Missoula Vinyard

[OilnH2O]

Veraison very early - about 3 weeks ago. Netting went up the first week of August and yet, here is the difference between trying to grow Pinot Noir where it won't grow (well) and others that will. One picture is Leon Millot - nice and dark blue and the other - green- is the PN.

Smoky here from fires - these pictures were from two days ago when we had some visibility.

 

[ibglowin]

Great looking clusters either way Dave! I have the same thing going on this year. Marquette looks to be about ready to pick but the Corot Noir and Noiret and just beginning to start veraison!

 

[OilnH2O]

Great looking clusters either way Dave! I have the same thing going on this year. Marquette looks to be about ready to pick but the Corot Noir and Noiret and just beginning to start veraison!

Veraison about 40 percent on the Pinot now... but now the big problem is the yellow jackets! Traps all over but they like the sweetness in the berries not the attractant in the traps!

 

[OilnH2O]

Have been fighting the da%m birds for several days now.

I think these are passing through - some sort of a finch although they look like an immature meadowlark - but I don't think that's what they are. I got a close up look at the one caught in the bird netting. I should have taken a picture but the bird police would have probably wanted to outlaw bird netting. His head was pushed through on the outside and the rest of him/her was fluttering on the inside.

No, in spite of his little buddies coming back all afternoon and still finding their way in (but I've repaired them many times since) I took my pocket knife out, ran the blade through his feathers and the net, and cut him loose. (And yes, I was sorely tempted to turn the blade the other direction but I always try to think things through - like, "How will you explain this to your daughter?")

He hung there in the vines for about 10 minutes then got enough strength to fall to the ground where I opened up an escape route for the little ess-oh-bee. He promptly flew into the netting on the next row, fell to the ground again and was headed south last I saw. But, a half hour later one of his buds was in the next row and I chased him out but that's how you find where they got in.

But, I'll bet I've lost maybe 5 percent of some great purple berries - between them and the yellow jackets its a long way to harvest!

 

[ibglowin]

Never give up, never surrender! LOL

 

[OilnH2O]

Released about another half dozen between yesterday and today. I had another 120' of 17'-wide bird netting, so my DW and I put it over the top - literally, from the ground from one edge, over the three main rows of vines, down to the ground on the third. Could close off one end but not really the other so they are still getting in, but we don't think any got into the main (previously wrapped) bird-netted vines. What happens it seems is that the ones that get in get caught up in the over-netting then don't get too involved in trying to do anything other than get out!

I left for the University of Montana Grizzly stadium at 10:30 am for the big game against North Dakota State - the Bisons are the 4-time national champions FCS (the old Division 1A) and while DW was on bird patrol/release I watched the most exciting game I've seen in a long time! It was televised on ESPN as the first college game (and the only one this weekend) in the Nation.

Football season is here!

 

[OilnH2O]

Durn Birds...

It is amazing to watch these little suckers try to get in. Actually, I think they are actually Cordilleran Flycatchers. At least that's what the modern biologists have decided they are since they are "Western Flycatchers" in my (old) Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds. But, no matter... they sit on a fence and then fly into the bird netting, fluttering, often getting caught. Then they flutter til they get loose and fly back to the fence, rest then have another go.

Below is a picture of what they find even if they get through the first layer - the "over the top" netting, as you can see against the sky. Then, they have to find a way into the second (and original) layer.

By golly, I want to get some production out of these vines this year!

 

[ibglowin]

I wonder if one of those plastic owls would help keep them away? I had a couple of Robin's when I netted. They gave up after a few days and moved on down the road….. LOL

 

[GreginND]

Our neighboring vineyard put in a bird scare system. It's solar powered and recreates randomly noises of predatory birds. It actually seems to be working reasonably well.

 

[mgmarty]

I like the secure feeling of netting. I haven't seen a bird in the vineyard for awhile, they've given up at my place as well.

 

[OilnH2O]

I wonder if one of those plastic owls would help keep them away? I had a couple of Robin's when I netted. They gave up after a few days and moved on down the road….. LOL

Mike - two owls - one within 20 feet (on the deck) and another on my roof - work on pigeons but not the songbirds. I thought about my osprey kite - which also did great at keeping birds away but went on the direct attack with the netting. Like Mgmarty, after that day of watching them try to get in through the netting, yesterday they seem to have moved on. I have to admit that the day before yesterday, Greg, I might have bought any idea - including solar powered predator cries - to keep them out. Do they have an loud one from a dive-bombing Peregrine Falcon?


And, just as I knew, my 25 year old daughter was home and saw a bird fluttering in the net: 'Ahhh, we have to go set him free, Dad!' I said "just watch for a few minutes" but she went to try to help and came back and said "He was gone when I got there."

I was looking for my drumsticks...

 

[OilnH2O]

First look: Brix

Here are the first Brix readings - taken with refractometer Sept 10
No, I did not do TA or pH - just seeing what's going on out there in back, other than feeding the yellow-jackets!
(The doubled bird netting has been successful - not against the YJs though... )

LM= Leon Millot
M.Foch = Marachal Foch
PN= Pinot Noir

-LM ---- M. Foch ---- PN
21.0 ---- 21.8 ---- 19.4
21.2 ---- 17.2 ---- 17.6
19.4 ---- 15.0 ---- 25.0
22.2
26.0
20.4
23.4

(Sorry for the dashes and attempts to make a table! It doesn't end up the way you first lay it out...)
I have one Edelweiss survivor which had 16.8* and found a cluster on one of my Reisling vines that measured 12.4* I had 8 of the Reisling vines, potted that I found in a nursery in Washington Tri-cities and purchased 3 years ago just for grins (that's them in my avatar among the flamingos). Four have survived but only two have grown more than a couple feet high. The one cluster this year is the first, but I think we can conclude that Reisling won't grow in my backyard!

The reading for all the berries crushed and mixed together -- my field blend -- is 19.4* Now it is a race to see if letting them hang longer will add more sugar while losing more berries to those sucking Yellow Jackets - and yes, they are little suckers. That's the correct terminology for things that suck out the juice so I'm trying to be technical, not emotional, here... calling them little suckers... (Mods please note!)

 

[OilnH2O]

Picking tomorrow... I think!

Wonderful fall weather in Montana - this first picture shows some of the color that's beginning to show on the PN - the other varieties are still green. While we had one night near 35* we've been mostly typical Indian summer type days with lows in the low 40s and highs in the high 70s and even a few low 80s in the last few weeks.

This picture also shows the double bird netting - the rows are covered lengthwise, gathered underneath, then a second layer over the top of the whole vineyard. What has happened is that birds that have gotten in, tend to focus on flying into the outer netting, forgetting about trying to get into the inner netting. I really cut down on the loss after doing this. See the next post for more details...

 

[OilnH2O]

Durn Birds...Update!

These pictures show the damage from the birds, with the first two most typical. The third picture also shows some shrunken berries which I think are the result of the yellow-jackets. While the traps got a bunch, the smell of the fruit was pretty apparent when you walked in the vineyard so I think the bees went right on by the traps. I may try different traps next year - I was using the chemical "attractant" type but may go to the apple-juice/drown 'em type!

 

[BlueStimulator]

For kicks and giggles this year I kept just a few cluster on my second leafing and by the looks of your pics song birds, quail and yellow jackets got all of mine. I love reading your updates and seeing your vineyard pics. I did get a couple of my Viognier grapes, I didn't realize just how sweet wine grapes were. Good luck with harvest and crush

 

[mgmarty]

Cold fronts coming! Getting rain here now. Hope your harvest goes well.

 

[grapeman]

It seems everything wants to eat the grapes. It is a wonder we are able to make any wine at all.

 

[ibglowin]

Yep, I had a few vines that I didn't net as they only had a few clusters. Everyone of the grapes has been picked to pieces by the birds. I also know that my Golden retrievers got into to the garden and ate some grapes as I picked up several nice "loads" out of the grass that were full of grape seeds. I need to build a better fence as one of them can actually leap over it (3' wire).

 

[OilnH2O]

For kicks and giggles this year I kept just a few cluster on my second leafing and by the looks of your pics song birds, quail and yellow jackets got all of mine. I love reading your updates and seeing your vineyard pics. I did get a couple of my Viognier grapes, I didn't realize just how sweet wine grapes were. Good luck with harvest and crush

Thanks... I know what you mean. I have a reisling of the several I've got left - the only one that fruited this year and they are incredibly sweet...

Cold fronts coming! Getting rain here now. Hope your harvest goes well.

I hope you keep it south, Marty! We've got the clouds, some chance of showers tomorrow morning and only 58, and Sunday 59 (with lows no lower than 38) but highs in the 68-75 range through the 11th - the day I return.

It seems everything wants to eat the grapes. It is a wonder we are able to make any wine at all.

Amen, Brother!

As I posted on Mike's thread, I've reconsidered on when to pick. We've got a great 10 day forecast as I mentioned above. I have a trip to Riverside Cali next Wed-Sunday so we've been trying to either do things early so I can be away for 4 days or wait... and which would be best: pick next week... or after I get back. I am now thinking that I'll pick Tuesday or even Wednesday morning (plane not until late afternoon) and crush with some SO2 and cold-soak for those 5 days - the grapes can be in the cooler garage (it's getting no higher than 60 in there with the door closed) and have the cold packs refrozen by my 'support team.' I think I can keep the grapes on the skins longer, keep the temps in the 50's, and then pitch the yeast when I get back... OR... I have to admit I'm tempted to let them keep hanging through the whole period and pick when I get back. They are protected from the birds now, the YJs have lessened with the cooler temps... and that's more "hang time" which to me, is a good thing... yes???

 

[grapeman]

You need to consider also that when they get to a certain ripeness they can go bad on you leterally overnight. As they become over ripe they will break down and rot on you. With all the heat we had in September making them ripen much more quickly I lost a good share of my grapes this year especially the reds. I just don't have the help to pick all the grapes quickly. I was watching the grapes and when they hit what I considered harvest numbers I woul plan to pick but a number of times what we couldn't pick that day were gone by the next (they simply rotted on the vine). Best of luck which ever way you decide to go.