Vineyard News - July 2010

2010 has delivered one of the coolest springs on records and our vines are about two weeks behind because of this.  In warmer areas this would not be a real threat because the hotter temperatures make the fruit ripen earlier.  Here in Oregon, we have cooler weather which allows our fruit to hand much longer (harvest in Napa is July - August; here it is not until October).

We tend to get a big nervous because we harvest in October when the bubble of high pressure starts to break down. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we get all our babies in before the fall rains.

 We have leafed the vines, which removes the leaves on the east side of the rows around the fruit zone so the grapes are not encased in a moist, dark canopy which is the perfect environment for mildew and botrytis.

We have also disced the cover crop into the soil. You can see photos of this on the Benton-Lane Facebook page.