Compiled and edited by Jason Burrus
EASTERN VIRGINIA (Gonzalo Ortiz, Rustic Vintage, LLC, eastvagrowers@gmail.com)
Here in the beautiful Northern Neck of Virginia, rain has been sporadic, daily high temperatures have been moderate, and nighttime temperatures have been cool.
On our farm Chardonnay, which is our first to bud, bud break started the first couple days of April. The first week of April has seen Bud burst for Chardonnay these last two years on our three-year-old Chardonnay. There were six days with nighttime lows in the thirties in April with the last one being April 21. No frost scares on site in May. Thankfully we had no frost damage on site. April, May and the first half of June all only had one day each of temperatures at 90° or more. Nighttime temperatures have been cool allowing me to do a good amount of work at night after my day job without bugs swarming my headlamp or humidity bogging me down.
Rain totals on the farm were approximately 2.25 inches in February, 7.5 inches in March, 1.5 inches in April, 4.5 inches in May, and nothing more than a trace these first three weeks of June. Currently, the grass is struggling, and vine growth is slowing down. While we did plant a handful of replants and a small test planting this year, which do not seem to be struggling, and while our soils are deep (6+ feet) I do think we lucked out planting our vineyard in 2022 and 2023 as we do not have irrigation on well-draining soils.
In our testing areas last year I planted 25 vines of Malbec and 25 plants of Tannat. The reasoning is I have never worked with Tannat so I am curious, and I have worked with Malbec in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia with sufficient success over the years so I am interested to see how it grows here. The susceptibility of Malbec to Grapevine Yellows is most likely going to be the reason I would restrict its planting size on my farm but so far looks great as a potential future planting. This year I planted a clone that I do not remember having grown of Cabernet Sauvignon, which is clone 169, to see how the clusters express themselves (tight versus loose clusters), and their susceptibility to botrytis. I do this because I think I will have as much if not more success with Cabernet Sauvignon here as I have on other sites during my career. So far, my planting decisions have been based on the ease of producing quality fruit in a manner that does not require all the stars to align and multiple passes of thinning to produce an exceptional harvest. Such as Barbera which I have over twenty years’ of experience with.
Bloom on-site for our Petit Verdot started around the 21st of May. Petit Verdot which is in year three will be our only real volume harvest this year and I suspect it to be around a ton to the acre. We will be pulling the leaves these upcoming days. I try to pull leaves within the first three weeks of set and pull both the East and West sides of the canopy. Because we have a couple of ninety-degree days projected to happen in the last week of June we will probably pull the East side (morning side) first then once the heat is less or have a couple of cast days pull the western (afternoon side).
We have budgeted for a leaf puller and a hedger which will not be necessary to purchase until next year. This year we will be leaf-pulling by hand. I am very grateful for my father’s help in the field as he is retired and enjoys helping me. However, I have no employees and starting from scratch which is why I would like to share my reasoning on which type of leaf puller I believe I will purchase.
I have experience with both pull and cut leaf removal equipment and pulsed air leaf removal equipment. In my opinion, pulsed air leaf removal equipment is awesome in opening up the canopy from preboom up until a couple of weeks after set and has the extremely beneficial added benefit of removing flower parts in the cluster after bloom which in my experience dramatically lowers incidence of botrytis in the cluster (insect pressure aside) as dead material needed for botrytis is lowered. The pull-and-cut leaf removal equipment does not blow away the flower parts but can be used well into the growing season with minimal damage to the clusters while removing leaves by an experienced tractor driver. For vegetative and sensitive varieties that I would want to pull leaves, around both berry set and right before veraison I would only use pull and cut leaf removal equipment. So being that I do not have a full-time equipment operator that I can have on the tractor during the window in which pulse air would be used and I do not know if I will want to be removing leaves on my plantings for a second time after set but before veraison, I believe I will be going towards purchasing a pull and cut type of leaf removal equipment. If for once, we get to forty-plus acres I would purchase a used pulse air and have both because of the labor savings and pest reduction realized by their timely use. Both require an experienced and focused tractor operator. I hope everyone has a good growing season and that all crops find a home.
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA (Kevin Sutherland, Nicewonder Vineyards)
The winter was above average moisture, and spring brought an early bud break. We did have one frost threat at the end of April. As of June 19th, we have just completed our first pass of shoot selection and shoot positioning (you could really call it Cane positioning given the growth) and some leaf removal. That said, we are above the top catch wire everywhere and hedging as we complete each block. That vigor made the shoot positioning challenging, trying to balance between tucking the canes and snapping them off. Now we start our second pass for leaf removal.
Mid-June has turned hot and dry. We are irrigating the new block and the replacement plants. The Beetles are early but don’t seem to be very heavy this year. So, it looks like things will be straightforward until August. So far setting up for a good quality crop. We do have some summer bottling of our 2022 Reds, that will keep us out of the heat for a couple of days.
Before we know it harvest will be upon us and the free time will disappear. I hope everyone has a great growing season.
CENTRAL VIRGINIA (Benoit Pineau, Pollak Vineyards, benanalysis@gmail.com)
I am honored to be reporting the central VA growing season from Pollak Vineyards. This report is very specific to the Western part of the Central Virginia area
Climate
We started the season on the right foot by escaping the Spring frost threats. Early Spring, the temperature was average for the season but the ground was dry; April rainfall was 1.9’’ (our 10-year average is 3.5’’). The rain found us later in the Spring; May precipitation was 5.5’’ (our 10-year average is 3.3’’). This culminated with an overcast early June, with the ambient humidity being high (May 2024 average at 69 F, May 2023 average at 61.5 F). Also, the average temperature was greater than usual.
Physiological stage and related work
We started the season one week late due to cooler temperatures and low rainfall, the vines have literally exploded and caught up with the high rainfall and warmer temperatures; we are now one week ahead of a normal season. Today, we are in mid-June 2024, at berry growth. The canopy has reached our last catch wires, and thank you to our hard-working vineyards staff, after long hours; all blocks have been tucked, clipped, hedged, and leaves pulled. It’s a great time to assess crop load. Also, the weeds and cover crops exploded as much as the vines. This induces multiple mowing passes, and one pass under the row (herbicide or cultivation) in order to reduce as much as possible the humid environment. I am noticing some coulure on higher vigor vines (3309C rootstocks and/or Merlot) but considering that the bloom timing was humid and mainly overcast, the fruit set was good in general. Once again we are experiencing the “Viognier fertility wonder.” Crops look to be average-low. Overall, the vintage looks to be very fruitful.
We have started a vineyard restructuration program and planted 11 acres in early Spring. The heavy rainfall made it a great planting year!
Fungal Pressure
Black Rot was the fungal threat of this early season, especially on Chardonnay. Proper spray and timely hand work management were sufficient to limit its impact. None of the berries are affected. Later, and as usual for the mid-Atlantic grape growing, the downy mildew pressure was rising with low to no impact on the canopy or clusters.
Insect Pressure
As I am writing this, I do not report the arrival of the Japanese beetles, the lantern flies, or the cicadas! As part of our new program, we are continuing our route to manage our leaf roll virus spread by controlling our mealy bug population. Also, I would like to raise a concern as our grape root borer managing program is interrupted as GRB Pheromones are unavailable.
NORTHERN VIRGINIA (Dean Triplett, Greenstone Vineyards of Leesburg, gsvineyard13@gmail.com)
Spring 2024 started early for us in Northern Virginia. Late winter and early spring saw temperatures that were the 5th warmest on record up until the first half of April. Rainfall, while frequent early in the season, has been normal as far as amounts go for most of the region. However, where I am southwest of Leesburg, I feel like we’ve been in a deficit since the third week of May. The second half of April was cooler than normal, with low humidity. This turned out to be a bonus for me as my tractor went down and I was about 10 days late on applying my first spray. Fortunately, I’ve caught up and the vineyard is in good shape. The number of Spotted Lantern Flies has increased from last year as was expected. I put down a Malathion spray when we saw the first young instars. Since then, we’re still seeing SLF but not in large numbers, so I’ll keep monitoring the situation. A grower I talked to recently in Middleburg has yet to see them.
The fruit set appears to be very good this year. Last year I had a fairly high proportion of shot berries, especially in my Merlot. This year the clusters look full, well-formed, and with possibly a larger crop than last year. I hate to make predictions this early in the season, especially as we’re still shoot thinning, but so far, so good.
In a text conversation with Bill Hatch of Zephaniah Farm Vineyard, his observation of early-season weather was about on par with mine. Bill said it’s been light on rain, yet still has great growth in the vineyard with a good fruit set. Bill planted 550 new vines this past April. He put in 440 Cabernet Franc vines and 110 Tannat vines. All the vines are in root-restriction bags. He says the idea is that once the vines are established, the bags create stress by limiting nutrient uptake. His soils are very rich in organic matter due to the fact that he and his family dairy farmed the land for 50 years prior to starting the vineyard. Bill planted Cabernet Sauvignon 6 years ago in root-restriction bags and likes the fruit a lot. In most years, with normal rainfall, Bill feels his Cabernet Sauvignon vines get adequate moisture but also have smaller berry size and earlier ripening. The latter is very useful for late-season reds. Like me, late May and early June have been low on rainfall and Bill’s crew has had to hand water the young vines twice since planting. On a trip to Zephaniah last week, I noticed that besides the root restriction bags, the vines are planted in, Bill also uses grow tubes. And in the vast majority of the planting, the vines have reached the top of the tubes.
In an email, Jason Burrus of Sunset Hills Vineyard wrote the following. “We were challenged with the early season (first two weeks of May) heat and rain that accelerated the growing season, causing us to move up vineyard activities like shoot thinning during the time we were expecting to finish up planting. We’re still catching up from that. We’re largely disease-free in the vineyard with the exception of some early season Phomopsis that stunted a small number of shoots. We’ve gone herbicide-free so the early season heat and rain caused us to spend more time than we anticipated in managing weeds and grass cutting.”
I want to thank Bill and Jason for allowing me to share their observations with our members.
As I write this piece in mid-June it’s amazing to me just how vigorous the vines are. Shoot positioning and hedging are in full swing. And mowing seems to be constantly needed. The upcoming week of June 17th through the 23rd is predicted to be in the 90’s every day with no rainfall in sight. Bad news for my veggie garden but good news for the spray schedule in the vines. Let’s just hope the skies don’t open up come September.
Photo Credits to Dean Triplet, Jason Burrus, and David Eiserman.