We are watching development of the grapes very carefully with a focus on Brianna, Edelweiss, and Marquette. We do a full pre-harvest test using a rigorous sampling procedure weekly complemented by random sampling and tasting. When we see the three varieties mentioned above getting ready for harvest,
Read more →After about two weeks of regular light rain, we have experienced two weeks of hot, dry weather. Fortunately, we have lots of ground moisture and only the newly planted vines will need additional water if the weather stays hot and dry. Our mature vines have root systems
Read more →The first question everyone asks at this time of year is this: How is the grape crop looking? Vines in all of our four vineyards have heavy fruit loads. In fact, I don’t remember a harvest that was looking this good by July 15. Keep in mind
Read more →The rain last week and again this week has created some short days and many tasks were not complete. The top priority is to complete the harvest estimate and then to thin leaves in our Marquette blocks. We will finish removing Mulberry trees at Newport Lane, start
Read more →We will start thinning leaves on Marquette vines at Meadowcreek Vineyards. We want the fruit to get some sun but the leaves are two and three deep in places so we will mount our Collard leaf thinning system on a tractor and get ready to start removing
Read more →Our big objective this week is to remove suckers from the vines at Newport Lane Vineyard. The suckers form on vines that are vigorous, usually because the soil is fertile and well-draining. They either grow directly out of the trunk just above the ground or they emerge
Read more →Grapevines are fungus magnets! Powdery mildew, bunch rot, black rot, and numerous other fungi are out there all the time looking for a home. Our job in the vineyard is to make sure that our vines are not hospitable environments for fungus to grow. So, we spray
Read more →We have experienced hot weather in the 80–90°F range for more than two weeks now. The vines have quickly moved through flowering to fruit set. We are working quickly to get fungicide sprayed and also to start hedging our Marquette. Our Marquette is trellised with a vertical
Read more →Hot weather has told the grape vines that it is time to bloom. Don’t feel bad if you can’t picture what a grape blossom looks like because you probably would have a hard time recognizing a grape flower even if it was pointed out to you. The
Read more →We are planting 1,288 new vines this year and the planting process started this week. We purchase our new vines as rooted cuttings that consist of a root ball and about twelve inches of trunk. We will dig a hole in the ground, put the root ball
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