Bank Holiday Monday.

It's Easter Monday.  Well, it is Easter Monday, a bank holiday, in England (and Canada).  When I was little everywhere (shops, post office etc., and the banks, of course) basically shut down for the entire four days of Easter.  Easter was a time for family get-togethers.  I find 'holidays' in America are over way too fast.  It is certainly not a holiday for me today, as I am off to work in just a while.
A sort of Easter miracle happened in Vinoland yesterday: I finished pruning, yay!  (And tying everything down with help from Vinomaker.) And not a moment too soon, the Cabernet sauvignon vines are enthused. I was getting a little worried that I wouldn't be finished, but the weather was perfect for pruning.  It feels good to be finished.  I even managed to get a little bit of suckering done in the Pinot grigio because, as usual with this grape variety, the vigorous little devils have pushed a myriad of adventitious buds out all over their trunks.
Of course, with warm weather and clear skies comes the threat of spring frosts.  Indeed, as I type the fans (for frost protection) in the nearby Far Niente Chardonnay vineyard are doing their thing.  A precautionary step, perhaps, as the temperature is currently 39°F and too warm for frost.  I have done my bit, having no frost protection in Vinoland my little buddies are now on their own.

Happy Good Friday.

And it was a good Friday.  I spent most of my day down in the East Bay running errands and having my hair done.  (One just has to look good when working in the vineyard).  I did a little bit of pruning when I got back up to Napa, walked Vinodog 2 and then observed my Good Friday paschal fast with a nice shrimp/pasta dish - washed down with a Silverado Vineyards, 2014 Sauvignon Blanc (Yountville AVA).  Hardly fasting, I know.
I have to be finished with pruning the Cabernet sauvignon grapevines this Sunday, that includes tying all the canes down.  I think I can do it, but I may need Vinomaker's help with the tying. Meanwhile, the Pinot grigio vines are going crazy: baby flower clusters are visible and the trunks are popping out all over with adventitious buds and shoots (which means lots of extra suckering work).  Happy spring!

Like a bug in a rug.

My constant companion today, well, at least whilst I was pruning one particular Cabernet sauvignon vine, was this ladybird who wandered up, down, in, out and all over the vine's peeling bark.  Totally unconcerned with the fact that I was chopping and snipping with loppers and secateurs close by, this lonesome convergent lady beetle would sometimes find an apparently perfect little nook to snuggle down into.  I checked back a few times over the next couple of hours and the ladybird was still wandering about in a fashion that did not seem to be in the least bit aimless.
However, this ladybird is not alone.  I have noticed a lot of ladybirds in the vineyard the past three days, certainly more than the last 3 or 4 years. Like everything in life, insect population dynamics are cyclical (with increases and decreases due to many and varying factors).  It seems that the Hippodamia convergens population in Vinoland is experiencing an upswing.  Bodes well for pest management.
Pruning is going well, even if it going a little slower than I would like.  My hands hurt, but, unfortunately, it is forecast to rain most of the day tomorrow, so I might be forced to take a day off.  First day of spring, indeed.  Humph!

Mo' wine choice in Napa.

At 6.00 pm sharp, in lieu of a ribbon cutting ceremony, a bottle of Champagne was sabered (the severed cork and bottleneck can be seen on the left) in celebration of the grand opening of a new BevMo in Napa.
It's about time.  Napa has been sorely in need of a wine/liquor store since JV Wine & Spirits closed down almost 4 years ago.  BevMo, a Bay Area company, has 158 stores in total and up until today my local BevMo was the store in Walnut Creek.  The Napa location is a welcome arrival, very convenient.  Local dignitaries were on hand; wine flowed, cheese cubed, coupons redeemed.  And yes, Vinomaker and I managed to find a bottle, or six, that we just had to have. Then we went to a sushi restaurant.
I began pruning the Cabernet Sauvignon vines this morning and my hands hurt already - the wood is just so much harder than the other three grape varieties that grow here in Vinoland. However, the weather was pain free and fabulous - high 70s as promised.  I had finished tying down the Syrah canes on Tuesday after work, so today's cooperative-weather meant I could concentrate fully on pruning.  A good day.

Singing, and tying, in the rain.

It didn't stop raining once today, so I donned my rain jacket and out into vineyard I went to tie down the Syrah canes.  Unfortunately, I didn't manage to finish - I'd estimate that I am about 80% done.  And I did indeed sing in the rain (a little Nana Mouskouri).  I began by singing to Vinodog 2, but she soon was off chasing squirrels, barking at passing deer and harassing our neighbours horses.  So I sang to myself.
The Orange Muscat vines are progressing very nicely, I just wish they could get a little sunshine.  I hear that towards the end of this coming week that the temps will be up into the mid to high 70s, so it looks like my wish will be granted.

Don't let the Syrah catch you crying.

Don't be fooled by the sunniness of this photograph - the sun was only out long enough for me to take this snap.  And that was it, in the blink of an aperture it was gone again.
I hadn't once thought about panicking this pruning-season, until yesterday that is.  All day, nonstop rain had me near tears (well, sort of) because things out in the vineyard are progressing whether I am out there pruning or not.  Since last week, the Syrah vines have decided to swell their little buds to almost breaking point, so frustrating.  I had considered just putting waterproofs on and pruning in the rain, but the constant downpour was just too torrential.  February had been so nice, I thought I had started to prune early enough to give myself plenty of time to prune all of Vinoland's grapevines.  Wrong!
I had just over 3 hours (according to the weather forecast on my iPhone) to prune as much as I could this afternoon.  (There was one, very heavy, five minute shower, but Vinodog 2 and I just sat in the back of the barn and waited for it to pass by.)  Amazingly, I did fairly well: I pruned like a Vinogirl possessed.  I just have one short, experimental row of cordon trained vines to go, but I am determined to also get all of the canes tied down before the end of the weekend. Rain, rain go away...

Orange you glad it's budbreak?

It was a busy day in the neighbourhood, well, this morning at least, then rain stopped play. And it rained hard all afternoon.  I did not manage to get anything pruned today and the forecast for the weekend is less than favourable for that particular vineyard activity.
The Far Niente vineyard crew have been pruning up a storm since Monday and thankfully, for them, it looks like they finished early this afternoon.  Interestingly, they did not pre-prune (aka double pruning or delayed pruning) this year, instead they pruned all the way down to two bud spurs to finish the job.  Probably the reason why they have been pruning in the one vineyard all week.
The general viticultural-consensus has it that pre-pruning can help stave off infection from Eutypa lata, a fungal disease of the grapevine. This year, the vineyard manager at TWWIAGE has also decided to forego pre-pruning in favour of a quick application of a fungicide, at pruning, that will hopefully prevent new infection in spurs and cordons.
It did stay dry long enough this morning for me to notice that budbreak has well and truly begun in the Orange Muscat vines (slightly later than last year), and bud swell in the Pinot grigio.  I need to get my skates on. Or, perhaps, a pair of water skis.

It's July already.

It is July Muscat time already.  When I got home from work last night, Vinomaker suggested that I take a peek at Vinoland's table grapes. Confound it, not that I'm an expert or anything, but I'd say that my one, white table grapevine is going through budbreak.  Sigh.
In my haste, last weekend, to prune through as much of the Syrah as I possibly could I didn't even think to check the table grapes.  There are three table grape vines in Vinoland; July Muscat, Crimson Seedless and Red Globe.  The budwood for these vines came from a small demonstration vineyard that used to grow alongside the student vineyard at Napa Valley College (alas, bulldozed out years ago), so I am a tad sentimentally attached to these vines.  The three vines are prolific producers, most years bearing more fruit than Vinomaker and I can eat ourselves, so we share.  I will be pruning this vine today to ensure we have an abundance of table grapes in the summer.

Vineyard chic.

I am still pruning.  I didn't get as much pruning done this weekend as I had hoped: too much other stuff to do.  I am about 70% through pruning the Syrah vines, but I am thinking that I am still on track to finish pruning all the black grapes (that includes the Cabernet Sauvignon), and tying them down, before budbreak begins. Fingers crossed.
I may be a little behind on my self-imposed pruning schedule this year, but with a new pair of Felco secateurs, a customised holster and a pink Vinogirly girl belt - I am doing it in style.
Prune on!

A pop of colour.

It's a bit early to celebrate California Poppy Day (April 6th), but this happens to be the first poppy to bloom in Vinoland this year and I think it is at least worth a mention.  This afternoon, I was busily pruning away in the Syrah vines when I looked up and spotted this poppy flowering away all by its lonesome.  Well, there was a tiny, pollen-covered Amartus tinctus beetle crawling along the edge of one of the poppy's petals, but no other buds had deigned to open and keep this single, fiery-hued flower company.  California poppies grow like weeds almost everywhere in and around Vinoland as they are prolific self-seeders.
The poppy is not the only splash of colour in Vinoland; there are field marigolds, vinca, vetch, buttercups, oxalis, speedwell (all the usual weed-suspects) flourishing already, but none are quite as eye-catching as the California state flower. Pruning is progressing better than expected due to the fact that the weather has been behaving itself.  Still, pruning can be pretty monotonous, so it's nice to now and again look up from a vine and spot such a cheery bloom.

Busybuddies.

I finished pruning the Pinot grigio vines on Vinomaker's birthday, this past Friday.  Today I finished tying all the Pinot grigio canes down.  It feels good to be finished with the white grapevines already.
It was a gorgeous day, a bone-warming 65°F, so I decided to start pruning the Syrah vines.  I didn't get very far though before it was time to take Vinodog 2 for a walk.  On my way past the Orange muscat vines I noticed that bud swell has begun.  It's happening, right now!  And so another vintage begins: my viticultural-clock is ticking.  Sigh.

Happy St. Valentine's Day: 2016.

There haven't been many posts on Vinsanity of late.  Why?  Well, I have been busy being busy and being sick.  But the primary reason is that I have been suffering from being short on inspiration.
Pruning is coming along slow but sure.  This Pinot grigio tendril wanted to wish everyone a wonderful St. Valentine's Day - it was being romantic.
Happy St. Valentine's Day to you all.

Pruning 2016.

The planets aligned for me today; the weather was beautifully sunny, I managed to get my errands finished earlier than expected and I had a couple of hours with no other pressing demands upon my time.  So, without further ado, I started to prune the Orange Muscat vines. It felt good to be out in the vineyard.  Vinoland's 2016 pruning season has begun.  It is a later start to pruning for me than last year, but better late than never.