Summer on Sunshine Mesa - 2024 Edition
He was done by lunch and napped until mid-afternoon.
The rest of the day, he’d engage in more leisurely tasks, such as mowing the one-acre lawn using a hand-pushed power mower—with me pushing the mower—or supervising me on other tasks needing attention around the property.
He’d perform these duties with aplomb, sitting in the shade.
in later years.
I found myself following a similar routine this summer.
It’s too hot in the afternoon to work in the vineyard. But I kept busy in the morning!
Late Spring Shatter
From late spring to mid-summer, there are three milestones in grape berry development: flowering (self-pollination and fertilization), grape set (grape creation in clusters), and veraison (transition from berry growth to ripening indicated by color change).
Like vine bud break in the spring, flowering occurred one to two weeks earlier this year than last. The weather was milder—warmer with little rain.
I expected flowering and fruit sets to be uneventful.
Not so much as it turned out.
As flowering became more prominent in late May, I noticed decimated flower groupings and small, limited berry clusters. My first thought was pests.
Hungry small grasshoppers were now becoming more plentiful.
After research, I discovered Coulure, a French word for the failure of grapes to form after flowering.
In local parlance, shatter.
But the cause? Not grasshoppers. Maybe an exceedingly quick cold or hot spell? Or excessive rain? A lack of nutrients of one sort or another?
I decided to investigate the prevalence of wind across the vineyard. It has been seemingly excessively windy, and my research suggested this could be a contributing factor.
Wow, bingo.
As the graph well illustrates, May was a wind barnburner, with June trailing just a bit. Spring always brings wind to the valley, especially the mesa, but this was at another level.
Conditions didn’t support other potential causes. The temperatures were consistently mild, with little rain. The vines are healthy and have not illustrated nutritional issues to date.
Damningly, shatter among the vines was most prevalent on the wind-facing side of the vineyard from south to west.
So yes, the vineyard experienced a certain level of shatter, with the Riesling—the last two long rows along the west side—taking the brunt of it. Nevertheless, a limited Riesling harvest will be had.
A possible remedy next year is to hang a windbreak tarp on the west and south sides of the wildlife fence, shielding the vines from the worst of the winds.
Can’t wait…
Rain, Pests, Pruning, and Veraison
The weather gods took pity on our dry start to summer and brought relief in the form of an early Colorado Monsoon season.
To the tune of 3+ inches. And not all in one event!
Not dissimilar to last year, grasshoppers have been exceedingly plentiful. But once again, vigorous vine growth tends to stay ahead of them.
Applying a new organic concoction combining Pyganic and Venerate, assisted as well. This combination is reputed to work well to curtail grasshoppers. Sprayed on the vine leaves, the solution upsets the digestive systems of many insect species that munch on the leaves, resulting in death.
This includes leafhoppers, which have made a first-time unwanted appearance in the vineyard. They first became noticeable in the eastern rows of Pinot, where I quickly nipped them in the bud before much damage was done.
Pruning the vines was a constant.
I kept exceedingly busy ensuring the canopies remained open (facilitating air flow), hedging when growth exceeded 7′ (near the upper trellis wires), removing vine laterals, and leaf plucking around the clusters (facilitating sun exposure).
In early August, veraison began.
At the same time last year, the Yellow Jacket Apocalypse ensued.
Due to my lack of planning early last season, I hadn’t deployed yellow jacket traps in the spring.
Traps effectively captured many after veraison, but the hoard kept coming.
Over the remainder of last summer, nearly half of the Pinot Noir crop was destroyed. A larger portion of Riesling was saved only because I deployed fruit bags over the clusters.
I’m prepared this year.
As discussed in my 2024 Spring Edition Vineyard Blog, I deployed traps in early April and caught many yellow jacket queens during the month.
Queens spawn the worker hoards. Their demise is key to controlling the population.
Since April, I’ve kept the traps freshly baited and have sporadically caught small numbers of yellow jackets.
I’m hopeful last year’s spawn will reduce to a trickle for the remainder of the season.
Stay tuned.
Vine Drip Irrigation Change
And the hits keep coming.
In my 2024 Spring Edition vineyard blog, I discussed the potential of Crown Gall causing the die-off of several fourth-year vine trunks.
Yes, there was some level of Crown Gall. However, with the help of a local grower mentor, we uncovered another potentially more serious issue—an issue that can contribute to older vine die-offs.
The location of the drip irrigation emitters.
Since planting the vineyard in spring 2021, I’ve placed 2 GPM emitters at the base of each vine trunk. Water from the emitters spreads in an upside-down funnel pattern. I believed the wider and deeper funnel in the soil centered on the trunk of each vine would suffice in water and soil nutrient uptake.
Not so much.
Based on my continued research of the trunk die-off dilemma, my advisor advised me to examine the root growth pattern of my grapevine rootstock (101-14).
Viola, the roots grow in a shallow spread pattern, not a deep central one.
Since the roots spread diagonally, water and available soil nutrients weren’t always available at the level needed by the vines, except when the roots traveled to a nearby vine, competing for water and soil resources.
The solution involved moving the emitters evenly spaced along the rows between each vine. And then watering long and deep.
Next spring should illustrate the efficacy of the approach via fewer trunk die-offs.
New Beginnings
Winemaking doesn’t take a vacation in summer. Three plus cases of Riesling were bottled using grapes from my vineyard, combined with a vineyard I picked located in the North Fork Valley on Rogers Mesa.
Five weeks of summer remain as this post is being put to bed.
Summer’s tale is yet finished—vineyard unknowns remain to be discovered and, as needed, solved. Only time will tell what Mother Nature has in store.
What the yellow jackets have in mind.
A farmer’s plight, a welcome one.
As I began this tale, I looked to the past, fondly reminiscing about my grandparents. They lived full lives, raising four children. They subsisted on produce and crops from their small farm. They were in their prime during the Great Depression. As my aunt Mary Jane would relate, “There wasn’t much money to be had, but an egg or two in your pocket was pure gold.”
Looking forward, we were graced by both my daughters, son-in-law, and grandson for the start of summer’s planting.
New vine rootstock is necessary to fill in row gaps every year.
Hopefully, not unlike Mr. John, I’ll be sitting in the shade one day with aplomb, guiding my grandson through vineyard tasks!
Really enjoyed your takes here, Marshall! 2 weeks each summer with Mr. John and Mrs. Sally— what formative times for you. On the land. And how Liz and I remember that side of your dad too.