size of berries and the amount of sugar accumulated. Finally, the addition of the potassium and micro-nutrients eliminated the sporadic potassium deficiency identified in previous years.

Marechal Joffre Wine

Finally - someone is making a Marechal Joffre varietal.  Jost Vineyard in Nova Scotia has been using Marechal Joffre in their red wine blends for decades but in 2010 they kept some of the grapes aside and produced a wonderful red Joffre varietal.

This wine has the character and similarities that one finds in the other more well known Kulhman varieties that came from the same cross - Leon Millot, Lucy Kuhlman, Marechal Foch.  It is dark red, but not inky dark like the way Foch and Lucy Kuhlman can be, more like Millot, perhaps even lighter.  Dark fruit aromas abound with the most notable being plum and black currant - showing its strong similarity to its simblings. Taste is also typical of the other Kuhlman's, with rasberry and cherry the stand-outs although a little less cherry than what I am accustom to in a Millot and over-all less powerful flavours.

This is a very likeable wine, and really reminds me of a Lucy Kuhlman-Leon Millot blend, with none of the herbacousness that I've found in Lucy Kuhlman varietals.  This Jost release recently won a bronze medal at the 2011 Atlantic Canadian Wine Awards and obviously has the ability to stand on its own as a varietal.

Would be nice to see other wineries rethink the notion of blending this variety away.  It can enhance or fortify a variety with less colour or one that has struggled in cooler years to achieve complete maturity.  In addition it ripens about 2 weeks earlier than Foch, yet has about the same disease resitance and cold hardy properties (see link to Marechal Joffre Grape).  For these reasons it is a great variety for the cooler short season locations.

Grapes Beginning to Ripen Sept 10, 2011

The grapes are starting to colour up and soften and the sugars are starting to accumulate.  Its the time of year to set the bug and/or bird netting out so the critters don't devour your grapes.  Visually, the vines are showing some signs of water stress, particularly the Ravat 34.  For certain I've over cropped the Ravat variety this year and some shoot thinning was required to help relieve some of the stress.  The vineyard has entered into a drought situation as there has been no usable rainfal since July 21st.  Usable rainfal is that which falls in such amount as to enter the ground and replenish soil moisture.  The only moisture the vines have access too is dew which forms overnight and settles on the leaves.  Long range forecast looks like a possibility of rain in about a week.

Analysis of the various varieties shows some are advancing to maturity faster than others, here is a list of average Brix measurements and observations taken on September 10th;
Lucy Kuhlman, Brix 12 - seeds turning brown, softening
Marechal Foch, Brix 10
Triompe D'Alsace, Brix 8 - *still irrigated
Colmar Precoce Noir, Brix 9.5 - *still irrigated
Leon Millot, Brix 11 -  seeds turning brown, softening
Ravat 34, Brix 7
Petite Milo, Brix 10.5 - softening
Cabernet Foch, Brix 7
Cabernet Libre, Brix 9

Lucy Kuhlman pictured below;

Leon Millot pictured below,

Ravat 34 pictured below;

Clearly the earlier Kuhlman varieties (Lucy Kulhman and Leon Millot) and Petite Milo are ripening the fastest.  Interestingly, Triompe D'Alsace and Colmar Precoce Noir are said to ripen even earlier then Leon Millot yet they are behind Leon Millot visually (skin colour and seeds) and by way of sugar accumulation.  However, the Triompe and Colmar have been provided regular irrigation and show no water stress.  Some literature articulates that deficit irrigation at veraison to harvest hastens maturity in grapes.  It is possible, and appears that the irrigation these varieties are receiving has slowed their rate of maturity in comparison to Leon Millot.

Mid Season: Grapes are late - Again

As of August 20th we are about 1-2 weeks behind where we should be at this time of year.  Of course we've only been tracking the climate for 5 years so this is yet just another estimate.  Having said that compared to the cool year we had last year we are for sure a few days if not a week behind where we were on August 20th, 2010.

However, the vines are growing well and the grapes are filling out.  There has been some bunch closure on the Leon Millot

and the Ravat 34 is comming along nicely.   

The month of July was about 1 degree cooler than normal and we had double the rain so about 5-6 inches.  This presented some fungal pressures and most of the Kuhlmans are showing very slight powder mildew on the leaves and the Leon Millot and Lucy Kuhlman showing a little on the berries.  The first two weeks in August were warm but the third week was below normal in the day and night temperatures.  We experienced a 3.4 degree low on the 18th of August, however,  this is not unlike last year when we had a similar low around the same time.

The Colmar Precoce Noir and Lucy Kuhlman are just beginning to show some colour change on a few berries and should be into veraison this next week.  The long range forecast into the first week of September shows temperatures above normal to normal with little or no rain.  This is good but some more heat later into September and an extra week or two before frost would be great.

Petite Milo Grape and Wine

Petite Milo is one of several recent hybrids created by Vladimir Blattner of Switzerland.  This variety has several very positive traits including being cold hardy, disease resistant and early ripening.  I can not find specific data on how cold hardy it is but we have had Petite Milo now for three years and the first winter we had it we experienced a -25c and we still had bud break from the cane the next year.  However, there was several feet of snow over the cane.  In comparison I'd rank it similar to Leon Millot.

It is very disease resistant to the typical mildews and has shown no problem on leaf, canes or berries over the past few years. This follows it's performance at vineyards on Vancouver Island and the wine islands.  It buds out early and could be a problem at sites prone to late frosts but at out site it seems to bud out with Leon Millot and not as early as Castel.

It has strong vigorous growth, and is somewhat trailing in habbit rather than having classic upright growth.  The leaves and canes are reminiscent of kuhlman hybrids (Foch. Leon Millot etc.).  The grapes are small as are the clusters, two per shoot, but I've heard from the supplier that there can be more. 

The variety is not an over producer but apparently consistent and will ripen its grapes in very short seasons less than 150 frost free days. However, like Riesling it can be harvested early in this time period or left to hang and continue to ripen.  Grapes can attain high sugar of 23-24 brix, but a little less is common in the shorter season.  This is among the best sugar accumulation for such short season white varieties.  The resulting juice chemistry is good for making wine.

I recently tried a Petite Milo/Epicure (epicure is another Blattner variety) blend that was crafted by Paul Troop of Salt Spring Island. The wine had strong tropical fruit aromas and flavour reminiscent of Riesling and Gewurztraminer.  I've been told this is what the variety should taste like, perhaps a little more Riesling like.  In any event the wine was excellent. It also received a silver medal at the all Canadian wine competition.

I am impressed with this variety so far.  It is the best of the three Blattners we are growing, (Petite Milo, Cabernet-Foch, Cabernet Libre) for our site and look forward to seeing how the grapes come off the vine this year.  We've got about 15 clusters this year and this will give us an idea of ripen times and sugar/acid balances in our short season.

Growing Vines in Pots to Plant in Fall - Update

In an earlier blog I have discussed the merits of growing vines the first year in pots then planting them in fall in the vineyard.  There are several values to this;
1) With the vines in pots they can be closely managed, you don't have to go out to the vineyard every day.
2) You can utilize non-commercial irrigation (garden hose) to get the vines established.
3) You can provide specific amounts of fertilizer and control the soil type.
4) You can more easily manage pests that may feast on your vines,.
5) When you plant the vines in the fall they will not need to be watered then on - this is subject to your local conditions.

These are the benefits that I have enjoyed in growing the vines in the pots and planting in the fall.  However, now after 3-4 years of growing and planting vines this way, I can comparing them to vines planted and irrigated from the start in the vineyard and I see differences between them.

The vines grown in pots enjoy all the benefits stated above and after the first year when cut back to a single cane (that becomes the trunk) they require no irrigation and they have grown well.  However the vines planted the first year in the vineyard and grown in the ground and irrigated there seem to reach maturity a bit earlier.  It appears that growing the vines in the pots inhibits the roots the first year and there is then a lag time that the vine has in getting the roots to spread out and established.  The vines also need to get accustomed to the new soil environment in the second year.  What ever the case the vines grown in pots the first season then planted to the vineyard in the fall lag about 1 year behind vines that are grown in the vineyard from the onset.