Old Vines

This is a fairly quiet time in wine country.The vines are leafless and dormant, defined mainly by their overhead irrigation systems, along which the new shoots will grow. The pruners are at work or have already finished in many vineyards. It's hard to imagine how they will ever finish the vast acres of vines, but every year it happens. Perhaps the taco truck parked across the road provides a little extra incentive.

Today's blip is a venerable vineyard filled with old vines which haven't been pruned yet. They will be head pruned and have no need of supports, They have probably been standing in the mustard at their feet for over a hundred years. In the fall we noticed that their leaves were a striking deep burgundy color in comparison to those of the younger vines around them. In the spring the new green leaves will appear, the yellow mustard will bloom, and the cycle will begin again.

Behind the scenes are the vineyard managers and the winemakers, deciding when to prune and when to pick the fruit. There are worries about root rot and fungus and pests, weather and the environment. Many wineries are putting up solar panels, and there are stories in the paper about these being stolen under cover of night. Lots of wineries are limiting or eliminating their use of pesticides, and others have acres of vegetable gardens and fruit trees.

If there is hot weather when the fruit is maturing, the fruit will turn to raisins, and the harvest goes on nonstop until it is safely picked. If there is frost while the vines are fruiting, measures must be taken to prevent the fruit from freezing. Most large wineries use portable windmills to stir the air at night. The smaller ones still use smudge pots. In either case, nobody gets much sleep at night as they watch the thermometer drop.

There are as many kinds of vinery buildings as there are wineries. Some vie with one another for the grandest architecture--Italian villas and French chateaux, but our favorites are the ones with modest, businesslike buildings with hardworking, unpretentious people. They seem to make the best wine too.