Another season is coming

As I sit here on a Saturday afternoon in February while viewing some flakes of snow accumulating on the lawn, my thoughts wander to the vineyard. As we have purchased the ties for pruning and have wonderful pruners by ARS in the barn ready for cutting, there is a hint of anticipation in my gut. The vineyard always presents a thrill of victory and a feeling of the unknown. As most farmers would tell you, each season has its unique character. So we go into another season with a lot of excitement. We plan to plant another acre of vines, plant a large garden of italian veggies that are starting in the basement and most of all creating a hoop house for olive trees. This is going to be a lot of fun and a new adventures. Bring it on!

Bullet?

Well, as you may know, growing vinifera in the Midwest is a risk reward equation. The risk obviously is if the winter weather would get to say, -12 to -15 F degrees below zero, then we would probably have 100% primary bud death. We would have to retrain the vines from the trunks or a bud from under the earth of our hilling. Well, on Jan. 10 we got between 0 and -11 at the vineyard. We will see when the pruning begins exactly what damage we got. Since the vineyard is between Lee's Summit and Warrensburg, well Lee's Summit got zero and Warrensburg got -9 last nite. So maybe we got -5 or so.

Harvest 2009

Chardonnay:
Harvest 2009 started with the harvest of Chardonnay the week after Labor Day. Unfortunately, due to the persistent rain all season and the restrictive pruning done in the spring, we had a lower crop than 2008. We will be only about 1/3 of the 2008 season. This next year I will adjust the pruning to return to the four cane pruning instead of the 2009 pruning to three canes.
Viognier:
Harvest 2009 of Viognier was two weeks after the Chardonnay pick. Again, some of the fruit was discarded due to the rot. However, Viognier is not as rot prone as Chardonnay which makes it a good variety for the cold climate Midwest. The rot free fruit, about 95% of the pick, was very nice and aromatic. After the pressing the juice smelled like Sauvignon Blanc and was very delicious. The resulting wine will be excellent.
Cabernet Franc TK:
The Harvest of 2009 of Cabernet Franc To Kati block hit a milestone. For the first time, I got a pure 24 brix, other years got 23, 23.5 but never 24. This was achieving a goal that started 12 years ago and even though this 2009 growing season was very cool, the grapes came into the warehouse from the field at 24 brix, about 6.8 TA, and 3.7 PH. Due to the presence of Malic in the TA, we bumped the acid about .5/grams per Liter to adjust down the PH and made wine.
Cabernet Sauvignon TK:
The harvest of 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon was conducted in the rain. The forecast changed on us quickly so we harvested in the rain a nice crop of Cab Sauv., sugars came in 23-24 and the seeds were very brown. The crop levels were about the same as last year.
Cabernet Franc SR:
The harvest of 2009 Caberent Franc in Stealth Ridge was a lot darker fruit then the 2008 medium bodied CF. I noticed to due better fruit exposure that we got more consistent darker fruit in the SR bloc. The sugar levels were 23ish and some of the sugar might have been diluted due to the rain as we harvested.
Malbec:
The 2009 Malbec harvest was light due to the decision to not net the vineyard section. All the Malbec was blended into the Malbec that we processed from out of state.
Petit Verdot:
The 2009 Petit Verdot harvest was very nice. Sugars at 23-24 levels. I got to tell you that PV is the most interested grape in the vineyard, it is generally 2 weeks behind in veraison, but seems to check up due to the small size of the grapes. The seeds in PV were very dark like the fruit. This ripening was a proof of concept for me. I will probably plant a 1/2 acre of PV next year.
Mourvedre:
The 2009 Harvest of Mourvedre was very interesting. Due to the lower crop levels, we achieved 23-24 brix in sugars and the pepper notes of the wine were still there. So I am trying to figure out this pepper. Where is it coming from? The soil or is it from the exposure to the road. It is directly by the white gravel rock road and gets a lot of road dust. Or would this be road pepper? We will know a little more as the other section of Mourvedre comes into 3rd leaf next year.

Conclusion:
I was very frustrated with the growing season. The rain amount and frequency created 25% more work in weeding, trimming the vines and spraying for mildew. Boy, in 12 years I cannot remember so much rain. Hopefully, it won't happen for a few years so we can have a little easier time. Again, this year was a test of high pressure, and we fended off the rot for the most part and had a wonderful year.

Bird Netting - Essential Task

As we have moved to veriasion, here in Missouri our red grapes must be bird netted. A fortunate thing is that I have a commercial on-line store that sells bird netting, and other landscape products. The bulk of my sales is bird netting.

Over the years I have had my losses from birds eating my grapes. On year, the birds wiped out about 75% of my grapes, other years, I had very little left. In 2007, I figured out the iron-clad method of bird netting. That is using S hooks to secure the trunks and poles in the vineyard. Here is a link to my website that actually has a step by step tutorial :

http://www.amigoni.com/netting_process_in_vineyards.pdf



Unfortunately we have to net our vineyards, however, since we will be hanging the red grapes until the first or second week in October, we need a secure way of protecting our investment.

See ya.

Out of the Rot woods

In Missouri and much of the Midwest, grape growers have had the most rot pressure in the last 10 years. We have had rain every week and the challege of black rot on the grapes has been intense. Normally, we spray 7 days before bloom and 7 days after bloom. Studies have shown that this period is very important to eliminate rot pressure for the rest of the season. Thereafter, we spray on a two week interval. This year we have had to up the schedule to every 1.5 weeks. This interval plays havoc on my schedule since I generally tend the grapes on the weekends. I have had to go to the vineyard during the week and spray. In spite of all the spraying, we still got a little black rot! I am estimating a 2%-3% loss of crop due to black rot. Not a lot but still a little loss.

The good thing right now is that we are starting to accumulate sugars in the grapes. Grapes fend off black rot naturally once the grapes get to 6-8 brix. We are right there. So we are out of the rot woods.

Wired Management

We use three pairs of wires (catch wires)for our Vertical Shoot Positioning trellis. Our fruiting wire is at 28" , the first pair is above this wire at 12" and next two pairs are again spaced at 12" above the others. These wires are taken down at the beginning season. As the growth of the vines grows, once the vines are 4" above the catch wire position, then we begin putting the wires up. We are currently at the growth of putting the first two wires up.

Moveable catch wires eliminate the labor of tucking the vines in the catch wire system. Additionally, the vines tendrals would have to be broken in order to tuck the vines.

We recommend the VSP system especially for vinifera growing. It is the best system and we are darn happy to have it.

Planting Cab Franc 214 ENTAV INRA

On Saturday morning my vineyard assistant Alonzo and I planted 200 Cabernet Franc 214 Clone on 101-14 rootstock. Here is a picture of the tag on the bundles of 25. The day was not particularly a good day. It rained about 1 inch and we planted in the morning while it was still raining. These Cab Franc vines were taking the place of Chardonnay which was ripped out the week before. I used to use 3309 rootstock on all my varieties but a few years ago I switched to 101-14. This rootstock is less vigorous and has a better hardening in the fall therefore increasing the cold hardiness of the plants.

Replacing some Chardonnay

We call it Amigoni Vineyards with an "s" because really we manage 3 distinct areas of our farm with 3 different vineyards. The vineyard farthest to the east is 1.5 acres and called Limestone Hill from all the limestone that is around the vineyard. The middle section is called Stealth Ridge after the constant Stealth Bombers that were overhead during the preparation and planting. It is about 1 acre in size. The newest section is on the west end and called To Kati after my daughter. Well, originally I planted about 200 plants of Chardonnay in the midst of Stealth Ridge. Last season the lower airflow and higher moisture of this area was not very good for the Chardonnay. Instead, I like the way Cabernet Franc performs in this area. So we are in the process of ripping out the 200 or so plants of Chard and replacing with Clone 214 ENTAV INRA of Cabernet Franc purchased from SunRidge Nurseries. Additionally, we have a few replacements of the Malbec that is approaching third leaf in a few days. The 595 Clone is labelled COT, the other name for Malbec. I wonder if any of you know how to pronounce this, is it like a Coat you wear or is it like a Cot that you sleep on?? Help.

Pruning Finished and Ready for Bud Break

I normally start pruning the end of February and continue to the end of March. With the help of a pruning crew, we finished pruning the middle of March. Since I try to retain two or three trunks, I have two fruiting wires here in Missouri. Last year I pruned and left if possible four canes on the two wires. After a very cool year, I had difficulty ripening all the reds. Therefore, I decided that I would go with a bud count of about 24. I instructed and demonstrated to my pruning crew that we would go with 3 canes, and use your hand stretched out and count two hands per cane. This was about 8 buds. So with three canes we were hitting about 24 buds. 24 buds will make 24 shoots and with two clusters per shoot, we would have 48 clusters. Each weigh about 1/4 lb or 4 oz. Therefore, 48 and .25 = 12lbs. However, not all buds develop, so I figure only 80% of this 12 or 9lbs. per plant.

Harvest is over

The harvest is over now. We pulled in 11 tons of vinifera this year. The harvest lasted about 6 weeks. We have about 10 barrels of red and 8 barrels of white wine from our estate vineyards. The long hang time this year will really make a complex wine and we will keep you updated as it matures in the barrel.

First Harvest of the Reds

On Saturday, Oct. 4th we will begin the harvest of the western bloc of the vineyard, Kati. This bloc has 7 rows of reds, 4 Cab Franc 214 Clone, and 3 Cabernet Sauvignon rows. The Petit Verdot and Mourvedre are not coming in yet. The sugars in the grapes have so slowly climbed this year. It has been a year that started with a delay of flowering by two weeks, a rainy and cool spring, a cool August, and then a hit from the rains that followed the hurricane Gustav.

Harvest of Chardonnay 2008

So I am testing the Chardonnay on Saturday before Labor Day. Normally, this Saturday we have a party for friends on the Labor Day Saturday. This year we decided to punt. We are too busy and decided maybe a every other year is best. The test of 100 berries in the middle of the Chardonnay bloc comes out to 21.5 brix. Nice I think! Then as the weekend unfolds, the hurricane Gustav is bearing in on New Orleans. Then the weather people start predicting that moisture from this storm would go North to Arkansas and Missouri. On Sunday, I take a group of folks from Avenues Bistro to see the vineyard. The vineyard is dry and sunny. As the weekend continues to be stormy in the Gulf, I began to compile the data. This storm is going to dump 6 inches of rain on Kansas City area. I have grapes that are very prone to late season rot especially Sour Rot. This rot has no spray to prevent nor to eliminate after infection. The best is the ability to prevent the other rots: bunch rot, bitter rot and berry rot. This I have been doing, but....this late in the season, the skins of the Chardonnay especially are very thin. Sour rot can start in the vineyard and wipe out the vineyard in a week. On Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, I make the decision to pick. On Tuesday nite, the rain begins. On Wednesday morning, I pick up a crew of 3 workers at 6am. We begin to pick the Chardonnay in the rain. We finish the day with 1.5 ton in 5 rows. With 14 rows in this bloc, 3 workers the next day is not going to be sufficient. I double the number to 6 pickers, and on Thursday at 11am the rain finally stops. The productivity of picking sky rockets. We finish with about 4 macro-bins of about 1,000 pounds each at 330pm. We end up with 3.5 tons total of gorgeous fruit.

Cabernet Franc Clone 214 ...it is true

Well, a lot of times I take with a grain of salt what the nurseries say about a clone of grapes. Well, they are right. Clone 214 (a Loire clone) is an earlier ripener than 332. It is moving quickly with veraison while the 332 is farther behind. Here is a picture of 214 Clone. It looks velvety like Cabernet Sauvignon. It is beautiful. And I think we will try to put the 214 in separate barrels, because it might be a reserve wine.



Oh, by the way here is Corky in action:

Chardonay is moving along...3 weeks before harvest?

Chardonnay is hanging pretty in the vineyard right now. Outside of a little rot pressure early this Spring, we are moving along with some clusters registering 20 brix and the average at about 16 as of Sat. August 16. So if all goes with about a pickup of 2 brix a week, we might sit at 22 in three weeks. Then, the weather determines how long we hang, a little wet weather and we harvest. Here is a picture:

Mourvedre at 16 brix

I am amazed at the size of the clusters of Mourvedre. Here is a picture.


I have not worked with Grenache but these cluster are large. I hand weighed a few and they are over a pound. In spite of the large cluster, the taste is superb and the tannin is a keeper. I like the fruit so much that I planted an additional 1/3 acre this spring. Mataro, another name for Mourvedre is a good variety for Missouri. Let's keep this a secret. Because I would rather be the only grower of this super varietal in this part of the country. As a member of the Rhone Rangers and probably the only in Missouri, this is unbelievable.

Oh, also here is our new puppie, Sophie. She is a wheaton colored scottie dog and she loves to hunt:

Mourvedre hanging pretty

I have continued to be very bullish on Mourvedre for our colder continental climate here in Kansas City area. The Mourvedre is on 101-14 rootstock which I continue like versus 3309C. The reason is one, the vines are not as aggressive in growing wild and pushing excessive folage. It seems that 3309 rootstock is so vigorous that the vine continues to grow so excessively that you have to trim the vine every three weeks. According to the book released by Michigan State entitled, "Winter Injury to Grapevines and Methods of Protection", the lower vigor rootstocks such as 101-14 and Ripara Gloire are more desirable because they impart low to moderate vigor and this is often considered desirable to control vine size and to minimize the risk of winter injury to vines. Here is Mourvedre as of July 16th, 2008.

Here is the Cab Franc also:

Petit Verdot is not Petit!

Most vinifera grapevines that I grow have a maximum two clusters per shoot. So from a fruiting bud, the shoot (it is later called a cane) that emerges will have fruit clusters. Normally, you will have two clusters that are on the fruiting canes and that is it! Since my Petit Verdot is on its third leaf, we have a full trellis of fruit. As I was observing the fruit a few weeks ago, I noticed that some of the fruiting canes had 3 clusters. I thought, wow, this must be an aberration! So I gave a call to my friend Ron Barrett from Kinkeadridge in Ohio. Ron used to manage the Erath vineyards in Oregon before moving to Ohio to challenge himself with growing vinifera in a colder climate. Ron grows vinifera and makes some damn good wine. Ron said it is common to have three clusters on Petit Verdot. Here is a picture that may show on close examination the reality of three clusters.

Bloom Time!

This year we are two weeks late for bloom. Here is some Mourvedre on the bottom and Chardonnay on the top. As you can notice, the Mourvedre is in the middle of bloom and the Chardonnay is already baby grapes. It is hard to see, but if you double click the picture, the fruit set is rather nice.

Most important for us around bloom is to vigorously apply our chemical sprays for preventative protection of black rot, downy mildew and powdery mildew. We apply the chemicals with the BTTF (back to the future) airblaster on the 3-point of the tractor. Additionally, we add chemicals such as epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) for feeding the vines with nutrients. The season has been so wet and rainy. I wonder if we have had 3 days of dry weather before it has rained again. The rain is cumbersome in that the vines are growing a lot of leaves and this only means a lot of trimming.

Bob Cat in the Barn and Suckering

On this Saturday, the last day of May, I had two workers waiting for me to open up the barn. So as usual I go to the side door of the red barn and go inside. On the other end of the barn is two large sliding doors. So as I walked through the barn I saw a larger animal dart out from the opening in the barn by the doors. This opening is about 1 foot so a larger animal can go through this easily. My first thought was that it was a rather large rabbit. I have seen rabbits many times in the barn. So I proceeded to open the large doors for the workers: Roberto and Raul. Roberto speaks very good English. They proceeded to tell me that it was not a rabbit, it was a Bob Cat!!


Suckers are the shoots that emerge from ground to the cordon canes on the trunks. These shoots are not needed for fruit development or training. Therefore a requirement of sucker removal is essential this time of year. Another reason to remove the suckers is so that leaves on the suckers are not in the way of herbicide spraying to maintain a clean turf. We finished Kati bloc suckering and will finish Stealth Ridge and Limestone Hill next week if we are not dinner for the cats!

Bud Break in the Vineyard

We had bud break and began leafing out on April 29th and continued through May 3. Here is Chardonnay in Kati bloc that is looking very nice. We are about 1 week behind with all the cold weather and rain we have been getting here in Kansas City area. The later bud break and leafing is a welcome sign in contrast to last year where we all got hosed with the Easter freeze. We will be doing our first spraying of the vines in about a week with Dithane a fungicide, Sulfur, Magnesum Sulfate (Epsom Salt), Boron, and a little bit of Sticker/Spreader. The film crews have been calling as to when the "Back to the Future" double winged air blaster sprayer will be set in motion. I have been telling them it will be May 11th.

Also, here is Cabernet Franc leafing out. It is on track with the Mourvedre and Petit Verdot.