On the Contrary

May 19 2012, Grenache on the left, Mourvedre in the center (just starting), and Syrah down the hill at different stages of growth

Vine:  Not much to report except to say that I have finished another all consuming proposal and can now focus on work in the vineyard.  I talk a lot about thinning and pushing the Syrah up through the wires, so I thought I would let the pictures speak for themselves.

Jumble and doubles (two shoots out of same base) that has to be removed to two shoots per spur

Properly thinned (and also the adjacent sput)

Thinned and pushed up through the first wire (more or less)

It can be frustrating because the green shoots are delicate and it is easy to break off a perfectly good shoot, but the option is to wait until they harden and then the task is daunting as the growth is thick and the summer is getting hot.  I like to choose my winners and then force growth into them early.  It is a choice at each spur and it is one I would rather make than leave it to someone else.  I don’t always pick the hardest shoot if its position is bad, and you have to check to make sure the ones you leave actually have grapes (or the makings) on them.  It is best done early in the morning before it gets hot.  I will finish the Syrah tomorrow and start on the Grenache, and it won’t be long till the Mourvedre is ready.   Meanwhile the Syrah will take another pass to pick off any new unwanted growth and push new growth up through the wires.

This goes on till mid June and then that phase is over.  One other thing to note in the pictures is the browning out of the grass and clover cover crop.  In about 2-3 weeks I will be able to mow as the wet season is over and the grass dies and goes to seed.  I will also do some spot spraying to kill weeds that start growing in the rows.

Wine:  I will keep this simple:  Try it, you will like it.  Also Rock and Rhones next weekend and I am looking forward to tasting and the food, not to mention the wonderful people.  Carpe Diem

Brian's very drinkable Pinot (Viognier in the background).

Spring grows wild in the vineyard

Vine:  Okay I am late.  Another long week working on a proposal to pay for my grape habit.  It is truly spring in the vineyard and the beauty is just astounding.  This year is at least three weeks earlier than last year.  Everything is popping, but we are not really that warm to warrant it.  I wonder what Mother Nature is thinking?  I probably learned the most important lesson in life the spring my Dad died.  It seem such a horrible moment, and yet spring happened anyway, and life simply moved on.  There is a lesson there.  For us grape growers it is another new beginning (another life lesson?).  So what is happening?

Red Clover in the Rows

Well everything in the vineyard is leafing out, even the Mourvedre so the season has officially started.  Pruning was completed in March and I actually got a flailing mower up here to end my torment at trying to pick up all the pruning debris and burn it.  I have retied all the vines (that needed it) and so now what I am getting behind in is moving through the vineyard and removing unwanted shoots (along the trunk and cordon), and start to thin the shoots on spurs.  Remember that grapes only produce on last year’s new wood (pruned shoot from last year), but those silly old buds push out lots of shoots and we only want two well positioned shoots on each spur.  So starting in the morning I will start moving through the vineyard and removing excess shoots.  It is a long process and will take me about two weeks working about two-hours per day.  Then it will be time to start pushing the Syrah up through the first wires.  Once the growing really starts, shoots can grow a couple of inches a day.  If you really want to know about pruning and thinning see LightnerVineyards.com

The one thing we growers worry about right now is a frost that could damage the young shoots.  So far that is not an issue and with the Syrah and the Grenache well developed, they are well beyond their most fragile state.  Mourvedre is right in that state right now, but cold weather is not forecast.  This is the wild time in the vineyard.  Although I have the rows sprayed out, the grass is growing and I must now let it go to seed and die before I mow it.  That will be in June.  So we look a little unkept, but it is all in the interests of a good cover crop next year.  And that my friends is where we are in the vineyard.

Leafing out on s spur (last years shoot pruned back) on a syrah cardon

Wine:  I was in New York a couple of weeks ago and had a wonderful Bordeaux  provided by my daughter’s very best friend Stephen.  Here is the measure of a man.  He doesn’t like red wines, but he found a lovely one for me.  That is being considerate.  I am sitting in my very favorite place right (my patio overlooking my vineyard with my dog Sophie at my feet) now enjoying a Mira Flores Methode Ancieanne Syrah 2008.  It is a lovely wine to watch the day end.  The only advice I have for you today in the wine category is that we have the upcoming Rock & Rhones tasting over the Memorial day weekend and I can not recommend it more.  If you want some great food, and taste some Rhones that have structure and complexity, that is the place.  I will be there looking for you.  Carpe Diem.

Moon over Camino May 2012

0900 Friday Morning 4/13/2012 - Mountain Grapes

As forecast, snow this morning.  It will be another late year, but 70s forecast next week.

Pre-Pruning

Pruning the Head Trained Grenache

Vine:  Okay, it is time to start writing about the vineyard and let politics take their own course for a day.  The season officially began a week ago Monday when the pruning crew started the pruning.  On my little 3 acres it takes five hombres about a day and a half to properly prune my grapes.  See my web site, Lightner Vineyards and click on the Pruning 101 if you want to know what is involved.  Lets just say that it is an art form if you do it right and you are lucky to find a crew that really knows what they are doing.  Pruning means tons of pruning debris and this is my most hated chore in the vineyard, picking it all up, moving it to my burn area, and burning it.  It usually takes me about two weeks to get the whole vineyard cleaned up.  It is not something you can put off because the grass I used for a cover crop quickly grows up around it and then it is really hard to rack into piles for pickup.

Pruning Upper Vineyard Syrah (Trellis)

Typical Debris - Upper Vineyard

So this year I wanted to try something new and was looking around for someone with a flailing mower which could chip up all of last years shoots and recycle them.  So my vineyard adviser, Ron Mansfield, found one for me and the picture is the result and I am ecstatic.  I still will have to do some selected pick up of big pieces, but for the most part it is chopped up and will compost in the vineyard.

Grenache Spur with two buds

Tapenator tied Cordon and pruned spurs for this years shoots. You can see the Plastic adjustable tie on the trunk

There are a couple of other chores that need to be done and that is to spot spray out the rows under the plants to prevent any growth (mainly for mowing and maintenance purposes) along the rows directly under the vines, and retie all the vines.  Spraying is complete (before the rain came today) and I have completed retying all the vines.  For the cordon (the horizontal run of the vine along the wire (top of the Y) I started using a Tapenator.  That is a little device that staples and cuts the plastic tape around the cordon to the wire.  I have found this is the best way to do this quickly and hold a couple of years before the tape either fails or the plant outgrows it and pops it off.  Some of my Syrah in the lower vineyard is getting so big that the Tapenator simply won’t go around them and I have to tie those by hand.  The trunk (vertical base of the Y for Syrah and the entire plant for the head trained Mourvedre and Grenache is tied with adjustable plastic ties.  The trunk out grows these each year and they either have to be adjusted or replaced.

So this work is complete and we having, so far, a cool spring so none of the buds are pushing yet.  I don’t expect bud break for another 2-3 weeks, then things take off.  Tomorrow snow is predicted so I am glad nothing is budding out and fragile.  Next week we will be in the high 70s and things will rapidly develop from there.  As far as the cover crop, it will now be allowed to grow to full height and go to seed for next year’s seed crop for the cover.  Mowing will take place in June after it has died out.  Once the buds start to break you need to walk through the vineyard and rub off unwanted buds and shoots.  Once you have a good established shoot crop, you will need to thin them so that for each spur, you are only pushing two shoots, properly spaced (See Thinning 101).  Then they start to grow a couple inches a day so for the trellis grapes, you have to walk through and push the shoots up through the wires.  This goes on until about July, and then you just watch and wait.  Oh, and spray, thin grapes, manage leaf cover, and a few other assorted chores.

Pruned, Rows Sprayed Out, Tied, and Mowed/Debris Chopped - Lower Vineyard

Wine:  There are two wines I really want you to try.  The first is from Skinner Vineyards and it is their 2008 Eighteen Sixty-One.  It is a Rhone blend and I opened one the other day when Ron Mansfield stopped by to discuss the vineyard and it was just super tasty.  The bottle disappeared fast.  A visit to the winery is also a real pleasure as it has a beautiful patio and overlook and a great place to sit and taste, with a nice lunch (that you packed or picked up at Allez (French take-out in El Dorado)).  The other great find is a fairly new winery by Brian and Jennifer Bumgarner (Bumgarner Wines).  Brian is a great wine maker and he has done something that I haven’t experienced in El Dorado County, creating a really good Cabernet Sauvignon.  There little tasting room is kind, I don’t know, hip.  It is a fun place to visit and taste, and yes you will probably meet Brian and actually talk to a wine maker.  I like all his wines, but he is taking it up a notch with his Cabs.  They have a little Deli case so if you arrive unprepared, buy a bottle, a little pate and cheese, sit outside and enjoy the day.  Carpe Diem.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM LIGHTNER VINEYARDS - SOON NOTHING WILL BE LEFT BUT BARE SHOOTS

Well it is truly the end of the season.  This picture was taken last Saturday morning (11/19/2011).  This was followed by another rain and cold weather so soon nothing will be out there but bare shoots truly marking the end of this season.  How was it?  Strange.  It started out as a cool/cold spring with snow as late as 28 May.  That definitely reduced the yield.  Then the summer was very cool and although from the heavy moisture in the soil and heavy growth, the grapes were very late, almost a month behind at every phase from bud break to verasion.  Harvest followed suit and getting the Brix (measure of sugar) up to 24-26 was almost impossible with the grapes picked at about 22.  However these grapes seem to have great flavor.  Again with early rains and late maturation, the fear of botrytis (bunch rot) was palpable.  There is not much you can do except thin the cover so that the grapes get lots of drying winds, thin the bunches so you can force maturity on fewer bunches, and sort after harvest. In my case, yield was down (big loser this year with all the extra maintenance) but I think what we got was excellent.  I am still waiting feedback from Donkey and Goat where all my grapes went this year.

So that is about it this year unless anybody wants to hear about grape processing.  If we get some warm days in December, I will start spraying out the rows around the plants to prevent the ground cover from competing with the plants.  I have to take my Herbicide/Pesticide applicators test again and get re-licensed (no pesticides, but herbicides to control powdery mildew is a must).  Then pruning in March.  Until then I will leave you with these pictures:

"Chateau" Lightner in Fall -Soon snow and bare trees

Roses Still Blooming, and Ground Cover Going Strong

Don’t forget that life is short and unpredictable:  Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)

Grapes are gone and Fall is setting in.  I thought you might enjoy the color:

Some color starting to show in the vineyard. Mourvedre are the most colorful

Boule cout and Upper Vineyard, mostly Viognier

Carpe Diem

Fall at Chateau Lightner 10/28/11

It’s over!  Thursday morning at first light they harvested the Mourvedre.  It was 38 degrees, but warmed up to the low 60s in the afternoon.  It did not take them long and within about 2 hours, the vines are finally sans fruit.  The Mourvedre was the best of my varietals this year and look and tasted wonderful.  On my other varietals, my production was down due to the smaller fruit, but the Mourvedre was larger than my usual harvest.  Go figure.  Now Donkey and Goat have all my grapes and hopefully they will find some special juices.  Maybe soon there will be a Lightner Vineyards Four Thirteen Rhone blend made entirely of my grapes.  Then I will have died and gone to heaven.  Here are the pictures and there is not much more to say this year.  Now we just watch the leaves change and think about next year.

Los hombres taking the Mourvedre - buckets to bin to crusher

A bin of Mourvedre leaving the vineyard - the birds are so sad.

Loading the bountry

Three bins of Mourvedre and 1/2 bin of counoise headed for Donkey & Goat

Mourvedre - Last day on the vine

Well, quiet week with nice weather, and birds feasting on my remaining Mourvedre.  Both my Syrah and Grenache were harvested at a Brix of 22.3 and 22.6, pH roughly 3.4 and 3.5, and TA  roughly .67 and .572 respectively.  We have green grass coming up earlier than I have ever seen it and tells me that after the plants go into winter sleep, I will be spraying out the rows so I don’t have the mess I had last year.  I expect the Mourvedre will go in the next week. but I haven’t heard.  So with that here are a few vineyard pictures to tide you over:

Harvesting the Grenache - Snips, buckets, and then delivered to bin

All that work - The result - Grenache

Late Afternoon and the Leaves, especially in the Mourvedre, turning

Day is Done. It is beautiful up here. Carpe Dieme

Changing leaves identify the Mourvedre which is still hanging, guarded by a scarecrow

An interesting week.  After returning from Fleet Week, I got a call telling me they were going to harvest the Syrah first thing Monday morning.  It is ready, is at about 24 Brix with good nutty seeds and mild skins (tannins ripe).  But I was surprised about the haste on Monday morning.  I should not have been.  Just as they were getting in the last of the Syrah, the sky broke open and we got about an inch and a half of rain that lasted until the next morning.  So I was relieved that the Syrah was gone (and with it the Viognier), but I was concerned about the Grenache, Counoise, and Mourvedre that was left.  This was the second significant rainfall in October and this is early rain for us.  The danger is mildew and a ruined harvest.  But Tuesday and Wednesday were warm, sunny, and windy (drying the grapes) so I was hopeful.

Syrah Harvest Before the Rain on Monday

The Rain Monday

I know Jared Brandt from Donkey and Goat was up this weekend so he must have arrived at the same conclusion I did about the Syrah, thus the rush to get it in before the rain.  Then on Thursday we picked the Grenache.  I say we figuratively because Sophie, my trusty golden retriever, and I supervised from the house as I was in the middle of a conference call.  So what is left is the Mourvedre and the Counoise.  Normally we would harvest the Counoise with the Grenache, but it just wasn’t ready yet.  So now we wait on the Mourvedre, which if last year is any indication, it hung until 10 November before we picked it.  For the Mourvedre, it is all about the tannins and right now they are bitter (mouth test).  The Mourvedre is a hardy grape so I have less fear about potential rain although the 10 day forecast doesn’t show any with temperatures in the mid to low 70′s and some 80′s.  Good hanging weather.  The issue now will be birds.  There is only the Mourvedre left so they will focus on them.  I am moving all my scarecrows down there, but it is probably futile.

Starting the Grenache Harvest on Thursday

Grenache Harvest in full swing

Normally after the harvest in each block I give them a good watering, but with the rains, that is not necessary.  It is amazing to see the fall cycle begin in the cover crop as the clover is already pushing up and replacing the dead grass.  It was two years ago last week that I was out in the vineyard restoring some badly eroded areas with seed when I fell and ruptured my patella tendon.  That for me marked the end of my days as a runner.  I guess at my age (almost 66) there will be more milestones like that, but then again, I have so many things to be thankful for (family, friends, and good wine), that I should just feel lucky I have had the life I have had.  Now as fall sets in, we get ready for another rebirth next spring.  Carpe Diem.  Oh one note, Hollys Hill’s Mourvedre Classique 2009 got a 91 in the Wine Spectator.  It has my Mourvedre in it.

Still hanging Counise

New clover pushing up after the rains as we begin another cycle.

Sarecrow in the Grenache - Wishful Thinking

It is birds everywhere.  I lose about 20% of my crop to birds and this year could be bad because I need to hang them much longer because of our cool weather. It is part of the package when you grow grapes surrounded by a forest where they can roost.  I had to laugh as my neighbor was over here the other night for a glass of wine and they said they were simplifying their lives and giving up their bird feeders.  I told her not to worry, I feed millions of them.   The Scarecrows don’t do any good, but they make me feel good.

This is the time of year when you just wait.  Brix (measure of sugar) is running about 20-22 and I need about 24-26.  Brix and acid is a function of heat, tannins are a function of hangtime.  Tannins are not quite ready.  We had a warm week last week which helped, but rain is forecast next week, then warming again.  I would expect that the Grenache, Syrah, Viognier, and Counoise will be ready in two weeks, but the Mourvedre needs a full month.  In the Mourvede we are looking at Brix of about 19 with very harsh tannins.  When the Brix gets about 26, the tannins are mellow (you chew the skins and seeds to tell), and the seeds are nutty and crunchy (not green), it is ready.  So we wait and hope the weather won’t end the season.

One thing to note in the pictures below and that is that Viognier, a white grape, is traditionally grown and harvested with the Syrah and is treated the same in my vineyard.  One other thing:  Red Wine can only be made from red grapes, but white wine is and can be made from either red or white grapes (the skins give it the color, all juice is clear).  The color is simply a reflection of how much skin contact is allowed during fermentation.  Champagne is made from Pinot Noir grapes.  Nothing else to report and I will let my pictures tell you where we are at:

Heavy Load of Grenache

Mourvedre with About 3-4 weeks to go.

Syrah in Lower Vineyard, almost ready

Viognier - Ready. Yes a white grape which is harvested with the Syrah

End of the Day