Pegging along.

It's that time of year again - bird netting time.  Yup, the Pinot grigio (PG) grapes are ripening as I type.  Many apologies, in advance, to my feathered friends, but we wouldn't be friends for long if you ate all my grapes.
The more than welcome warm, to hot, temperatures this month (the warmest weather all summer, actually), have ensured that the PG grapes are accumulating sugar at a steady rate.  If I've said it once I've said it a million times, installing bird netting is my least favourite vineyard operation.  Netting is a tedious task, getting way too up close and personal with creepy crawlies in the canopy is one major issue for me, but it is absolutely necessary if I want of harvest the fruits of my labour.  So, peg on Vinogirl!

Square peg in a Walmart hole.

You say clothespins, I say clothes pegs, but I have no idea what they call the wooden things one uses to fasten laundry to a washing line on Mars.  Although I should because, apparently, I am now a Walmartian (that is, according to Vinomaker).  Sheesh!
I started to install the bird netting on the Pinot Grigio vines this past Sunday.  Halfway through this particularly tedious job, I noticed that I was getting low on the amount of clothes pegs I had left and guesstimated that I wouldn't be able to finish that day.  It wasn't until today that I had a chance to got out and buy more pegs.  But could I find any?  No.  And that's how I ended up at Walmart.  Double sheesh.

The net weight of a wet winter.

I spent a little time out in the vineyard today, un-pegging pegs and removing the bird-netting from the Pinot grigio vines.  I probably should have performed this little vineyard operation before now, as soon it will be pruning-time, but I ran the risk of being bonked on the head by an acorn, or two thousand.  Yikes!
I swear, I have never seen so many acorns as I have this autumn/winter.  There are years when the acorns are noticeably more bountiful than other years, but this year the sheer number of acorns has just been insane.  And they haven't stopped falling yet.  They're everywhere, not just in the bird-netting.
No doubt a result of the disastrous amount of rain that California experienced last winter, I'm afraid that if they all germinated and grew into oak trees there wouldn't be much room left for anything else in Vinoland.

All nets are off.

This humble, weathered clothes peg (and, believe me, this clothes peg has experienced some extreme atmospheric conditions over the past two weeks) has done its duty for the 2017 growing season.
Today, I unfastened the bird netting from below the Pinot grigio grapes and pulled leaves from around the clusters, as tomorrow is the first harvest day of 2017 in Vinoland.  Whoo hoo!
See you again in August of 2018, Mr. Peg.

Net worth.

It may be my least favourite vineyard operation, but putting on the bird netting is worth the effort if I want any grapes to harvest at the end of the growing season.  I must say, the Pinot grigio crop looks beautiful; all that rain I suffered through last winter has, admittedly, had a beneficial effect on the grapevines.
Harvest 2017 has already begun.  Mumm Napa picked their first Pinot noir grapes, from Green Island Vineyards in the Carneros AVA, on Monday the 7th of August.  The Napa Valley sparkling wine producer is expecting a slightly larger than average crop.  I'm not surprised, the crop looks bountiful in Vinoland also.  I'm just hoping that Mother Nature behaves herself between now and harvest.

Family net work.

One of my least favourite vineyard operations - installing the bird netting on the white grape varieties - was made more bearable today due to the fact that Vinomaker and I were assisted by Thud, two Vinonieces and one Vinonephew.  It actually was a lot of fun; the little ones caught on quickly and were just the right height to apply the clothes pegs below the vines to secure the nets.
I had a quick taste of some secondary clusters, that I removed as I worked my way down the rows, and I have to say my little grape-babies have quite a bit of flavour already.  And the crop looks beautiful.  I can sleep soundly tonight knowing that my grapes are safe from hungry birds.  Thanks kids!

Hello, veraison: Part 2.

Besides Syrah, Vinoland's Pinot grigio vines are also well into the process of veraison; berry colour is changing, sugars are accumulating, acid is decreasing.  This photograph also shows that lignification is taking place, another indicator of physiological ripening, as the shoots are changing from being supple and green, to woody and brown.  It'll very soon be time to apply the bird netting to Vinoland's white grape varieties.
On a related note, the Napa Valley's grape harvest for 2016 began yesterday at dawn.  Not as early as last year, but still early.  Just over 20 tons of Pinot Meunier were harvested at a vineyard in the southern end of Napa County which are destined to become Mumm Napa sparkling wine. I do hope that the folks at Mumm take these grapes and produce a 100% varietal sparkling Pinot Meunier with them (as they have in past vintages).  Pretty, please? Yum, yum, yum.

The cost of wine.

When the bird netting goes up on the grapevines I do my very, very best to make sure that none of my feathered friends can sneak in through a gap, that I may have inadvertently left, and become trapped.  I walk through the rows often to make sure that not one single bird is caught in the canopy. But it's not a perfect system.  Just last weekend, I had to free a rather annoyed female Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) from one of the Pinot grigio (PG) rows.  Not a particularly easy task with V2 on the other side of the vine snapping away, (she takes her partial terrier-heritage very seriously).  The PG vines having been harvested already are now sans nets, so the birds are at liberty to go about their business as usual.
Today, on the way out for our morning walk, V2 drew my attention to a house finch that was trapped in the Orange Muscat (OM) vines.  I pulled open the netting quickly and the finch flew away, seemingly unscathed, into a nearby tree.  A little later in the morning, when Vinomaker and I were finally organised enough to get around to removing the netting on the OM prior to picking, I found the remains of a little house finch (hanging in the netting by its spine and the teeniest little ribs).  I am so sad to have one less house finch in Vinoland: I hate to be the cause of the demise of even one precious bird. 2015 may prove, in a way, to be an expensive vintage.  Sigh.

Napa nest 6.

I'm so excited.  I have a dark-eyed junco nest in my Pinot grigio vines. With Vinomaker's help, I spent most of  my day putting up the bird netting in the Pinot grigio vines.  Just as I was pulling some unwanted lateral growth from higher up in the canopy I noticed this nest.  As the nest was just above eye level, I had to stand on my tiptoes to see inside - four eggs, wow! Just then I realised I was being harangued by a dark-eyed junco female who wasn't nearly as excited with my find as I was. Sorry momma, let me just get right out of your way.

All set to net.

I'd estimate that Vinoland's Pinot grigio is about 90% through veraison.  The fruit this year looks fabulous.  As yet, my little feathered friends don't seem particularly interested in the fruit, nevertheless, it is time to get out the bird-netting and install it on the vines.  It's not a particularly pleasant job, but it is a necessary one.  After months of tending to the vines I don't feel a particular need to share the grapes with the avian population, so tomorrow the nets go on.  Clothes pegs at the ready!

Getting on the net.

I joke sometimes that I wish I could bird-net all of my vines at once.  Not having to worry about losing one, solitary grape to my feathered friends is a dream of mine.   I have seen whole vineyards (and orchards) netted, but only in books and on video (when I was taking my Vineyard Management class).  I just hadn't seen it in the flesh, or rather polypropylene, until today.
A vineyard, not too far from Vinoland, has been entirely covered in bird-netting: the owners/installers have even utilised a vineyard fan like one would the centre-pole of a circus big top. Wow!  It's pretty impressive to look at.  And it must have cost a pretty penny.   I seem to remember this particular vineyard was for sale a couple of years ago and I believe the parcel was just over ten acres.  I don't know exactly how much of that acreage is planted to grapevines, but I'm thinking that netting even just one acre would be quite an undertaking.  
Dream on Vinogirl.

A safety net.

Today, Vinomaker and I performed a tedious, but necessary vineyard operation - we installed bird netting on the ripening Pinot grigio vines.  No offence to my feathered friends, but the wine grapes are off limits to them for snacking, especially when there is about half an acre of blackberries they could be gorging themselves on.  Veraison is proceeding nicely and the crop looks like it's going to be a good size.  The grapes are safe, until harvest.

Pegged for success.

I spent the afternoon in the vineyard securing the bird netting, that was applied last Sunday, closely around the fruit on the Pinot grigio vines with common-or-garden clothes pegs.  That should keep my pesky, feathered friends away from the ripening grapes, which incidently are tasting rather sweet already.
Did I ever think years ago, when I was a little girl helping my mother hang clothes out on the clothes line, that I would ever find such a use for the humble peg?  Nope.

The net result...

...hopefully will be a 2012 vintage of Pinot grigio.  Today, Vinomaker and I installed new bird-netting on our Pinot grigio vines.  And not a moment too soon as one vine had already been manhandled, or rather bird-handled, beyond recognition by hungry avian-gourmands.  This is what a 5,000 foot roll of bird-netting  looks like.

Not exactly the most romantic way to spend a wedding anniversary, but I had a great time working alongside my favourite winemaker, with the Vinodogs in tow, in our little home vineyard.
Happy anniversary Vinomaker.

Pinot grigio triplets.

Heading out with the Vinodogs for a walk, after getting off work this evening, I took a quick peek in the Pinot grigio block to see how veraison was coming along.  One word, fantastic, would describe the Pinot grigio's progression through the 2012 growing season thus far.  After a quick discussion with Vinomaker over dinner about bird-netting, I think we know what we have to do...and the sooner the better!

The time is ripe...

...for veraison.  Whilst I have been busy with visiting family members, bottling wine and my day job, Vinoland's grapes decided it was time to get serious about vintage 2012.  All four grape varieties are showing signs of veraison in varying stages.  Of course it means a little extra work for myself and Vinomaker: we now have to get the bird netting up on the Pinot grigio vines so that there will be some grapes left for us to harvest.

More veraison.

I must have been snoozing, or messing around with moths or something, the past week or so.   My Syrah is also experiencing veraison and I only noticed it this afternoon.  The Cabernet Sauvignon can't be too far behind. I probably need to start thinking about bird-netting; not one of my favourite vineyard operations, but a necessary one - especially along a tree line in the south east corner.  After all of my and Vinomakers hard work we can't just let our feathered friends get fat and happy...we want wine!