Words from the Winegrower AKA Paul

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This is the month that many in the wine business take vacation time. Many winemakers do Ski Patrol in the winter! Others head to Equatorial areas or further south. I can attest that Nicaragua is quite lovely in January.

Vineyard workers often head to Mexico before Christmas to visit family and friends. They usually take 4-8 weeks off. No work, no pay, but because the weather often prevents fieldwork, it’s better to be in a warm place! Consequently, it’s pretty quiet here in Orchard Country. I’m seeing a daily increase in the numbers of orchards and families to support! All these are local folks. The “migrants” are the H2-A workers who usually are here from March till November. Shut up and work! Or get sent home.

They often spend time and money earned to improve their families’ housing back in Mexico. Although a lot of their pay is sent home, their payroll taxes stay here.

I think the H2 programs are mutually beneficial, but they are indentured servants. That troubles me because they are easily taken advantage of. Some of my ancestors who came as indentured servants had a bad seven years, but some had great employers who gave them a good start in this country.

I’m in the vineyard pruning most afternoons. If it’s not raining, covered in ice, or below 25, it’s pruning time.

This season, I have been doing a lot of reconstruction work on vines damaged by last January’s cold. There is a lot of variation by cultivar.

Xarel•lo, for instance, was really hammered. It basically flunked The Cold Hardiness Test. Teroldego and Malbec, right next to it, did alright. All three actually produced good yields this year, but the structure of the Xarel•lo is a mess that needs rebuilding. It will take a couple of years. (I’m having a glass of Wiggly X as I make dinner and write this.)

Pruning is very mindful and also leaves a lot of time for the mind to wander. When it’s a mess like the Xarel•lo, it takes full attention. Today, the Malbec let me have time to observe our new dog starting to play with the others and time to watch a Northern Harrier without having to stop pruning. Most vines only needed a glance to plot the strategy; a few require a bit of metaphorical head-scratching.

For an experienced vine tender, pruning a well-managed vineyard without cold damage is like being on autopilot.

With the very mild winter (so far!), I expect crop levels to be in the normal range. Now, I need to find homes for all those berries! This is tough during a World wine surplus. Yes, we sell to home winemakers!

The winter annuals, primarily grasses and mustards, are up, and like the foggy and drizzly days, they seem to like the sunny ones better. I now can tell the Bulbous Bluegrass clumps from the others. I’m trying to get it to cover more ground. Most of the winter grasses are Cheatgrass and Hare Barley. They have seeds that stick in socks and the dog hairs between dog toes; livestock don’t eat them once the seed matures unless they are desperate. The bluegrass has little round seeds that aren’t annoying. I’m pleased to see my seed dispersal seems to be effective.

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