Champlain Valley - Grapemans' vineyard - Planting to small winery

[grapeman]

Like anything else there is no single answer to any of thes questions.


With freeze damage, you can get a rough idea of bud damage by taking representative canes in the fruiting zone to sample. Bring them inside and let them thaw and get to room temp for 24 hours. Taking a razor blade, cut the bud on a 45 deg angle all the way through. You are looking for green tissue inside a bit. If green, it is alive. If it is brown it is dead. Sample 100 buds for reliability counting live and dead. That gives you percentage of injury. LTE50 is the temperature where 50% primary bud kill can be expected. If you have greater than 50% bud kill, you can also expect trunk damage and they may need replacing.


Replacement canes and trunks can be obtained fairly quickly if the vine is more than two or three years old since the root system is intact and will push replacements quickly. The problem there is they are fairly susceptible the following winter and may be damaged at lower than expected temps.


I am at the point where if I have over 50% kill, the vines will be replaced with varieties that will withstand colder temps.

 

[grapeman]

Anyone who lives in the Finger Lakes Region of NY, here is an announcement for the
60th Annual Finger Lakes Grape Growers Conference and Trade Show
Friday, March 4 - Saturday, March 5, 2011
Holiday Inn - Waterloo, NY






This one sounds like a great conference so I think I will attend this year. Oh, wait a minute, I guess I have to since I agreed to speak at it........... what was I thinking. Oh yeah, I have the added bonus of being able to visit my older brother who lives a couple miles from the conference center.


http://flg.cce.cornell.edu/documents/FLGGC2011Program.pdf

 

[AlFulchino]

sounds like fun Rich..have a great time

 

[grapeman]

Construction at the winery continues in spite of the winter weather.You saw some early pictures of the siding I am putting on at the winery. That has pretty much wrapped up for the winter with us having all of the walls at least covered and I will finish the trim and soffits in the spring. We have been working on the tasting room for the last couple weeks on and off. The lights are roughed in now and working, but there will be more accent lighting and trim pieces going in after the finishes applied. For now the room is mostly covered with OSB. Later I will be using knotty pine for wall finish. The ceiling I am either going with a textured paint or possibly wainscotting type wood pained white on the ceiling.

I don't have a fancy door or windows - just the basics for me at this point. Here are some pictures of the progress for all you picture fans. First before much work lately and then the room a couple days ago.

The area in fron of the doors will have a patio on it for folks to sit in the summer.

The door will be going in that location to lead to storage and rest rooms.

This area will be for display and a couple tables.

Behind door number one is the main winery.

Next I will finish up, clean the area and prime with paint for now. By the way the tasting bar will be in the corner in the last couple pictures. We will be custom building that as I apply finishes on the walls etc.

 

[Bartman]

Lookin' pretty good, Rich. A basic, rectangular framework will be so much more flexible for finish-out inside then a complex, specially-designed layout.

Are those 8' ceilings, or 7'-6"? the door frame looks like it is almost touching the ceiling...

You might consider wiring in some speaker wires for surround sound/ambient music/sports broadcasts - a lot easier at framing stage then later, as I am sure you know.

On an aesthetic point, are you sure you want to use knotty pine? I am not a big fan, obviously, but I know a lot of folks are using it now, and I think it will look dated in 5-10-15 years. Like lots of oak paneling makes an '80s-style house stand out nowadays...

 

[AlFulchino]

ah, i recall those days w memories of tired arms, shoulders and back...at least you were smarter than me and did this in the winter

 

[DBell]

Keep up the good work!you'll be hosting tastings before you know it.

 

[grapeman]

Lookin' pretty good, Rich. A basic, rectangular framework will be so much more flexible for finish-out inside then a complex, specially-designed layout.

Are those 8' ceilings, or 7'-6"? the door frame looks like it is almost touching the ceiling...

You might consider wiring in some speaker wires for surround sound/ambient music/sports broadcasts - a lot easier at framing stage then later, as I am sure you know.

On an aesthetic point, are you sure you want to use knotty pine? I am not a big fan, obviously, but I know a lot of folks are using it now, and I think it will look dated in 5-10-15 years. Like lots of oak paneling makes an '80s-style house stand out nowadays...

Yes Bart, the ceilings are under 8' -0". This was an excisting barn with slightly lower ceilings and with it being an ag use building that is allowed. Remember this is a tight budget job. Is it ideal, no, but it is the only way it can happen at all for me.


I have access to the ceiling via a loft overhead, so I can add any needed speaker wires later.


Am I sure I want knotty pine? Yes, this is a rustic building so anything else is not going to fit well. My vineyard name is Hid-In-Pines Vineyard, so pine paneling is very fitting. I see this room as a starting point, so it will unlikely be used as a tasting room for more than 5 years. I have a new Post and Beam building in mind for a new tasting room in a few years, but I need to crawl before I run. I do drafting as my primary job, so I can pretty much design buildings as I want them. This one was existing so I am working within certain constrains. I don't have 250k or more for a new tasting room at this point.


The wall behind the bar will be on a 45 like this and the rest will be vertical.

 

[ibglowin]

Looking good Rich. Sounds like an excellent plan. Do you have any heat in there yet or are "you" providing heat by working up a sweat!

Thanks for posting the progress!

 

[Runningwolf]

Rich that wall is beautiful! Certainly a man of class!

 

[Scott B]

Looks Great. Thanks for the pics.

 

[AlFulchino]

ummm...my monitor is 1/3 the size of your's ...no wonder the prescription on my glasses had to be changed

 

[Waldo]

Looking mighty good buddy !!!! Proud for ya !!

 

[grapeman]

LOL Al, that monitor is used strictly for showing clients their homes in 3-d. Mission control uses (where I work when not playing in the winery and vineyard) - monitor 1 for Outlook and internet- 24 inch, monitor 2- for cad and Excel-27 inch, monitor 3 TV and misc - 20 inch, monitor 4 - Word, etc - 20 inch. Then turn the corner of the desk for the laptop and its 22 inch monitor. They are all flatscreens.

 

[rrawhide]

great job Rich - lots of blood sweat and tears and much love went into this - AND IT SHOWS!!


we are all proud of you!!!


keep up the great work and keep posting pictures


thanx


rrawhide

 

[jnmar]

Very nice, Al...Beautiful, I love the Naughty Pine.

 

[Bartman]

Somehow, I forgot your winery was named "hid-N-Pines", so yeah, it would be hard to argue with a knotty pine interior. Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on your short-term and long-term plans. That's a lot better than many of the fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants "weekend warriors" wineries I have been to - you can tell they have tried hard, but if you don't have a clear goal you are working toward, it will show in the end.

 

[grapeman]

Here are some more pictures. An outside couple shots of the winery building. The red area will get resided in the spring.

This will be the bar area. Those are soffits overhead and there will be puck lights in them.They will be covered with T&G Pine.

The door into the winery - Top Secret behind there. LOL

Display areas along with a couple bistro tables. and the v-groove T&G Knotty Pine is under the cover.

 

[grapeman]

View from the bar area

I just got done painting the ceiling white for now so we can start putting up the pine. It will be an interesting pattern that will accent the bar area. More as I get work done.

 

[AlFulchino]