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 vines just take it easy when it is too hot and get back to work when it cools off.
One of our two trellis systems is called Vertical Shoot Positioning or VSP for short. It is designed for grape varieties that have a strong vertical growth habit. When we planted Marquette and La Crescent, we followed a recommendation that they be trellised with a VSP trellis. This means that we need to make sure that the canes are contained in the guide wires located above the main cordon. This is done manually this time of year. We will finish that work this week.
We are fixing broken posts and in particular the H-Braces at the ends of each row.
We are removing about 500 Frontenac vines this week, so we can replace them with new Crimson Pearl vines. We have more Frontenac than we can sell and we are really excited about the potential that Crimson Pearl offers in making dry red wines.
