Vinished!

Vinished, that's Vinoland lingo meaning I have finished tying down every last cane in the vineyard. Yay!
It was a pretty easy process as the Cabernet sauvignon vines are still slumbering.  The cooler weather this week has slowed things down a bit, so I'm predicting that budbreak won't happen for another 4 or 5 days yet.
Also, got a couple of dead vines removed (thank you, Vinomaker) and filled the holes (that Vinomaker dug) with new, baby vines.  The photograph shows, but not very well (I should have used a different background), one of the extracted vines which has a deep, 11" split along the lower half of it's trunk.  Did this split cause the death of this vine?  No, I'm sure this vine had just run it's natural course and the split occurred postmortem.  Hate when that happens.  But I love it when I have finished pruning.

Done!

I finished pruning.  Whoo hoo!  My trigger finger is a bit sore, but my trusty Felco No. 6 secateurs performed admirably.  Still have to tie down about 50% of the canes, but I have time as there is no real sign of budbreak in the Cabernet vines yet.  Phew!

Springy!

The first full day of spring has come and gone.  But for several distractions, I spent most of the day pruning in the Cabernet vines.  I think I'm on schedule to be finished the actual pruning, but not the tying down of canes, on Sunday.
One distraction was a huge cluster of California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) that just looked so splendid I had to get a closer peep.  The poppies got going a little later this year, because of the lack of winter rain, but they are now blooming spectacularly en masse.  And they are everywhere: this year's crop is perhaps the most prolific display of full-on-poppy-goldiness I have ever seen.  There should be plenty still blooming by California Poppy Day, which is April 6th.
Then I got distracted by a crab spider (Misumenoides formosipes) who in turn was distracted by a small, pollen covered beetle.  The beetle flew off and I went back to pruning.

Syrah in a jar.

The 2014 Syrah pruning is in the bag.  Yup, finished pruning the Syrah today, yay!  And not a moment too soon, I'll say.  The vines seemed to be getting more and more enthused, popping out leaves and flower clusters before my very eyes, as I worked my way along the last two rows.  I couldn't resist bringing some cuttings indoors prolonging their life a little, and getting to enjoy some really fresh greenery, if only for a few days.
Now, back to the Cabernet vines.

Budding debut.

There's a lot going on in the vineyard - the least of which includes me, frantically pruning my way through the Syrah -  especially in the Orange Muscat (OM) block where the vines are very enthused.  And there's a lot going on in the OM's new growth; baby leaves, baby tendrils and baby flower clusters.  I love how glossy the OM shoots look when they are brand new.  The weather has been beautiful all week and, I swear to goodness, the OM vines grew a whole half-inch in one day.  I will be finished with pruning the Syrah tomorrow (thanks to a lot of help from Vinomaker) and then I will return to the Cabernet vines.
If anyone needs to find me, I'll be in amongst the Syrah.

Now, I'm panicking!

I spoke too soon, because I have started to panic.  Why I hadn't bothered to look at the Syrah vines before today is beyond me, so when I did make the effort to go and have a peek at what the vines were up to I was horrified.  I discovered that bud-swell (and lots of budbreak), is much further along than I would have liked.  Drat! 
I had to abandon pruning in the Cabernet vines because the Syrah vines simply cannot wait.  I did, with Vinomaker's help in removing last year's growth from the trellising, get quite a bit pruned.  It makes it very difficult to prune when the buds are so advanced, as even the simple act of pulling the old growth away from the trellis wires can easily knock off adjacent buds - never mind the fiddly process of wrapping and tying down the new canes.
I will get everything pruned eventually, even with my day-job paring into my pruning time, but I will have to accept the loss of some crop.  At least the Orange Muscat and Pinot grigio pruning went smoothly this season.

Prune away.

After a night of heavy rain, thunder and lightning  (I loved the thunder, but V2 was less than impressed), today was a beautiful day in the neighbourhood.  A beautiful day for pruning, which I did a bit of in Vinoland's Cabernet Sauvignon.  However, there were other folks besides me pruning in the neighbourhood.
My pruning wasn't nearly as productive as the vineyard crew from Far Niente, who pruned their entire Chardonnay vineyard in one go today.  And not a moment too soon: each bud, especially in the eastern block of this vineyard, was pushing - right on cue with last year.
I was thinking that budbreak was a little earlier than last year, due to our warm and dry winter.  But as I have said before, despite mankind's narcissism in believing that we control everything in the universe, the vines know what to do and when to do it.

Happy St. David's Day: 2014.

'March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.'  So goes the old saying, but with March being such a changeable month, weather-wise, this saying may not always ring true.  And of course it all depends on ones geography: I am more likely to experience lamb-like conditions towards the end of March in Napa than my brother is likely to experience in Liverpool.
March definitely came in like a lion in Napa.  Extremely high winds overnight, that continued until about 11 a.m., have made a mess of Vinoland, with branches and twigs strewn all over the place.  V2, who is morbidly afraid of wind, has been pinned to my side and has been loath to go outside - even for her morning ablutions.  I generally don't like wind myself, it's very unsettling.  One good thing, however, is that the wind has dried-up the ground a bit.  It was very muddy working, tying down canes, in the Pinot grigio vines yesterday.  I should have better luck today, at not getting stuck, when I start pruning the Cabernet Sauvignon vines.
So Happy St. David's Day to all - whether one is of Welsh extraction, or not.
Bore da!

Eek, a bud!

It's that time of year again.  Actually, it's not, it's a little bit earlier than last year.  But try telling that to the Orange muscat vines, there is no denying that bud-swell is upon us.  Can we say over-achievers?  Calm down little buddies!
I finished pruning the Pinot grigio vines today, but I only have about 25% of the canes tied down (thanks to Vinomaker).  It's forecast to rain tomorrow, but I can still tie-down in the rain.  Then, on to the Cabernet Sauvignon vines.

Go 'ed girl!

Yesterday, the Napa Valley Grapegrowers held their 13^th annual Napa County Pruning Contest.  The weather couldn't have been more cooperative on a day when the industry’s top vineyard workers get to challenge each other in the art, and speed, of grapevine pruning.  And the winners were;
Women’s Division:
1st Place: Celia Perez, V. Sattui
2nd Place: Maria Romero, Walsh Vineyard Management
3rd Place: Maria Dolores Torres, Promontory
4th Place: Maricruz Gutierrez, The Napa Valley Reserve
Men’s Division:
1st Place: Omar Perez, Joseph Phelps
2nd Place: Victor Silvestre, Renteria
3rd Place: Rolando Esquivel, Beckstoffer Vineyards
4th Place: Jesus Juarez, Moulds Family Vineyard
Now, I wouldn't normally be as specific as to name names, except for the fact that this year, for the first time, women were able to compete.  And it's about time that women were included in this fun contest.  Beginning at 8 a.m., at Beringer Vineyards Gamble Ranch, each contestant pruned six Chardonnay vines in the preliminary leg of the competition. Three judges reviewed the quality of the cuts which accounted for 40% of the total score, and the time it took to prune the vines which accounted for the remaining 60% of the score. The top six scoring women and top eight scoring men moved on to the finals, where four men and four women placed as winners.
Good job girls!

Pruning 2014 has begun.

Today I got out my trusty Felcos and began to prune.  I am about a week behind schedule due to all the rain last weekend.  I didn't get much done because I had a lot of errands to run and chores to perform before I could get outside to the vines.  When I finally did get outside, I had to take some bird-netting off the Orange muscat before I could do any actual pruning.  I'm happy with the little bit I did get done though: it was a beautiful afternoon and I got to spend some quality time with the Vinodogs.  Hopefully I'll get twice as much done tomorrow.