Our vineyard team will be tying up new Brianna and St. Pepin vines at Maple Woods and the high wires at Newport Lane and Meadowcreek. They will be tying up several varieties at Tassel Ridge. Removal of suckers is essential to keep vines focused on producing grapes on its basic structure because the suckers will just sap energy from the vines. We will be spraying fungicide if weather permits.
Our nine-acre Marquette vineyard is growing in very rich soil that allows the vines to grow too vigorously. We will counter-act that vigorous growth by removing leaves in the fruiting zone. This will give the grapes more sun exposure. We are hoping that exposure to sunlight will also help reduce the amount of malic acid in the juice and improve the flavors. The leaf removal is done with a Collard Leaf Removal system that is powered by a large compressor mounted on the rear of a tractor with leaf blowing heads that mount on the front. The jets of compressed air shred the leaves without damaging the fruit.
And, we will perform another harvest weight estimate.
