The Joys of Spring In Our Vineyard

While this may be a "Lost Spring" for so many of us as COVID 19 has isolated us in our homes, our vines are oblivious to our pain and suffering.  This is Year #4 in our vineyard's development and it is a very special year. This will be the year of our first harvest and the making of our first Mount Saint Joseph Estate wines.

For a few of our owner volunteers who have assisted this Spring, the vineyard has been a quiet refuge from the lonlieness and anxiety of the pandemic. Take a short journey with us over the past few months.........

We were very busy almost every day in February as we did the final pruning of our vines, retied their trunks and most importantly selected and tied the lateral cordons to the cordon wire.

We finished our work just in time. March brought us bud break - that amazing time that the vines begin to awake from their winter slumber. First the buds begin to swell and gradually begin to burst as the green tips emerge. First to break was the Petite Sirah, followed closely by the Petit Verdot. The Cabernet Franc continued to snooze and finally decided to wake up in late March.

April brought the beginning of the growth stage with leaves unfolding as one, two, three, four....nine and more leaves emerged. As the leaves emerged so did the beautiful poppies sprinked about the vineyard. We were far more than spectators as we worked day after day to sucker unwanted vines and tuck those that we wanted behild the trellis wires to encourage a vertical growth habit.

Of course in April, not only did those Spring rains bring vigor to our vines, the rains brought vigor to unwanted weeds so....our owner volunteers spang into action as we mowed and weed whacked to give the vineyard that well kept, manicured look.

 

Now, in May, we have seen the first indications of coming grapes - the inflorescence emerges, followed by the flowering and falling off of the caps and the emergence of the young fruit. Again, it was the Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot leading the way with the Cab Franc a week or two behind.

June will be busy as we continue to postiion shoots and prune off unwanted laterals. Fruit will continue to develop as the clusters grow and begin to change color in veraison. Stay with us as we chronicle this first harvest season. Of course, we are guided every step of the way by the incredible Derek Irwin.