2013 season: Gearing up

Well, nothing has been posted for a while. The deer, for a second season, enjoyed the 2012 harvest. The barriers used were ineffective. Fencing has been purchased, and will be established soon. Lessons have been learned: control the varmints! (and fungus and insects).
I am thankful for the lessons of 2012. The spray program was effective. We obtained grapes from Mount Juliet Vineyards, Silver Creek Orchards, and Horton Vineyards. We made cabernet franc, merlot, malbec, and mourvedre. Winegrowing and winemaking education will continue to press onward...

The vines continue to sleep under a blanket of winter snow.

Winter in central Virginia wine country.

Example of spur-trained vines.

Example of cane-pruned vines.

Speaking of education and experimentation, the petit verdot and petit manseng, on alternate rows, are pruned to spur or cane. I look forward to seeing how these vines perform differently. I especially anticipate differences in shoot thinning, with cane-pruned vines requiring less labor. The question will be whether the difference of less summer labor will outweigh the spring labor of retying of the vines to the training wire. The fruits (literal) of my labor will also be compared.