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Notes From the
Vintner
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Welcome
to our column. We hope that you will return to
learn interesting notes on wine, and related
subjects. Wine is a great gift from God to be used
for the enjoyment of man. It is a food, and should
be treated as such. It is meant to lift up the body
and lighten the soul. 3/1/05
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What a
grand feeling it is…
to
walk the vineyard and enjoy the view of the pruned vines,
knowing that you have the vines ready to bring on a
wonderful harvest. I enjoyed the walk today as I tasted the
fruit of an earlier harvest made wine. It is easy to
understand that God is in His heaven and all is well on the
good earth. But it took a lot of work, and the work is on
going. "Like a relationship, it takes a lot of work, but the
reward is priceless." So take the time to enjoy what you
have done, and take pride in all the hard work. And be
prepared to spend many more hours of work in your
vineyard.
This is a good time to have the soil tested. In doing so you
will know what needs to be added to the soil so that the
plants have everything needed to produce a good crop of
grapes. You should have a plan worked out for your spraying.
This spraying is for weed control and to protect the vines
and grapes. It does not take Black Rot long to do very much
damage to your vineyard. So work you spray schedule, and
keep records of how and when you sprayed. Also you need to
record the effect of the spray on the vineyard.
The best way to know what is going on in your vineyard is to
walk the rows daily. Each day you should be walking some or
the rows. Keep a small notebook in your pocket to record
what you see, and what is going on with the plants. Some
people think that they can remember the things that take
place during the year in the vineyard…But this is just
not true. So, just write it down.
Read as often as you can the books on how to raise grapes.
You can learn something each day if you are open to the
learning. Ask a person who works in the vineyard for
pointers.
Let us drink a toast to our vineyards…And the second
toast is yours to make. Cheers ! ! ! To the
vineyard…
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