Is it Spring Yet?
If you're like us, you are tired of hearing the weather forecasters predict snow
and are yearning for some warmer weather. We look forward to leaves on the vines
and roses in bloom. We also can't wait to begin hosting events on the back deck
and enjoying the sunsets over Skull Camp Mountain and the Blue Ridge.
Our vines, on the other hand, need a few more weeks of cold weather to make sure
that the buds don't come out too early. So, we are trying to exercise a little
patience. It isn't easy!
It's Pruning Time in the Vineyard
What we do at Round Peak during the winter months? While winter is a slower time
of year, we typically spend January-March doing vineyard maintenance (replacing
posts and grow wires), identifying vines that need to be replanted, and pruning
the vines in preparation for the growing season.
Phoebe & Quake "helping" Danielle prune
the Montepulciano vines
Most of our vines are now over 10 years old and one of our projects this winter
has been to re-arm the vines with new cordons.
Before: This vine needs to be re-armed.
During: Ed cutting the old arms After: Ed tying down new
cordons to the wire
It usually takes 6 weeks or more to cane prune the entire 13 acre vineyard. We
are not able to do it on rainy days due to disease risk to the vines. Also, when
it is very cold, the cordons can break when they are being tied to the grow wire.
The red varietals are pruned before the white ones. Right now, we have pruned all
the reds and the Viognier and Chardonnay will hopefully be completed this coming
week.
Depending on the weather, we may begin seeing green shoots pop out as early as the
end of March or as late as mid-April. Once we see shoots, we start worrying about
frost damage. While we like to see our vines nice and green, we hope to delay bud
break as long as possible.
Coming Soon, Going, & Gone
We "sold out" of many of our whites and dry rose last summer or Fall so we are happy
to announce the release dates of several new wines:
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