We have had a long hot streak here in Walla Walla the past few weeks. Has it been 100 degrees and more since the middle of July. It can be a little warm for the human residents of the valley but the grapes love it. These warm days, and warm nights, have gotten the grapes moving.
We got off to a late start this spring with bud break about 2 weeks behind schedule. This warm snap has seemingly gotten the vineyards back on schedule, possibly even a little ahead of schedule. Normally when temperatures spike over 100 the vines shut down and not much grape ripening occurs.
For whatever reason this has not been the case with our recent weather. The grapes have been ripening right through the hot hot heat and veraison is upon us in the vineyard.
Veraison is my favorite time in the vineyard. It is only just beginning in the Pepper Bridge Vineyard, with clusters having only a couple of berries changing colors. Once the color change is in full swing, the grapes clusters are beautiful.
Each berry on a cluster can be a different color from green to dark purple and the colors change every day until suddenly everything is purple. Veraison is a very important time in the vineyard, we want the ripening to happen evenly and quickly. This heat has made for a more complicated job for the vineyard crew.
They are thinning grape clusters at the moment, making sure that each plant is limited to a set number of clusters.
All the extras, small, and incorrectly positioned clusters will be removed.
With all this dry heat we have been irrigating the vineyard, but it is a juggle, too much water and the plants will waste energy growing more foliage, too little water and the plants can become over stressed, the grapes can get sunburned, and pests can take hold.
This time of year you can see Rick Trumbull riding through the vineyard checking for trouble.
He specializes in vineyard health, making sure that the vines are getting the right amount of water and nutrients, as well as looking out for problems like mildew and bugs.
At the moment Rick is on the lookout for mites which can multiply quickly on vines that are stressed by the heat. It is a complicated time of year in the vineyard, with lots of important decisions and hard work for Jean-Francois and the vineyard crew, but is an exciting time. We are getting close to harvest 2009!
We have had a long hot streak here in Walla Walla the past few weeks. Has it been 100 degrees and more since the middle of July. It can be a little warm for the human residents of the valley but the grapes love it. These warm days, and warm nights, have gotten the grapes moving. 
We got off to a late start this spring with bud break about 2 weeks behind schedule. This warm snap has seemingly gotten the vineyards back on schedule, possibly even a little ahead of schedule. Normally when temperatures spike over 100 the vines shut down and not much grape ripening occurs. 
For whatever reason this has not been the case with our recent weather. The grapes have been ripening right through the hot hot heat and veraison is upon us in the vineyard. 
Veraison is my favorite time in the vineyard. It is only just beginning in the Pepper Bridge Vineyard, with clusters having only a couple of berries changing colors. Once the color change is in full swing, the grapes clusters are beautiful. 
Each berry on a cluster can be a different color from green to dark purple and the colors change every day until suddenly everything is purple. Veraison is a very important time in the vineyard, we want the ripening to happen evenly and quickly. This heat has made for a more complicated job for the vineyard crew. 
They are thinning grape clusters at the moment, making sure that each plant is limited to a set number of clusters. 
All the extras, small, and incorrectly positioned clusters will be removed. 
With all this dry heat we have been irrigating the vineyard, but it is a juggle, too much water and the plants will waste energy growing more foliage, too little water and the plants can become over stressed, the grapes can get sunburned, and pests can take hold. 
This time of year you can see Rick Trumbull riding through the vineyard checking for trouble. 
He specializes in vineyard health, making sure that the vines are getting the right amount of water and nutrients, as well as looking out for problems like mildew and bugs. 
At the moment Rick is on the lookout for mites which can multiply quickly on vines that are stressed by the heat. It is a complicated time of year in the vineyard, with lots of important decisions and hard work for Jean-Francois and the vineyard crew, but is an exciting time. We are getting close to harvest 2009! 
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