A Year In The Life Of A Vineyard
Its' a cool fall morning and the last of the grapes have just been harvested. The wine country is waking up to a beautiful sunrise, and grape farmers are beginning to relax after a long year of hard work. The year gave us a lot of concern as this Ultra Premium Syrah crop should have been harvested almost 3 weeks ago under normal conditions. One never knows what Mother Nature will do to us, and what the exact outcome of our crop will be until it is harvested.
We prayed for the last few weeks, for just one more week of 75 to 80 degree weather to get our sugar up to 26 Brix (Sugar percentage). The Lord blessed us with our final rally of hot sunshine, and the harvest began. The fear at this time of year is that the leaves will turn red and gold and become unable to produce enough nutrition to the grapes before they sugar up.
The cool mornings turn to cool days, and valley below fills in with a majestic fog covering the forest green grape leaves that are slowly turning to golden yellows, and crimson reds. It is time for the vineyard to go into a deep sleep and rejuvenate itself during its hibernation. Soon each vine will shed itself from all of its leaves totally, and become wooden skeletons standing all in a row throughout the winter months.
The leaves continue to turn brilliant colors in the process of going dormant for the winter. The days are cool and windy, and the smell of fireplaces begin to offer hints that winter is about here. Winter is the time that farmers get a break from maintaining their vineyards and precious crops for the entire year. There are festive events planned throughout the vineyard community to celebrate the rewards of an all year work schedule. The holidays are right around the corner, and everyone is thinking about their families.
Spring is I the air and the grasses are turning green but the vines are still standing like skeletons in the field. Not for long as the warm spring sun warms the earth and plants, the vegetation begins to awaken. The sun brings new birth of everything that lives on earth. Seeds nestled in the cold soil all winter ground begin to germinate, and reach for the sky. The roots of the vines know that its time to wake up and push new growth from their spindly wooden arms. Thus the cycle of our season begins, as it has since the beginning of time
Bud break has begun. The vines are pushing hard to get small leaves out in the world to attract the needed sun to develop the growth of grapes. The rest of mother nature appears to be greening up as well.
Everything is growing like a weed, including the weeds. We had to mow the vineyard rows for the first time this year. In just a few days the leaves are beginning to become more prominent. Soon it will be time to sucker the vines, and get rid of all of the leaves that will not benefit the growth of the grapes.
Looking close at these new babies, you can tell that they are healthy. The dark green color tells us that they have had a good shot of nitrogen and other fertilizers to help them with the start of this year’s crop.
Uniformly the vineyard begins to take on its mature look, as we get closer to summer. The rest of the plants are green and lush as well, as mother nature shows her stuff.
The vines are beginning to weave up through the vertical trellis system as they reach for the sun. There is more and more leaf cover and the first sign of tiny grape clusters begin to form. The bunch of grapes that are the size of your fingernail will eventually grow into approximately 5-pound clusters if all goes well this year. It's time to cut off the stringers (vines that are hanging on the ground.)
The vines have had their stringers trimmed, and they are beginning to look like they have just had a short haircut for the summer to come. The green grapes are beginning to grow.
The grape clusters “Bunches” are turning from green to red grapes in this Syrah vineyard. Its time to thin the clusters to allow the stronger bunches to get more of the vines energy that will in turn, produce top quality wine.
While watering is important, it’s important not to over water during this crucial time. It is important to allow the vines to “stress” and offer the vine as much concentration to the fruit as possible without depriving the grapes from their ever-important drink of water. We notice that the leaves are turning a little yellow, indicating that vine is in need of a shot of fertilizer. We place the fertilizer directly into the drip irrigation system allowing to drip its nutritional needs exactly where it is needed, and regulate the amount that the vines need to produce their finest quality fruit.
The entire Syrah vineyard appears to be happy, as it comes back to its brilliant forest green look again after its shot of energy. The grapes continue to turn from their green hard marbles to lush burgundy color. They are getting larger and becoming a bit softer to the touch. The clusters are firm and close. We are looking at a potentially great harvest in a few months.
The days are hot, and the crop cover is turning brown. We are monitoring the water and nutrients to the vines for the finest quality wine production. The wine maker and the vineyard managers are in the vineyard testing every other day to insure that all of these babies are doing as well as they can. It is expected that this highly stressed hillside Syrah vineyard will produce a $75.00 bottle of wine.
The wine maker says that we must drop some of our fruit on the ground to get to that perfect combination of mother nature and mans talent to make the finest wine. Time is drawing near to harvest our bountiful (hopefully) award-winning crop.
A close up look tells us that all of our hard work to date is about to pay off. The bunches look uniform and tight. The color is perfect, and the leaves appear to be very strong, and in great condition. They are able to handle the last push of stress after we have reduced the crop load by 50%.
Every day we are testing the sugar to see when we get to that magic 26 Brix. A cold front has entered our atmosphere and we are fearful that the vines may shut down before they complete their full sugar cycle. The leaves are beginning to turn yellow and red and we are all praying for one last heat wave to push us over the top. The grapes appear to be in good shape with the exception of many birds helping themselves to our crop. Once the leaves turn completely, they are unable to bring the sugar up. Pray for sun.
It is now mid October and the usual time for this harvest should have been late September to early October. We are getting antsy at this point. We have waited and worked all year for this event. Please Lord; give us another 2 days of 75 to 85 degree weather.
Finally we hit 26 Brix on October 23rd and all parties are called to swing into action. The grapes are perfect, but look a little beat up do to the long hang time and the birds. I am making my final check before I call the wine maker, the winery buying the grapes, and the vineyard manager to come and begin the harvest.
The winery owner buying the grapes makes his final inspection, and is happy with the findings. The tractors begin to roll to the staging area to begin the harvest.
The vineyard manger and his truck loaded with plastic tubs arrive on the seen, and the unloading begins.
The ever-important professional pickers arrive on the scene and the tubs are unloaded and made ready for filling with this years harvest.
The pickers get started and the harvest begins. These are the hardest workingmen I have ever seen. They are paid by the tons of grapes that they pick and they are all in competition. They line up across from each other in the rows in order to keep an eye on who will be out front with the most grapes harvested. I have my bet on Rafael; he has been the winner every year that I can remember. This competitive spirit doesn’t stop at getting the highest tonnage; the pickers will lose points if the pick is not clean. We don’t want leaves, and branches in the tubs. While the pickers are picking, the wine maker and winery owner are picking leaves and branches out of the bins.
The tubs are full and being loaded on the truck. They are no longer our grapes. They now belong to the winery. This is a happy yet sad moment. It’s taken a lot of sweat, blood, tears and money to get these are highly sought after ultra premium grapes to this point. A lot of thanks go out to the men and women that have worked so hard to insure that our crop is as good as it is. They are to be commended for a long but fruitful year in the vineyard. It’s almost time for the harvest party.
We follow the grapes to the Crush Pad, where the process begins. First the grape bins are dumped into the Stemming Machine where the grapes and skins are separated from the stems. From here on our grapes are transformed into what we all are waiting for, that glass of wine.
It is a harvest sunset, and the days are turning cold and wet again as winter nears. It’s the time of the year that we are all thankful for a bountiful crop. It appears that this harvest crop has earned the right to be blended separately from all of the rest of the wineries Syrah picking. My harvested crop will be honored with my BERGMAN LAVENDER VNEYARD designation on each bottle of Du Mol wine that is being sold with my grapes in them. With all the hard work behind us it's time to have that harvest party that we have all been waiting for.
