This is the great and generous crowd that joined us in lifting up Chardonnay Row 1 after the strange "micro-burst" storm that passed through in July. As always you all are the best.
Monday, February 21, 2011
2010 Vineyard Summary
2010 Vineyard Summary
Late winter and early spring started with winter pruning, re-tying and bud rubbing as usual. In the process of our bud rubbing, unusually warm weather and some good rains settled in and prompted quite rapid and substantial shoot growth. Shoot thinning progressed, however the substantial vigor had us a bit behind on proper thinning. We had developed a fairly aggressive spray program for this year starting a bit earlier, and in our first couple of sprays during early shoot growth, we were concerned about getting adequate canopy coverage while we caught up with the shoot thinning. Shortly after bloom, we had the shoot thinning under control and we were extremely careful about the timing of spraying during pre-bloom and bloom. In June and July, weather remained relatively dry to almost drought conditions. With these conditions, we were just beginning to consider irrigating our 2nd year vines in rows 18 and 19 when some moderate rains helped us out.
In mid July, we had a weather event that local authorities considered a “micro-burst.” Extremely high winds passed across the Chester River and through Piney Grove causing substantial damage including snapping some of our older and larger (42” +/- diameter) trees in half and knocking over our entire row number 1 in the vineyard. The trellising and posts in row number 1 were the only remnant from our father’s initial vineyard begun in approximately 1995. The remainder of the vineyard rows (2 – 18) stood firm with the newer driven posts. Fortunately, the vines in row 1 although laying down appeared undamaged and with the help of some great volunteers we were able to stand the row back up and support it temporarily to last until we could later replace the older posts after winter pre-pruning is complete.
As compared to the previous year, we had very minor issues with mildews and other rots. We attribute this to the dryer conditions and our more aggressive spray program. Insect damage that we were
aware of was primarily from Japanese beetles and bees. We held off using any insecticides until absolutely necessary and left our canopy tops a bit high to offer some sacrificial foliage. Eventually we did add one application of malathion which seemed to cut back the ongoing damage substantially. Deer damage was also fairly minimal this year. We attribute this to our fantastic vineyard dogs, Max & Casey. Their presence and activity in the vineyard allowed us to minimize the use of expensive chemical deer deterrents and resulted in substantially minor damage (considering past years) to fruit after verasion and through to harvest.
Fruit crop was also substantial this year. Our approximately 3 acres of Chardonnay is divided into 19 rows, of which for 2010, rows 1-10 were in their fifth year; rows 11-17 were in their 3rd & 4th years; and rows 18 & 19 were in their second year. In 2007 before we realized the devastating potential for deer damage, the substantial deer heard on the farm enjoyed almost all of the harvest in a very short amount of time. In 2008, with more precautions for protecting fruit after verasion, we harvested approximately 3.5 tons. In 2009, due to the extremely wet conditions, we achieved only approximately 3 tons, but fruit quality was still quite high. In 2010, having dropped all but two clusters per vertical shoot for the older vines, and all of the fruit on the second year vines, our early projections for 2010 suggested that we would be able to harvest somewhere between 5 and 6 tons. Reviewing fruit conditions we found that acid levels were dropping relatively quickly, while average brix readings were rising slower than expected. Field brix readings were between 22 and 23.2 when we scheduled our harvest for September 12. In the end, we had a bit of rain a few days before harvesting more than 7 tons while leaving some additional fruit on the vines which provided us an opportunity to use the remaining fruit to process a couple of our own small trial batches (not for sale) Final readings thanks to Pat at the Port of Leonardtown Winery were: PH @ 3.79; Tannic Acid @ .429 and Brix @ 21.6. In all, this was an extremely good year for us at Piney Grove. Each year we learn more and more and hope to better our performance in caring for our vines. We had hoped to expand our vineyard by another 10 acres by now, however that has been delayed while we work through settling with family members on the purchase of the farm after the passing of our father, Hap Lieber, a little more than a year ago.
Thanks to all for your fantastic support and encouragement as we learn and learn and learn.
Late winter and early spring started with winter pruning, re-tying and bud rubbing as usual. In the process of our bud rubbing, unusually warm weather and some good rains settled in and prompted quite rapid and substantial shoot growth. Shoot thinning progressed, however the substantial vigor had us a bit behind on proper thinning. We had developed a fairly aggressive spray program for this year starting a bit earlier, and in our first couple of sprays during early shoot growth, we were concerned about getting adequate canopy coverage while we caught up with the shoot thinning. Shortly after bloom, we had the shoot thinning under control and we were extremely careful about the timing of spraying during pre-bloom and bloom. In June and July, weather remained relatively dry to almost drought conditions. With these conditions, we were just beginning to consider irrigating our 2nd year vines in rows 18 and 19 when some moderate rains helped us out.
In mid July, we had a weather event that local authorities considered a “micro-burst.” Extremely high winds passed across the Chester River and through Piney Grove causing substantial damage including snapping some of our older and larger (42” +/- diameter) trees in half and knocking over our entire row number 1 in the vineyard. The trellising and posts in row number 1 were the only remnant from our father’s initial vineyard begun in approximately 1995. The remainder of the vineyard rows (2 – 18) stood firm with the newer driven posts. Fortunately, the vines in row 1 although laying down appeared undamaged and with the help of some great volunteers we were able to stand the row back up and support it temporarily to last until we could later replace the older posts after winter pre-pruning is complete.
As compared to the previous year, we had very minor issues with mildews and other rots. We attribute this to the dryer conditions and our more aggressive spray program. Insect damage that we were
aware of was primarily from Japanese beetles and bees. We held off using any insecticides until absolutely necessary and left our canopy tops a bit high to offer some sacrificial foliage. Eventually we did add one application of malathion which seemed to cut back the ongoing damage substantially. Deer damage was also fairly minimal this year. We attribute this to our fantastic vineyard dogs, Max & Casey. Their presence and activity in the vineyard allowed us to minimize the use of expensive chemical deer deterrents and resulted in substantially minor damage (considering past years) to fruit after verasion and through to harvest.
Fruit crop was also substantial this year. Our approximately 3 acres of Chardonnay is divided into 19 rows, of which for 2010, rows 1-10 were in their fifth year; rows 11-17 were in their 3rd & 4th years; and rows 18 & 19 were in their second year. In 2007 before we realized the devastating potential for deer damage, the substantial deer heard on the farm enjoyed almost all of the harvest in a very short amount of time. In 2008, with more precautions for protecting fruit after verasion, we harvested approximately 3.5 tons. In 2009, due to the extremely wet conditions, we achieved only approximately 3 tons, but fruit quality was still quite high. In 2010, having dropped all but two clusters per vertical shoot for the older vines, and all of the fruit on the second year vines, our early projections for 2010 suggested that we would be able to harvest somewhere between 5 and 6 tons. Reviewing fruit conditions we found that acid levels were dropping relatively quickly, while average brix readings were rising slower than expected. Field brix readings were between 22 and 23.2 when we scheduled our harvest for September 12. In the end, we had a bit of rain a few days before harvesting more than 7 tons while leaving some additional fruit on the vines which provided us an opportunity to use the remaining fruit to process a couple of our own small trial batches (not for sale) Final readings thanks to Pat at the Port of Leonardtown Winery were: PH @ 3.79; Tannic Acid @ .429 and Brix @ 21.6. In all, this was an extremely good year for us at Piney Grove. Each year we learn more and more and hope to better our performance in caring for our vines. We had hoped to expand our vineyard by another 10 acres by now, however that has been delayed while we work through settling with family members on the purchase of the farm after the passing of our father, Hap Lieber, a little more than a year ago.
Thanks to all for your fantastic support and encouragement as we learn and learn and learn.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
A Ragged Bunch
After Harvest, here is the whole family minus Dad, Brook and Elizabeth. I am sure Dad would be proud and happy we did this together.From left, Riley Lieber, Jennifer Lieber, Chip Lieber, Joseph Lieber, Julia Bruce, Neal Bruce, Jeramie Bruce, Caroline Baldwin, Emory Lieber, and Tim Baldwin (and Lami Lieber).
Our harvest Day started early and was finally done at about 7:30 pm with the last load of grapes delivered to Don Tilmon of Tilmons Island Winery in Sudlersville. From our approximately 2.7 acres of vines ranging in age from their 4th year to vines in their 1st year, The yield was approximately 3.4 tons of Chardonnay. The final Brix reading was 22.
Harvest Day Gatherers
A great start and an historic moment by great friends helping on our first harvest. A never ending thank you to guest harvesters Jim Georgeson, IJ Profaci, Chuck Parry, Mike Dickinson, Maryann Ruehrmund, and Max Ruerhmund. Lunch Layout and kitchen cleanup by Linda Parry. All of these wonderful people set aside there Friday to give us much needed help. Again we can not truly express the extent of our thanks. Thursday, August 7, 2008
August Fruit
Grapes are looking great. First week of August and Brix reading was 13. We are keeping our fingers crossed, so far we have seen only minor damage to fungus or insects. Most recent spray included Pristine at the high rate and Carbaryl for Japanese Beetles. Interestingly the Japanese Beetles have been more prevalent at the southern corner of the vineyard and for the most part high in the vines
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
While spraying last week, I stopped and removed two bunches of fruit each in different locations that showed similar “purple” spots on the fruit. I have not seen more as of yet. I took a casual walk through the vineyard the other evening just to marvel at the work everyone has done. It really looks great.
Based on my walk and articles on fungi and diseases I have read like the one below, there are three comments I would make:
1. It is my opinion that we should incorporate an effort to remove more of our prunings from the vineyard as opposed to leaving them and mowing them under. As with many things in life, good housekeeping is the best effort we can make to help us fight the problems we will encounter in the vineyard. Removing all trimmings would come short of eliminating problems, however, as I am spraying, my mind meanders into worst case scenarios where I see the mower spewing and spreading spores that might otherwise be minimized by removing them immediately after our efforts.
2. Correct me if I misunderstood, but I understand that Mr. Tilmon did not suggest pruning more fruit from the vines. Basically let them grow. Based on what I saw the other evening, it is very clear that those vines that did not quite get pruned back to the ideal target of three vertical shoots in 12” of cordon have substantially more fruit than others. I would say in those areas the fruit is actually crowded. However, the berries and/or bunches in those areas are also not as well developed as those in vines that are pruned closer to the ideal. I see this as a potential detriment when we are sampling to reach the target of 22 brix. It will take longer for this fruit to reach that target and my understanding is that it may in some ways affect future quality in those vines as well.
3. As a curious observation, I saw that those vines in row 1 that were substantially “devastated” by the deer prior to our second application of deer deterrent now have some of the best looking fruit bunches on them. I am very curious to see what the quality of those bunches will be at the time of harvest.
As always my comments are solely intended for bettering our future as a vineyard and in no way do I mean to diminish the work everyone has done. The vineyard really does look great.
All the best,
Chip
Chip Lieber
Based on my walk and articles on fungi and diseases I have read like the one below, there are three comments I would make:
1. It is my opinion that we should incorporate an effort to remove more of our prunings from the vineyard as opposed to leaving them and mowing them under. As with many things in life, good housekeeping is the best effort we can make to help us fight the problems we will encounter in the vineyard. Removing all trimmings would come short of eliminating problems, however, as I am spraying, my mind meanders into worst case scenarios where I see the mower spewing and spreading spores that might otherwise be minimized by removing them immediately after our efforts.
2. Correct me if I misunderstood, but I understand that Mr. Tilmon did not suggest pruning more fruit from the vines. Basically let them grow. Based on what I saw the other evening, it is very clear that those vines that did not quite get pruned back to the ideal target of three vertical shoots in 12” of cordon have substantially more fruit than others. I would say in those areas the fruit is actually crowded. However, the berries and/or bunches in those areas are also not as well developed as those in vines that are pruned closer to the ideal. I see this as a potential detriment when we are sampling to reach the target of 22 brix. It will take longer for this fruit to reach that target and my understanding is that it may in some ways affect future quality in those vines as well.
3. As a curious observation, I saw that those vines in row 1 that were substantially “devastated” by the deer prior to our second application of deer deterrent now have some of the best looking fruit bunches on them. I am very curious to see what the quality of those bunches will be at the time of harvest.
As always my comments are solely intended for bettering our future as a vineyard and in no way do I mean to diminish the work everyone has done. The vineyard really does look great.
All the best,
Chip
Chip Lieber
From: Baldwin, Caroline (OPM)
This is info that we needed last year. I don’t know if we have a problem this year or not but we’ll keep our eyes open.
Caroline L. Baldwin, CCM
This is info that we needed last year. I don’t know if we have a problem this year or not but we’ll keep our eyes open.
Caroline L. Baldwin, CCM
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Week of May 12 - Thinning Vines
Progress this week included thinning vines. Last weekend, I understand that Tim completed row 1. Jennifer and I worked in rows 2, 3, & 4. 3 & 4 are complete and row 2 is approximately 1/2 complete. As a guestimate of time required, we took approximately 2.5 hours to work through 1/2 of a row per person. Since the growth was so heavy in these rows, I tended to work at the vine sitting on the ground and working from underneath the vines. From the top of the vines, I could not see what to remove without doing damage. Attempting to speed up work also caused mistakes so we kept at a fairly manageable pace which means lots more to get done.
I have not sprayed at all this week. Last spray of sulphur and PencoZeb was on May 5.
I have not sprayed at all this week. Last spray of sulphur and PencoZeb was on May 5.
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