Spring 2011 is pretty much history now. Compared to last year this one was a bit more “normal”. By that I mean bud break was in the third week of April as opposed to the first week as it was last year. We got what seems to be a “normal” trend of lots of rain in late April and early May. This was followed by hot, humid and for the most part dry weather in June. Last year it was the heavy snow melt that charged the soil and got growth off to a fast start. This year it was lots of rain early on that did the same thing. Some of this year’s storms were accompanied by pretty nasty hail. One hail storm in mid May missed my vineyard by less than ¼ mile. I haven’t heard of anyone having much damage from hail as yet, but the season is still young.

As I write this piece it’s the third week in June and flowering in all our varieties is complete. Fruit set looks very good here and in most of the vineyards I’ve seen in our region. The only issue we had in one of our vineyards was an infestation by grape flea beetles in five rows of Cabernet Sauvignon. I put down one spray of Carbaryl just in this section but unfortunately it was after the damage was done. Secondary growth popped back, but with much lower cluster counts. We’ve had problems in the past with climbing cutworms, but never grape flea beetles. Next year I’ll have to be more proactive in scouting and dealing with these guys. Already I’ve put down seven fungicide sprays. The crews are in full shoot positioning, shoot thinning and leaf pulling mode. Instead of doing these operations separately, we’re having them all done simultaneously. Shoot growth is in its jungle stage. So far, signs of disease seem to be limited to the occasional black rot lesion on a leaf here or there. But since it is the bloom/post-bloom season, all the big guns are out in each of our sprays. I’ve learned not to be cheap with what I apply during June. Mix the chemistries up and use rates on the high side. And most importantly, open that canopy up and get good coverage. Getting that skilled labor in the vineyard, at the right time, is as important as anything we do. We’re fortunate to have access to good crews that have worked for us for a number of years and know what they’re doing. You can’t beat good people power.

We have a new neighbor here on the Catoctin ridge. It’s actually located on what’s known as Hogback Mountain, less than two miles as the crow flies southeast from Willowcroft. The owner, Mike Huber, with his vineyard manager George Wilson, has planted twenty acres of vines in the last two years. Five acres of Chardonnay and Viognier went into the ground in the first planting. These vines made excellent growth and a small crop will probably be taken this year. This spring, fifteen acres of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot have been planted. Most of this years planting was potted green growing vines from Novavine in California. Mike has a beautiful site with plenty of room for future expansion. And he has hired Lucie Morton and Jeanette Smith to consult on the project as well. He has plans for a winery, with construction slated for completion in two to three years. What impresses me most is Mike’s desire to get the fundamentals in place first. And by fundamental’s, I mean hiring a team of knowledgeable people doing the job right. George, Lucie and Jeanette are known throughout our industry as being top notch in their fields. And they’ve concentrated all of their efforts in getting the vineyard in correctly from the beginning. As I say they have a beautiful site for the vineyard and future winery. Looking south/southwest toward the Bull Run Mountains and Blue Ridge beyond, it’s a picture perfect location. From what I’ve seen so far, I predict that this will be one of Loudoun’s premier winery operations in the very near future.

Speaking of new plantings, we put in a small addition ourselves at Willowcroft. We planted ¾ of an acre of Albarino along with a little over a quarter acre of Muscat Ottonel. We also pulled out some Riesling and replanted that site to Petit Verdot. We were lucky to get those vines in the ground before the rains in April and May. We have nearly 100% growth in the Albarino and Petit Verdot with about 98% growth in the Muscat Ottonel.

For those of you that like statistics, I’ve just learned that the Northern Virginia region now has 1147 bearing and non-bearing acres of vines. That compares with Central Virginia’s 1082 bearing and non-bearing acres planted. That’s 2229 acres for these two regions out of a total of 2966 acres for the whole state. What did Mark Twain say, lies, damn lies and statistics. Don’t know what any of this means, but it is a little interesting. (BTW stat’s courtesy the wine marketing office.)

Dean Triplett | Greenstone Vineyard