The Most Glorious Time of Year

BY VINCE VIDRINE

I think July might be the most glorious time of year for a grape grower. Obviously, harvest is full of excitement and relief, ushering all of the grapes into the safety and stability of the winery, where the transformation into wine will take place. But there is an incredibly palpable joy and pride once mid-summer comes and all of the vine canopies are full and lush, with clusters fully formed and thinned, and the fear of fungal disease begins to fade.

Looking at the well-positioned and organized rows of healthy vines, it’s easy to take for granted the hard work and, at times, general anxiety that persists from April until now. We’ve endured at least a dozen frosts and experienced multiple periods of high powdery mildew pressure, each of which has required Skyler to awaken far before dawn and toil hard to ensure we have fruit at the end of the season. Together, each vine has been thoughtfully and intentionally touched, often more than 10 times, by Jesus and our vineyard crew. They’ve been pruned and attached to the trellis, thinned of excess shoots, positioned to the trellising multiple times, had leaves removed around the fruit, excess clusters of fruit removed, and overly long shoots braided neatly. Each row has been mowed and cultivated for weeds multiple times when needed. Each Biodynamic application has been applied at the optimal time. Each block has been surveyed to estimate the amount of fruit we’ll likely harvest, and the water stress of each block has been measured each week in order to irrigate in the most precise way possible.

With bright green leaves photosynthesizing at full speed and berries at their maximum size, the vines have now shifted their motivation away from growing leaves and shoots, and are now beginning to ripen each berry. The work for the season is by no means over, but there is reason to celebrate the effort that has gone into the farm so far, reason to smile at the wonder and beauty of the vineyard, and reason to be optimistic for the remainder of the season.