Farming can be hazardous to your health.

When I woke up this morning, if anyone had asked me to write down the most bizarre thing that could possibly happen to me today I couldn't have dreamed up this little doozy.
I had been out in the vineyard no more than 30 seconds when a moth flew into my ear. Even though Vinomaker was away at a conference in San Francisco, I did not panic. Mirrors, tweezers, warm water irrigation, and a severe case of vertigo featured prominently in the next half hour or so. My neighbour, a nurse was no where to be seen. I conceded defeat.
Three hours later I exited the local hospital with a sore ear, a bruised ego, and a bottle of antibiotic drops in my hand.
Not exactly the most fruitful of days.

As plentiful as blackberries.

In spite of an unusually cool summer in Northern California, we seem to have plenty of vigour in the vineyard. The results from the petiole sample I took at bloom, came back within normal ranges (except for a slight Boron deficiency in the Cabernet sauvignon vines.) The combination of available nutrients, ample rainfall last winter, and a fair amount of sunshine, (despite Vinomakers griping that this summer is the coldest he has ever had the misfortune to live through), the vines seem to be finding everything they need to succeed. All in all, the vines appear to be in a fairly balanced state.
However, in a vineyard there will always be a few areas of over achieving vines, so I spent most of the afternoon hedging the enthusiastic sun canes, on the east side only. As I came around the last row I was met with the heady aroma of hot, sweet, luscious brambles. I stopped to admire the abundant crop of blackberries flourishing on the banks and the bed of the small creek that runs along the property line. I invested in a quick snack of sun-warmed, sweeter than sweet berries until my thumb and forefinger were stained a deep purple, a shade not unlike the almost squid ink-like hue of a good Petit sirah.
The Himalaya blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) is the most common, and prolific, non-native bramble in this part of California. It seems to have taken it's reputation to heart and has flourished along the length of the creek, through the wire of the deer fence and is rambling it's way towards the stationary rows of vines. Aside from the fruit being delicious, this tangle of evergreen growth provides another favourable component to Vinoland; the promise of a fatal demise for the Grape Leafhopper (Erythroneura elegantula.)
The GLH is a major pest of grapes, vines can tolerate a fairly large population but left unchecked GLHs can infest an entire vineyard. The GLH feed on the leaves by puncturing leaf cells and sucking out the contents. As injury to the leaf structure increases, photosynthetic activity declines...no photosynthesis, no sugar, no alcohol.
The most important natural enemy of the GLH is a tiny, almost microscopic mymarid wasp called Anagrus epos. These wasps are particularly valuable in the vineyard for their amazing ability to locate and attack GLH eggs. The fact that they can parasitise 90% or more of all GLH eggs makes them a very welcome and beneficial wasp to have around. Anagros bolsters it's numbers of egg laying adults in the spring by first parasitising the eggs of the Blackberry Leafhopper (Dikrella californica), thus ensuring it is more than ready to take on the GLH in the summer months. Thank you little waspy.
Phew! That was a long post...now where is that tub of vanilla bean ice cream?

The butterfly upon the road.

My constant companion this afternoon in the vineyard was Junonia coenia, that's a Common Buckeye butterfly to me, or you. Unlike the Painted Lady butterflies who migrated right on by me in March, this lovely lepidoptera would alight beside me as I worked, flutter between the leaves of the vines, flit from a cool blade of grass to the warm gravel of the access road...until I went to get my camera.
Never work with animals or children!

The Widow.

When you live in England you don't have to worry about such appalling creatures as the one pictured above. This Black Widow (Latrodectus mactans), has been hanging out under our deck for God knows how long. I only became aware of her presence when I left my shovel beside my potting bench the other day and came back the next day to find the shovel ensnared in the strongest silk I have ever touched. I gave it a good twang then curiously followed it's path upward...oh hello! There she was, in all her ghastly glory, maternally watching over her egg sac...with her husbands dessicated body close by. Lovely!
I just don't like spiders. I tolerate the ones living in the vineyard as they are predatory carnivores that take care of pests that are harmful to grapevines. However, they generally run away, at great haste, when approached. Not Madame. No, she lay in her web above me, her token retreat towards a joist just barely perceptible. At this juncture, I would normally have introduced her to Mr. Wet/dry-Vac, but for one thing: Vinomaker likes spiders, nay, he loves spiders, any and all. You can see where this is going can't you? Yup, she's still there.
Vinogirl and the Vinodogs have female competition in Vinoland!

One of these things is not like the others.

Instead of rice or birdseed being hurled at Vinomaker and me on our wedding day, we had our guests chuck a handful, or two, of wild flower seeds at us. As a result, we got to enjoy a pretty array of poppies, lupins, and cornflowers the very next spring. They have flowered each spring since then conjuring up happy memories, with their reappearance, of a warm August day spent with family and good friends, all gathered together in our vineyard to celebrate one of life's more pleasant rituals. This year however, I had a bit of a surprise...a pink cornflower.
Much like that different clones of grape varietals are actually genetic mutations (albeit with desirable attributes which are then propagated), this pink cornflower apparently decided to spurn convention (along with the protocyanin pigment that makes it blue), and go with a decidedly more feminine look this time around. Cute.
I don't know if she will be back next year but she is very welcome to visit, just as long as she brings with her a bunch of very welcome reminiscences...and smiles.

Cause for the Paws.

Another event today. This time it was the Napa Humane's Cause for the Paws event, held at Silverado Country Club.
I volunteered to work at the event but I still had plenty of time to walk about, visit with friends, eat some great food, and drink some fantastic wines. It was a little toasty temperature wise, it just meant a lot of Sauvignon blanc was consumed above everything else, apparently no one was interested in any red wine.
I really didn't care in what capacity I was present, the reason I participated was primarily for the poochies (secondarily, the cats and rabbits). Several dogs were paraded around with an eye to adoption during the proceedings, which included a silent auction and a live auction in which lots of fabulous wines were available for bidding on.
It was an exciting but tiring event and I was only too glad to get home and spend a quiet evening on the deck with Vinodogs 1 & 2.

Home Winemakers Classic.

This afternoon, Vinomaker and I attended the 27th annual Home Winemakers Classic, hosted at St. Supery Winery. It's a fun event and we have probably gone the past 7 or 8 years in a row. It is a great opportunity to see what local home winemakers are up to and taste some good, some not so good, non-commercial wines. There are varietals that you recognise and some you don't. Some home winemakers take it all quite seriously and a lot of care and effort is taken in procuring the fruit, fermenting the wine, and producing very professional looking labels (I may post a couple of my favourites in the future). To others it is very definitely a hobby and they take a more light hearted approach to the whole thing, like the wine with the label that was nothing more than a piece of gaffer tape and a marker!
For the price of admission there is great food, live music, approximately 60 home wine makers, a raffle (one prize is a BBQ at the firehouse, cooked by the fire chief), a free engraved wine glass, and a silent auction. Vinomaker picked up a couple of really good wines at bargain basement prices. Locals know such events around the valley are often a goldmine of hard to come by, collectible wines.
All the proceeds of the event go to maintaining and replacing the fire departments aging equipment, training the volunteer firefighters, covering costs (such as uniforms and fuel), and the general operating expenses of a much needed service in a rather rural part of the valley.
All in all, it's good wholesome fun, a chance to taste and definitely spit, catch up with friends and, last but not least, support a good cause.

Peek-a-boo!

Hello there little vine!
It amazes me how dormant, bench grafted vines muster up the energy, stored in their roots, to push through the mound of earth above them. It's a vineyard miracle :)
When the growth is about another inch long I will gently break down the mounds and let photosynthesis perform it's wondrous wizardry.
Of course this means the vines will need to be irrigated now as they will have almost depleted the moisture content of the soil they were planted in. Vinomaker, where are you?

The hills have vines.

What is this? Some barren moonscape? Evidence of crazed, hill building moles with a knack for synchronicity? No, it is just the extension of our Pinot gris block here in Vinoland.
The little bench grafts are stretching out their roots, taking up nutrients and water, and reaching upwards, through the mounded soil, to the awaiting California sun. I'll be there to greet them when they make their entrance into the world.

All stirred up.

Washed, sliced and stir-fried. My first courgette tasted fabulous.
Vinomaker paired his dinner with a California Reisling. Vinogirl paired her dinner with a Napa Cabernet sauvignon.
More veggies please.

Harvest time.

Yes, it's my first courgette of the season. I know it's a tad late, but I didn't get my veggies planted until I got back from my holiday in England. I checked it yesterday and I swear it was not even close to being big enough to pick, but today, yikes!!! I don't know how this particular vegetable does it, but it just seems to sneak up on you, growth wise. It may have something to do with the triple digit weather we are having and the amount of water I am giving them to stop them going all droopy.
The courgette was a lot easier, and quicker, to harvest than our grapes...and tomorrow night it will incorporated, somehow, into my dinner!

Hard graft!

Finally, all the new Pinot gris bench grafts are in. It's been a long, tiring, often frustrating process, especially for Vinomaker who did the majority of the work, (I am competent with a shovel, but more impressive in a supervisory capacity.)
We chose to use bench grafts over field budding, simply to ensure a better percentage of successful adult vines. Our Cabernet sauvignon and Syrah were all field budded (and the majority of our existing Pinot gris), and they are happy healthy vines...we just wanted this block of new plantings up and running the first time around. We had a 100% take with our Orange muscat block, so we were encouraged to go the bench graft route once more.
Bench grafts are a more expensive approach to establishing a vineyard: there is a lot of work done in the nursery to produce a graft that is alive and calloused fast to the rootstock. You can see the callous around the graft in the picture with the nascent Pinot gris buds above. Doesn't look like much does it? However, in 4 years time it will be a tasty glass of chilled white wine enjoyed on a warm, sunny Napa summer day.

Patterns in nature.

Two very busy days in the vineyard; stuffing shoots, removing some over zealous laterals, and checking for powdery mildew...which, unfortunately, I found a couple of pockets of. Not to worry, the vines are getting a good dose of sulphur tomorrow morning. Also on the agenda for Saturday is the planting of the last of the Pinot gris bench grafts which I collected from the nursery last Thursday.
Even though I often have my head buried in the canopy, looking closely at what is going on in there, I still notice little gems that Mother Nature has seemingly, purposely placed in my path as a welcome distraction from my work. Vines are great!

Happy 4th of July.

It maybe slightly unusual to participate in celebrating your Motherland's historic loss of a bountiful source of tax revenue...but I'm always up for a good party. The fact is, I like the 4th of July primarily for selfish reasons. I love fireworks!

Being deprived the experience of the gun powder infused air of a damp November night each year is one of the things I miss most about England. So enjoying another country's firework fuelled celebration of Independence is alright by me.

Last night, Vinomaker and I attended a 3rd of July party at Phoenix Ranch Vineyard. Besides the opportunity to spend some fun time with good friends, eat great food and taste from a large selection of wines (it was a Napa party after all), the vineyard is in extremely close proximity to Silverado Country Club and, you guessed it, the Country Club's firework display. In tinder-box dry California fireworks are generally a no-no, except for organised displays held mostly on this the biggest holiday of the year. Vinomaker and I sat on a bench on the edge of the vineyard and had an unobstructured view of the pyrotechnic bacchanalia.

This afternoon we have a 4th of July party to attend at Black Cat Vineyard, an annual event that we thoroughly enjoy, followed by fireworks downtown on the Napa river front.  Two nights of fireworks in a row, what a treat.

Courgette, or zucchini?

This years grapes are coming along splendidly. I'm thinking 2009 is going to be a great vintage.
We only have one more sulphur application to make for the season, so things are calming down in the vineyard right now. Time to turn my attention to veggies.
My courgettes are doing fab and I'm looking forward to my first harvest in a matter of days. I planted less plants this year than I normally would as they are such prolific producers...I cannot eat enough courgette incorporated food items to keep up with them when they really hit their stride!

Pinot in the hole!

Not everything I do is fun and games with wine and grapes, from time to time there is some real work to be done in the vineyard. So, today I tied my hair up under my plant pot shaped hat (thank you Thud), and went about the business of increasing the vine count, here in Vinoland, by planting baby bench-grafted Pinot gris vines (Clone 4).
The preparation yesterday and the actual planting today just happened to coincide with the two hottest days we have had thus far in 2009; 100 F and 102 F. Scorchio!
When planting bench-grafts it is important to protect the head, and any tender emerging shoots, by mounding earth at a depth of a least two inches over the bench-graft. At the nursery, the bench-grafts are kept in cold storage and depending on how long they have had to warm up, before being planted in their final resting place, they start to push out shoots that will eventually become the trained vine we all recognise.
Vinomaker and I were a little delayed in getting the bench-grafts planted in a timely fashion (due to the previously blogged tree stump debacle). Our babies had pushed out up to 4 inches of shoot growth in some cases. The corresponding protective mounds were more like ancient Egyptian pyramids than something that should have resembled puny mole hills. It took a lot of shovel work...and a lot of soil!
However, our efforts were cut short. One of the bundles turned out to be Pinot noir (also Clone 4), so we were finished planting a little bit sooner than we anticipated. I have a call in to the nursery which supplied the bench-grafts.
In celebration, albeit a little premature because we will have some extra planting to do, we are now sitting on the deck enjoying a glass of Vinomaker's 2008 Pinot grigio from the currently producing vines. Delicious.

Grapegrower, reveal thyself.

Not everything I do is grape related. Well actually, yes it is, but even within the confines of grape growing I sometimes get to let my hair down, literally, and enjoy an evening out even if it is with other grape geeks and wine aficionados.
Last night, Vinomaker and I attended a reception for the release of the 2010 Napa Uncovered Calendar, held on the beautiful grounds of Clos du Val Winery. All the pin-ups were present and thankfully, fully clothed. The photographs are all tastefully staged so that each model does not reveal much more than his farmers tan!
The event was a fundraiser for the Napa County Farm Bureau (NCFB), an organisation that works to preserve the natural and agricultural landscape of the Napa Valley. Even though the Napa Valley was made an agricultural preserve back in 1968, much ongoing work is needed to maintain and conserve what is after all primarily farmland. Wine grapes are a crop just like any other crop that is produced for human consumption, it's just that this particular one, fortunately for the majority of us, is made into wine. The Napa Valley is not akin to Disneyland with wine, the fact is, it is predominantly an agricultural area: it is a lot of fun, but people need to be gently reminded of this fact now and again. I recently had a woman suggest to me that a freeway should be built right up the centre of the valley to ease the traffic congestion (which is unfortunately a by product of the popularity of the valley)...yea right, that's going to happen. Thankfully we have an organisation like the NCFB to vigilantly work towards the continuation of agriculture in this mini Garden of Eden.
So having said that, I am off to check if Mr. January really removed that bundle of Cabernet sauvignon prunings, he is clutching, in the correct manner.

It's a dog's life.

It was just too tiring, apparently, for a little poochie watching Vinogirl work up a sweat whilst digging out several dead Pinot grigio vines. Vinodog 2 found herself a comfortable spot under some vigorous Syrah vines, on a springy bed of sharppoint fluvellin (Kickxia elatine), and snoozed away until a turkey vulture swooped overhead threatening her siesta...then all hell broke loose.
In my next life I want to come back as a Napa dog.  Not just any Napa dog, my Napa dog!

From little acorns...

...mighty wine-corks grow.
Since my previous post about oak trees two more have, ahem, fallen over. But please do not think that Vinomaker and I are arboreally antagonistic. On the contrary, we have three baby cork oaks (Quercus suber), purposely propagated from acorns collected from two enormous cork oaks on the grounds of the Napa State Hospital, just waiting to be planted. Of course, they will be planted in an area that will not interfere with our vineyard activities.

Napa nest 3.

The summer solstice came and went, but the birds around here still seem to be procreating. Stop it, Vinomaker needs to sulphur the Syrah you have woven your horse hair-lined nest into. The nest in question belongs to a California Towhee (Melozone crissalis), cute birds, but I still want my vineyard to be mildew free!