Just because 8...

Heavy rain overnight, that started just after 4 a.m. and continued until 9.30 a.m., kept me out of the vineyard today.  That's OK, it gave me a chance to catch up on some reading.
The Sunday issue of The Napa Valley Register, each week, contains a Faces & Places section which lists local births, marriages and deaths.  While I'm not quite yet at the stage of my life when I'll start scanning the obituaries (like my grandmother did), on the off chance that there may be someone listed there that I know, or rather knew, a certain birth announcement did catch my eye.  On September 3rd the world welcomed a baby boy whose surname is Bourdeaux.  Now, one mustn't confuse this Bourdeaux with the famous Bordeaux winemaking region.  This particular Bourdeaux (with it's extra 'u') is a village in southeastern France.  But one wouldn't know that if one simply heard this surname spoken.
What a great surname; "Hi.  I'm Bob Bourdeaux," (or Zane in this case), it has a certain ring to it.  I generally like surnames that are nouns (mine isn't), however, I wouldn't like to have the surname Napa for fear that people might think I'm lazy. 
Anyhow, congratulations to Mr and Mrs Bourdeaux and their 7lb 11 oz bouncing bundle of joie.

The twain shall meet, sometimes.

It is rather gratifying, at least to this vine geek it is, when the pruned 8 bud canes, on neighbouring vines, meet perfectly in the middle of the fruiting wire.  Sometimes they do.  Sometimes they don't.  I just like it when they do.
When cane pruning, an angled cut, through the node following the last selected bud on a fruiting cane, effectively terminates apical growth on that cane.  The flared shape this cut produces aids in the tying down of the cane to the fruiting wire and ensures that a simple twist-tie can hold it in place.  In this photograph the 9th bud, on either of these new canes, sports the ever so convenient vestige of an old tendril which helps to exaggerate the flared shape and guarantees that the cane will stay put - until it's time to prune again next year.
I finished pruning both of Vinoland's white grape varieties today. Reds next.

Hello little leaf.

Whilst I was busy pruning Syrah all day yesterday, something was going on in the Orange muscat block. Just about one week earlier than last year, budbreak is in full swing in this particular corner of the vineyard. This means that everything else won't be too far behind.
My right hand is a little tender, but with a bit of surgical tape I'll be good to go today. The success of the 2010 vintage is literally in my hands.