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| Sauvignon Blanc W/Cordons |
I decided to start off in Mirror Image Vineyard which strictly is Sauvignon Blanc territory. Mirror Image Vineyard is grown in a different way then Angel Vineyard. The Mirror Image Vineyard is trellised along the back and side wall of my yard. This is where my old Cabernet Sauvignon vines grew last year before they were pulled up. Upon coming to my first vine I noticed some old damage that the dreaded Grape Leaf Skeltonizer managed to do before I killed them finally. That was a short lived battle that I won. I flashed back to the Spring time when I was in fear of the battle that lay ahead with those pests. I happened to find a natural bug killer named Captain Jacks that is all natural and did the job naturally. I also saw some small Canes coming out of the Buds on the Trunk of that particular vine. I thought I had cut these buds well enough to ensure they wouldn't come back but I guess I didn't do that job well enough. I ended up cutting them off but, like I said left some large Canes for future cuttings. I re-examined my Cordons on that particular vine and saw that I needed to do some more tying of them onto the fruiting wire due to the Cordons growing so much since the last time I saw them. I also took a quick glance at the pool and was glad it was waiting for me since the day was heating up fast. I cleaned up around the base of the Trunk of the vine and then moved on to the next vine. On the Next vine the same things were happening only this time I left all the Canes coming from the Trunk since they were all pretty long and appeared healthy. I was also finally able to form my Cordon on the left side (only) of this one vine. This was pretty exciting and I pointed it out to Mrs. Desert Wine Gal who looked at me like I was crazy. The next vine was rather interesting. This vine appeared to be dead all summer long but when I looked at it this time I noticed that there were two buds that were breaking. It is the end of August and places like the Napa valley have already gone into Verasion and this vine finally decided it is time to wake up WOW, are you kidding? It's a little too late now but it might grow enough to ensure one less cutting having to be done this Winter. While going from vine to vine in Mirror Image Vineyard that is pretty much the issues what I ran into. There were a couple of vines that I had cut back considerably earlier in the summer because I wasn't happy with what I was seeing growing and they still weren't developed enough to form Cordons although they did appear to be very healthy now. That is O.k though because there is always next year. I would rather have vines that are healthy and will produce fruit in the future then have a undeveloped or improperly developing plant that is sickly in appearance which would mean no fruit or little to no quality fruit. I also want to mention that while going from vine to vine I came across my Banana Peppers and Basil plants and they were doing great as well. So after some cleaning and a little bit of pruning I was happy with what I saw. O.k so Mirror Image Vineyard is done.
You might think it was time to take quick a dip into the pool right about now. Not so fast there wine fans. It is time for a break though. I sat down for a few minutes while drinking some water and just watched my beautiful family in the pool. How blessed I truly am. I have a beautiful wife (Mrs. Desert Wine Guy) and three beautiful, wonderful children all of which my Vineyards are named after. I have a beautiful house that is furnished wonderfully and a job that I have been working at for the past 22 years with retirement coming in less than 3 years. It is nice when we take the time to stop and truly appreciate all that God has blessed us with. Watching everyone relax in the pool I realized that break time was to be short lived. Time to finish the maintenance of the Vineyard up and get my reward...a
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| Grape Leaf Skeltonizer Damage |
nice cool dip in the pool.
Moving over to Angel Vineyard (Cabernet Sauvignon) now. Angel Vineyard is set up like a traditional vineyard is. I have 8 foot wooden poles that are driven 2 feet into the ground with guide wire strung from pole to pole along with a drip system tied along a guide wire at the bottom of each pole. This Vineyard also differs in that there are no vegetable plants planted in between the vines it is simply Cabernet Sauvignon vines. These vines are growing very well also. The same cleaning up of small Canes was done and the forming of Cordons was also performed. There was the same issues in this Vineyard as there was with Mirror Image Vineyard and that is that there were also some vines I had to cut back earlier in the year due to the fact that I was unhappy with how some of them were growing. While they are doing much better now there are a couple that are still to small to form Cordons. The most I could do with those is to ensure the Canes that will eventually become Cordons grow straight up along the trunk so that when it is time they will simply be bent onto the fruiting wire. There were also some vines where I was able to finally form cordons. The problem of some vines did not surviving from the Nursery also exists in this Vineyard as well but that will be addressed when the vines go dormant as with Mirror Image Vineyard. The Grape Leaf Skeltonizer struck here also but I was more alert with time and there doesn't appear to be any damage done to these leaves.
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| Cabernet Sauvignon Vines |
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| Angel Vineyard |
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