At this time of year we are totally preoccupied with the vineyards.  To mention one worry, did our magnesium spraying this year add sufficient magnesium to our vineyard soil?  The new little vineyard leaved pointing toward the sky are such a cheerful green that we believe all is well, but this weeks petiole sample results will tell the story.  The true measure of whether the plants are getting the right nutrients form the sopil comes from sampling the tips of the new leaves (petiole sampling) making laboratory quantitative measurement of each element present.

Also, as of this writing we are waiting for the vines to bloom which starts the timing for all this year’s grape production.  The bloom (or flowering) usually occurs in early June but the two best years for wine in recent history, 1997 and 2001, the bloom occurred in late May, earlier than normal.

Today (June 9^th) it is raining outside, a freak rain unusually late in the season and occurring exactly during “bloom”. The rain although gentle is knocking off grape blossoms.  Each lost blossom means one fewer grape for this year’s harvest.  The life of a farmer…totally subject to the elements.