Hurrah!

I have finished pruning all of Vinoland's vines; Orange muscat, Pinot gris, Cabernet sauvignon, and Syrah, all done...whoo hoo! And not a moment too soon.

As can be seen in the above photograph, the Syrah vines are on their own schedule and were already experiencing budbreak even though I hadn't finished pruning. The higher than average amount of rainy days we have had in Northern California had me in a panic because I was a bit behind, but now I am done for the year...hallelujah!

One snip at a time.

In stark contrast to the old vine in my last post, Vinoland's young Orange muscat vines are mere whippersnappers. However, just like the gnarly up-valley vine, this photograph shows a head-trained vine - on it's way to being, well, gnarly.
I started pruning today. The weather has been so nice I just had to find something to do outdoors so, accompanied by the Vinodogs, I decided to kick start the 2011 growing season by commencing with the white grape varieties. I had quite a few decisions to make in the OM block as many of the vines had been damaged by deer last year. I carefully selected this year's spur and cane positions, and took a little extra time to make sure I left enough buds so that the vine remembers it is in the business of producing a crop, not just vegetation. I didn't get much done, but it is a start.
If anyone needs to find me, over the next 6 weeks, I'll be in the vineyard.