March 2018

We are starting to see bud break in the vineyard. Bud break is the first stage of growth for a wine grape. Every grape begins its annual growth cycle around March. This growth process occurs over a number of days and the length is determined by the grape variety, location, and weather. It’s always an exciting time when the first sign of green begins emerging in the vineyards!

Bud break begins when the tiny buds on the vine start to swell. These buds actually appear in the summer of the previous growth cycle – they are green and covered in scales. During winter, the buds go dormant and brown. In the spring, they begin to sprout green shoots and finally, grape leaves. Generally, it takes about four weeks until the growth of the shoots start to rapidly accelerate, with the tendrils growing an average of one inch per day.

We actually have yet to fully finish pruning in our vineyard. When we are done pruning, we just leave two buds per vine. We hope to finish the final pruning by the end of the month.

We plant cover crop in every other row to add nitrogen into the soil to support the growth of the vines. We use fava beans and alfalfa for cover crop.

 

Ron Buoncristiani