How green is my valley.

I don't know if it's me, the light quality today, or the fact that Vinoland's grapevines got a little extra TLC last night, but everything in Vinoland just looks wonderfully verdant today.  The Pinot grigio grapes are definitely a little shinier: I'll explain.
In the never ending quest to produce good quality grapes from disease free vines, preventing pests from damaging the grape crop calls for a combination of techniques, or integrated pest management (IPM).  Along with cultural practices, sometimes chemical control, the use of pesticides, can be more effective in controlling pests (in the greater context of a broad IPM strategy).  Yesterday evening was the first time Stylet-Oil (SO) was used on the grapevines (with a little Mettle® fungicide thrown in for good effect).  SO is a little more effective against powdery mildew (Uncinula necator) (PM) in cooler growing seasons (like the one the Napa Valley is experiencing this year) versus the more conventional use of sulphur.  Sulphur needs warmer temperatures to volatize (65°F is the recognised minimum temperature required for sulphur activity against PM), whereas SO is not temperature dependent and so it acts as an eradicant, protectant and, most importantly, an antisporulant 24 hours a day.  In layman's terms, SO stops spores from growing, and insects from breathing.  And it makes baby-grapes shinier.

Tricks of the trade.

In hushed tones I was warned, "If I tell you, I'll have to kill you." I was more than a tad alarmed: what could possibly be so top secret that the simple act of sharing the information with me would put my life in jeopardy? An urgent matter of national security? A long forgotten ignominious skeleton in the cupboard? Nope, nothing quite as cloak and dagger as all that. The hitherto arcane tidbit of intelligence had to do with the utilisation of a common or garden laundry detergent as a fungicide on grapevines.
I've been using Dreft for the past 3 pruning seasons now, mainly on the Cabernet sauvignon vines, as sometimes I have to remove sizeable sections of old growth. These large pruning wounds are often horizontal - the perfect surface for some disagreeable, airborne pathogen to settle upon. It's a relatively inexpensive solution to a potential vineyard dilemma and any soap that is left over I use to wash my smalls.
Dreft: recommended by pediatricians...and a certain professor of viticulture. Of course, I'm not supposed to tell you that.