Crop Update 2009 by Tom
Mitchell, Pa’tridge Run Farms and Fall Bright,
Finger Lakes Wine Region, overlooking Keuka Lake east, near Wayne
10110 Hyatt Hill, Dundee, NY 14837 607-292-3995
Canes produced in
vineyards that were well balanced with a below average crop in 2008 were
well matured with high crop producing potential. The best canes were
sizable, dark, and dense with small piths. Many canes had well developed
buds well beyond 20 nodes.
The 2008 – 2009 winter
was relatively mild. The crop potential was very
high. April and early May were warm
with a couple of 90 degree days – vines were off to a good start
(perhaps too good of a start). Since I’ve been in the vineyard
business, I have not seen a bud push as good as we had this spring
(tender vinifera included).
A decision was made early
on to shoot thin, especially in the vinifera and more valuable hybrids as
the potential for very dense canopies with large crop potential was real.
Vines were intensively suckered – retaining renewals only as
needed.
As Mother Nature would
have it - the bloom period was noticeably cooler with intermittent rains –
as most of you know, not the best conditions for set. Precipitation has
been ongoing – sporadic at times and in places. We have not seen persistent
rains – somehow dodging some of the heavy downpours, high winds and hail
that went north of us. Nonetheless, almost all growers in the Finger Lakes
Wine Region of NY have spent a lot of time on sprayers this year. On a
consulting basis I have seen some major problems in some vineyards, but for
the most part growers have done a good job suppressing grape diseases and
insects.
The cool wet weather in
the spring caused some erratic sets in some varieties that I guess bloomed
at less than ideal times. A few varieties showed a very prolonged uneven
bloom that resulted in very uneven berry size between and within
clusters.
It has been a cooler and
wetter than normal June and July. For the faint of heart - all is not as
bad as one might assume. As of 28-July-09 we were only 6 days behind the
long-term average and we have a week and (hopefully more) of 80-degree
weather this coming week. Where vineyards were shoot thinned, suckered,
shoot positioned, cluster thinned where needed and kept clean, the foliage
is of good color, very healthy, functional and just waiting to do it’s
thing when the right conditions present themselves.
We have tentatively
postponed our normal harvest dates by one week. I would much rather have
vines in this condition with good weather coming than have vines suffering
from severe drought stress with low to non-functioning leaves. An above
normal crop is present (all factors considered). Well-managed vineyards
have the healthy canopies to ripen the crop with the right weather and any
excessive crop can be reduced from now through veraison to accelerate
ripening.
Join us at Fall Bright, The
Winemakers Shoppe, where great wines begin!
We are
located on the eastern side of Keuka Lake in the
Finger Lakes Wine Region in NY. Dundee is a mailing address. Our Location is
near Wayne, NY.
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