This Week in the Vineyard

first berries turning pink

I am waiting, not so patiently, for my grapes to go through veraison (when they turn from green to red and start accumulating sugar). This week a few berries here and there are turning pink. Normally at this time at least half of the grapes on the ranch would be pink or red. It was has been so cold this year that the growth and development of the grapes is quite late. Because of the cold, foggy season we have been doing things a little differently in the vineyard. Right now, and for the last two weeks, my crew has been removing leaves and lateral shoots right around the fruit on the morning sun side of the vines. We have to be careful not to remove too many leaves so the fruit doesn't get sun burned in case we do happen to get some hot weather soon. However, we need to take enough off to open up the canopy and let more light and sun on the grapes to help speed along the ripening process. So I will keep hunting for my red berries and hoping for warm weather.