August Pruning

Some of the growth is pruned off vines that were vigorous, and trunks are tied to establish cordons.

Cover crops between rows (white clover, this year) is filling in. This will provide nitrogen after tills.

Vine Training

 

Additional wires are being added to create a new training system called vertical shoot positioning. This system is being used more predominantly for vinifera in growing regions in the state such as Yadkin Valley

The trellis was originally designed as a mid wire cordon, since it's simplier and less costly, but it is not as suitable for the varieties being grown. VSP maximizes sunlight exposure, creating more of a hedge than a canopy as the foliage is tucked between sets of wires.

July 2016

Several trunks have already become vigorous enough to begin training on the 30 inch wires. They are tied to the wire to establish a trunk for the following season.

 We planted roses on the ends of the rows. Roses and grape vines are suspect to the same diseases, and roses act as an early warning for fungal disease, but for a vineyard this small, they're mostly cosmetic.

June 2016

Vine growth has turned out to be quite vigorous. In short time, many vines have neared the bottom wire and will continue upward unless tied and trained to wires. We are installing a VSP system which will be set at 30 inches for the cordons and each vine will have two trained trunks, left and right. We've started to plant white clover between rows as a nitrogen producing and weed reducing cover crop.

Currently, the vines are being sprayed with sulfur applications to control mildew. An insecticide had to be used to deal with Japanese beetles that were starting to eat away the foliage.

May 2016

A young vine begins to grow out of the graft union a few weeks after planting.

Digging holes and planting vines, 39 vines in total. In addition to being planted, a dirt mound must also be placed over the graft union to protect it.

I used Blue-X grow tubes to jump start vine growth and keep it contained. I was short two tubes and it was an opportunity to see the effectiveness of the tubes. Vines with tubes grew significantly higher up to the wire than the two without.

April, 2016

Vines have arrived from Double A vineyards and will be prepared for planting. The three varieties I decided on were viognier, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon, all which are currently recommended varieties from North Carolina State Univerity's Agricultural Institute.

I decided on rootstocks 101-14 for merlot and cab sauv and 3309 for viognier. Both are relatively low vigor stocks. Since 3309 is prone to slightly more fruiting, and viognier is known for smaller yields, my hope is that this stock may help push the yield slightly. Time will tell.

Unpacking the vines.

Soaking the vines prior to planting.

Vineyard planning and installation.

Some thought had to go into the design and installation of the rows. Grape vines are a permanant fixture, and mistakes can be costly in time and money.

I had the following challenges to address:


1. Number of vines. The yield should accommidate standard 5-6 gallon carboys commonly used in home brewing and winemaking. Some excess yield would be benefiticial. Lower yields could lead to problems.


2. Trellis design. The design needed to be simple in design and inexpensive, low maintaince, but also yielding quality fruit.

3. Variety. Several varieties of grapes would be desirable.


To address the issue of yield, I used the following formula.

x * 11 / y

x = desired number of gallons
y = pounds of grapes
z = number of vines per row
a = number or rows

A mature vine yields 8-12 pounds of grapes, (generally 8 pounds for vinifera) and we're looking for five gallon quantities. 11-12 pounds of grapes equals 1 gallon of finished wine. (source: Vines To Wines, by Jeff Cox)

So, averaging,

5 * 11.5 / 8 = 7.19 vines

Roughly 14 vines per row would give an estimated 10 gallons.

For the trellis design, a common setup is a trellis with vines 6 feet apart with 10 foot spacings. To achieve 14 vines per row, there would need to be three spacings holding three vines each, and two spacings on either end that would hold two plus one additional. However, with the angled posts, the closest we could get to was 13 vines per row. I had a hard time believing that 13 vines would actually yield 10 gallons of wine, and with cluster thinning, yields could more realistically be in the 6 gallon range. We just don't know yet; we can only estimate.

For varieties, space allowed for three rows. This would give the option of having two reds, and one white.


To calculate the vineyard size, these equations are used:

[(z - 1) * 6] + 12 = row length
[(a - 1) * 10] + 12 = row width

So,

[(13 - 1) * 6] + 12 = 84 feet across
[(3 - 1) * 10] + 12 = 32 feet wide

Fall 2015, wooden posts are set in with cemented end stakes. In retrospect, I wouldn't have installed the end posts at a 30 degree angle, instead opting for straight h-frames. The problem here is that the end posts were not set it at the same height and we lose a few inches when installing wires. This was fine with a simple two wire setup, but after doing additional research, I had decided to go with vertical shoot positioning which requires an additional top wire.

After tilling the area, black plastic is placed over the rows for several weeks. The combination of heat and darkness kills growth underground from weeds and grasses.