
2024 Vineyard Lessons Learned
Fall Edition
Alas, it’s my favorite time of year—fall and harvest—with an unveiling of my 2024 season vineyard lessons learned!
This is a second such unveiling, as it is the vineyard’s second season with grapes. In some ways, the year was less dramatic and fraught because I followed last year’s advice:
I conducted daily observational strolls in the vineyard and had a work plan informed by observations, research, and local grower consultations.
From these two “uber” suggestions in the guise of lessons learned, all else flows.
Fall on Sunshine Mesa
Before we flow forward to this season’s challenges, successes and lessons, let’s flow backward and provide a general sentiment regarding fall in the North Fork Valley this year—it was beautiful, outright spectacular!
The weather was dry and warm, and the fall foliage showed its stuff.
Conditions were perfect for harvesting my Pinot Noir September 10 (125 pounds), my Riesling with Gewurtztraminer from a local grower September 27 (125 pounds), and 160 pounds of Marquette, also gained from a local grower.
After harvest, the weather remained warm and mild in October, putting our valley on notice should an abrupt, extremely hard freeze come along. Like what occurred in the year of 2020 in late October BMV (Before Marshall’s Vineyard), when two nights of frigid temps (14 degrees one night, nine the next) killed most of western Colorado Vitus vinifera vines to the ground. The die-off occurred due to lingering mild temps delaying the vines from “hardening off,” an important part of a vine’s move to winter dormancy.


While an “October weather surprise” was not in the cards this year, the first fall freeze finally occurred on the same date as last year, October 30. But unlike 2020’s surprise, the low temperatures were in the upper 20s.
Thank goodness, let the hardening off begin.
As a freeze precursor, rain joined the party on October 29, to the delightful tune of 1.25 inches. What a great wet start for fall vine root development!
Vineyard Challenges
As covered in the Spring in the North Fork Valley – 2024 Edition blog, ten three-year old vines experienced trunk die-offs. At the time, crown gall was the leading culprit.
As spring gave way to summer, four additional challenges presented themselves.
As discussed in the Summer on Sunshine Mesa – 2024 Edition blog,” the issues involved: 1) occurrence of coulure due to wind shatter, resulted in the demise of developing grape clusters, 2) appearance of leafhoppers, munching away on grape leaves, 3) additional discovery about the trunk die-offs dilemma suggesting moving irrigation drip emitters to better deliver water to spreading vine roots, and 4) preponderance of grasshoppers, also eating away on grape leaves.
As summer progressed, three new issues arose.



First, an unanticipated breakout of powdery mildew (PM). PM is a scourge of vineyards worldwide. It presents more so in warm, humid, and wet climates, though it can also occur in semi-arid climates as well—like in my vineyard.
PM can only be effectively thwarted via vine canopy management techniques, combined with the use of fungicide controls. I’ve sprayed for PM in past seasons, including in 2024, and have not experienced much PM. An unusually wet August with 2 inches of rain did the trick—a bloom of PM in certain sections of the vineyard. I sprayed after the rains in early September, which helped turn the tide. Though PM was still present at harvest, it wasn’t at a level affecting grape quality.
Second, days before the Pinot Noir harvest in September, a raccoon paid a vineyard visit! Not seen before on the property, let alone the vineyard, there it was. Caught on my vineyard cam at 2 AM. I was out of town for a few days, so the fat critter had a few “hay nights.” I harvested the day after my return; thank goodness the grapes were ready!
Third, maintaining the structural integrity of the trellis has become a growing challenge. The metal end posts are not set in concrete. Most of the existing posts can’t carry the tension on the trellis wires needed to carry the weight of the vine canopies.
Vineyard Successes
Anyone, and I mean anyone who has read my blogs or social media or has interacted with me about the vineyard, knows my number uno scourge in 2023 was yellow jackets (The Apocalypse). As laid out in my 2023 Lessons Learned blog, the 2024 control tact was to put out traps in early April purposely to lure the queens having emerged from their winter nests—to their death.
No queens, no grape nectar sucking workers. The approach met with great success!
Vine trunk die-off as referenced earlier in this post, was corrected. My working hypothesis for the moment is that while there may have been an occurrence or two of crown gall, the primary offender was probably vine roots struggling to find water.
I was drip irrigating on top of each vine trunk. With a suggestion from a local grower mentor and additional research, I found the roots for my vines do not grow downward, but spread outward. I rearranged the drip emitters placing them away from the trunks, such that outward growing roots had access to water. This fall, there was only one vine trunk exhibiting red leaves as precursor to the issue.
Hopefully, case closed!
Use of PyGanic (organic compound affecting insect digestive systems), stopped the leafhoppers in their tracks, which probably helped with a few other pests as well.

Lessons Learned
In an attempt to be thorough, a summation of 2023 lessons learned include:
- Two Uber lessons are highlighted above; daily vineyard observational stroll and developing plans to correct issues as observed.
- Following and being consistent with a pruning approach. I use Vertical Shoot Positioning in my vineyard.
- Conducting trellis maintenance in the spring before bud break.
- Weeding, weeding, and weeding some more.
- Maintaining a PM spraying program.
- Keeping vine leaf canopies open when pruning facilitates airflow, helping to keep PM and excessive vine growth at bay. A vine’s growth from mid-summer forward should focus on grape development, not green.
- Pluck leaves around clusters as they ripen, which helps the grapes mature. Be careful about plucking too many; grapes can get sunburned. Direct sun is good early and late in the day, with dappled shade midday.
2024 lessons learned for 2025 action include:
Be ever more vigilant about spraying for PM.
Expect weather conditions to change, affecting spray timing and the product used. I tend away from using sulfur and copper commonly used in commercial vineyards, choosing biodegradable products such as Stylet Oil instead. Later, as grapes mature, another effect product is Kaligren. There is also a host of additional potential products.

Proactively spray for insects.
Spray at least twice; maybe three depending on insect pressure. One spray should occur in June as the vine canopy is experiencing significant growth and another in July to catch anything new. As referenced above, PyGanic is an effective organic go-to. If combined with Venerate, grasshoppers are brought into the killing fold.
Speaking of grasshoppers, they are begging for control.
I’ve only watched them eat leaves and copulate over the past two seasons. Vigorous vine growth tends to stay ahead of their destructive leaf-eating, but they certainly do a number on younger vines and new growth. First, I’ll incorporate PyGanic and Venerate in my leaf canopy spray program. I’ll also apply an insecticide like Talstar (Bifentrrin), which can be sprayed on the vineyard floor and surrounding fields.
Beginning in early June, vine canopy growth explodes. Should a one- to two-week vineyard hiatus occur, expect to pay the consequences of an extraordinary level of frustrating pruning upon return. I need to strive to keep vineyard absences at a minimum during peak growing periods.
Time to begin trapping raccoons.
Trapping isn’t rocket science. I’ve probably trapped a few hundred squirrels in my day, and I’ve also caught a few dozen skunks. However, raccoons do require large traps.
High winds are not uncommon on the mesa. Experiencing wind shatter was painful, reducing the percentage of a promising harvest.
Next year, installing a windscreen tarp using the wildlife fence as support along the south and west sides of the vineyard will help minimize the wind’s impact on grape flowering and the resulting grape clusters.
Lastly, I’ll begin the process of resetting my row end posts in concrete after vine dormant pruning but before bud break next spring.
Conclusion

As a four-year vineyard hobbyist, I’m getting the hang of this.
However, I’ve learned, and I hope as reader you have as well—you can’t be complacent.
Anything can and probably will occur.
Look and plan for constant change and outside pressures, because there is no way to measure the satisfaction gained from healthy vines and successful harvests.
This I live for. And making the resulting wine, of course!
Looks like you are getting it nailed down
With great support from a local valley grower, winemaker, and Nobel Laureate!
Hurray for you and your dream!
I know it’s hard work, but what an accomplishment !
Thank you, it’s a labor of love!