Last week we sprayed Tassel Ridge, Meadowcreek, Newport Lane, and Maple Woods vineyards. We are all done with spraying for a couple of weeks. We have also gotten all mowing up-to-date but that will be a weekly task for now. We are almost done pulling trees at Meadowcreek and will start at Maple Woods. We also hand pruned LaCrosse at Maple Woods and at Newport Lane.
The vines are starting to set flowers. The flower bunches look like little grapes right now but when they bloom in June, the cap on the flower will be pushed off and a very little flower will emerge. The flower is hermaphroditic, meaning that it has both the male and female parts and so it fertilizes itself. Bees are not necessary. This is NOT true for one variety, St. Pepin. This grape variety is pistolate meaning that it requires a pollinator. We use both LaCrosse and Brianna in different vineyards because they are siblings of St. Pepin and they bloom at about the same time. The wind blows the pollen between the vines.
Flowers form on LaCrosse grapevine (taken May 11, 2025 at Maple Woods Vineyard).
