In the past week, we mowed both the Tassel Ridge® and Meadowcreek Vineyards and because of the rain, they really needed to be mowed. We also got ready for more rain by pumping the lagoons. We continued tying up the vines, straightened pencil rods, and secured them to the top wire in Tassel Ridge vineyard.
We fertilized the new vines at Meadowcreek and pulled up the grow tubes to protect the growing tips of the vines. And, we sprayed Maple Woods, Newport Lane, and part of Meadowcreek with an insecticide and a fungicide combined with a foliar fertilizer.
We cleaned the weeds out of the rows of newly planted vines at Meadowcreek and got our Harvester serviced.
We are seeing that veraison, when grapes change color and begin to get sweet, is very late this year. Usually, this happens in mid-July but this year our Sabrevois fruit was still milky green and very hard on July 15. But, as of August 6, about 50% of the Sabrevois had started to change color. Sabrevois is not an especially early grape, so we will be paying close attention to Brianna which is usually the first grape we harvest.
