Spring 2021

 Just a weeks ago we were 1 foot deep in hard pack snow and then the sun pokes holes in a few places and a week later the snow is gone. Still lots of snow in the mountains but the valleys are greening up.

It happens so fast and we are doing some pruning still and how remarkably quick the soil heats up and the pruning tips start bleeding sap.

Generally it was a warm winter but we did get a low of -24.5 c in February. That makes this winter low the second coldest weve recorded in 13 years.

Nice to see the canes look good for the most part, healthy green and centres. Remarkably the pinot noir looks really good and on par with the likes of leon millot.

Cutting into some buds they look pretty good too. The real test comes in about a month when the buds start to push and then we'll see if there is any damage.

 

Clearing the Land - Continued

So there are little and big things that impact business. This year we were clearing land for new vines and we needed re-stack and burn up the remnants of bush piles that we clearing in spring 2019 (see link) and first burned in January 2020. By mid-April, the piles had no more snow on them but there was still snow on the ground and in among the trees. This was a perfect time to burn the remaining trees and bush that did not completely burn in January...but this was going to have to wait.

Unfortunately and despite the snow on the ground, as of mid-April there was a ban on burning certain sizes of burn piles and this included what we needed to burn up. So this halted our ability to completely clear the land at that time. This is very unusual and we have not seen a ban this early in our time. Interestingly, and what was a remarkable decision given the forest fire danger, the ban was reversed in Mid-June to allow for large open fires when there was apparent significant fire danger/hazard. 

Given the potential for forest fire which is a common summer time event in our area, we chose not to burn in June and left the piles over the summer and we have just burned them up in November.  Its a messy job to pile and re-pile logs that are partially burnt up but eventually the bulk of the piles is gone leaving only the largest stumps and trunks.

We'll likely dig a pit in the spring and bury the stumps and trunks and we'll be ready for planting this area in summer 2021.

A Challenging Year

We finished our harvest on October 10 in cool wet weather and we got a -2c frost overnight Oct14/15. So we harvested as late as we could. Thematically, that was the summer,...well it was cool at least. From May on through to August each month was at or below our normal temperatures and everything was late going into harvest and the numbers were lower all around. Even the above normal heat in September wasn't enough to correct the time lost to cool weather at the beginning of the season. Seems to be on par for a year like 2020.

We dropped about 20-25% of the fruit in early September to help get the Foch to ripen on time and even with that we managed 18brix where we usually have 20brix. Even at harvest we culled more fruit that was still on the vine.

The cool weather in the first 2 weeks of July including the fruit set period was not helpful either and there were far more shot grapes in both Foch and Castel that a normal year.

Here is the numbers.

 

Grape Harvest 2020

Harvest was a week later than normal and a good thing. The grapes we late so the extra week gave them time to ripen some more. Even at that they we lower in sugars than most years and that was with dropping about 20-25% of the crop on early September to focus and force ripening on less grapes.

This was a transition year in the move to hanging curtain trellis from VSP. It seemed tobeork good for Foch, Millot and Petite Milo and next year that will be completed.

Here is some of the Foch at 18 brix in hanging curtain with nice size clusters of 100-150grms.

Fruit Orchards in B.C. c1909

 A friend of mine gave me a book titled "Fruit Ranching in British Columbia" by J. Bealby and published in 1909. 

Very interesting book about orchard fruit growing primarily in the west Kootenays. Its filled with orchard photos from areas around Creston through Nelson and even Fauquier (photo above).

Particularly interesting was even at that time the assessment that the fruit growing land of the west Kootenays was undervalued compared to the same land in the Okanagan.

The tree fruits grown at that time was pears, plums, apples and cherries..no mention of grapes, and the harvests were sold across Canada and internationally.

110 years later and not much has changed in the fruit growing industry in the west Kootenays except perhaps less prolific than in 1909 but the potential remains and the area remains one of the finest fruit growing regions in Canada.

Evangeline Are Harvested

This grape has been hard to grow in terms of figuring out crop load, pruning and trellis but we are getting there and had a good year this year.

Evangeline is a cross of Seigerrebe (Gwertztraminer x Madeline Angevine) and St. Pepin (Seyval x minnisota). It is very early ripening has good fungal resistance and hardy to about -27 to -30c range. Clusters average about 150-175grms to sugars of 18-22 brix. It can ripen in approximately 130 frost free days and 900 ddg(celsius) of heat. 

Best part is the flavour. Pear. Pineapple and tropical fruit...a true cross of seigerrebe and St. Pepin flavours.

Harvest Just Around the Corner

Everything is late this year. It started with a cooler June then again a cool July with a return to normal in August and above normal for the first 10 days of September. So heading to harvest we are about 1 week behind normal. There was also no rain since mid July and this was in the critical development period and as such the bunch sizes are a bit smaller than usual. But that often translates into other positives like intensifying flavours in the wine making, but still there is 3-4 weeks before harvest and what appears to be more nice weather on the way.

As of September 13, the grapes have the following brix;
Castel 15
Foch 14
Leon Millot 15
Colmar Precoce Noir 16
Marquette 15
Marechal Joffre 16
L'Acadie Blanc 13
Evangeline 16
Petite Milo 14
Seyval Blanc 16
Soveriegn Ruby 14
Vandal Cliche 14
Siegerrebe 15

Leon Millot below;

Marechal Foch

Petite Milot

Evangeline

Netting the Vines

We just started to see some colour change on the red grapes so it was time to net the grapes.

Usually by now most of the reds grape clusters would have several grapes showing colour ...so approximately 30-50% of the bunches would have colour but this year the grapes are 7-10 days behind and only a few grapes here and there show colour. This is Marechal Foch below approaching bunch closure as of August 16.

There is some heat ahead for the rest of August and a nice September would allow the vines to catch up by early October. 

Adding 2 Acres To The Vineyard

The next part of vineyard expansion is underway way and we started adding vines to the next 2 acres. This is the first batch of vines to go into this new section.

When we plant the vines we first use s 12" bit auger to drill a 3' deep hole for the vines to put them in the ground. The auger breaks up the layers of soil and the hole makes for an easy conduit for a tap root to get deep into the soil fast.

Perfect day for setting the vines in and the work crew was awesome. Next we will set out the trellis posts, wires, and irrigation lines.

Auger Holes In Row

 

 Auger In Action

 Setting Out Vines

 

Planting The Vines

Bloom Time, but Late

As of July 1 the vines are about 50% in bloom. The Castel and Leon Millot are in full bloom or just past and the Ravat 34, Evangeline, and l'Acadie Blanc are just starting.

This is at least 1 week late for bloom but on par for the cool weather. Next few weeks look cool as well but so long as it doesnt rain through the rest of bloom time and we get some heat the vines should do well.