We planted a small number of Itasca and Verona vines last week. Both are new varieties with the Itasca being a white from the University of Minnesota and Verona being a red from Tom Plocher, a private hybridizer in Hugo, Minnesota. This week we are taking delivery
Read more →We are frequently asked how the vines like 95°F heat. Fortunately, on most hot days, the temperature starts out at about 75° and climbs to peak temperatures in the early afternoon. When the temperature surpasses about 85°F, photosynthesis stops until the temperature comes back down. So, the
Read more →The vineyard staff has about 26,000 of 38,000 vines pruned. All pruning now is final pruning. The chances of a hard freeze yet this spring are dropping every day. Nonetheless, we are keeping our eyes open to the possibility of a freeze. We have vines at Newport
Read more →We will short prune vines at Meadowcreek and Newport Lane. Spraying lime-sulfur on our dormant vines is a stinky (rotten eggs) job that we do annually and are starting this week. And we will be mulching up the Tassel Ridge vineyard. We now have all 38,000 of
Read more →The vineyard crew is making good progress cleaning out long canes and dead wood in the Edelweiss and Sabrevois at Tassel Ridge. They hope the weather will allow them to finish this week. They will mechanically prune the rest of the vineyards next. Most people I talk
Read more →This week, we will continue to clean out the canes we have cut with the mechanical pruner in our Edelweiss and Sabrevois at Tassel Ridge. We have about 20 acres or 11,000 vines of these grape varieties so this project is taking some time. So far, we’ve
Read more →Our vineyard crew is finishing up pruning of our Marquette at Meadowcreek. Actually, we pruned last week using our V-Mech system and then we need to go back on foot and pull out all of the canes that are tangled up and don’t fall to the ground
Read more →Every year, starting in late February to early March, we prune all of our 38,000± grapevines. We select the time based on when the weather is reasonable and the vineyard floor is not too soft, but it is always near the end of winter. We prune in
Read more →We started with hand work in the H-Braces at the ends of each row. We pruned Marquette. The ground was too soggy for our V-Mech mechanical pruner until the end of last week when we were able to get it out. We rough pruned all of the
Read more →About ten years ago, we planted about 60 vines each of two different grape varieties developed by the Geneva Research Station in Upstate New York and also about 60 Cabernet Franc, the most cold hardy vinifera or temperate climate grape variety out there. The New York varieties
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