WLW Blog
This Buds for you WLW!
And no I'm not talking about the so-called King of Beers. After one short winemaking lesson with our winemaker, Dean Sylvester, I learned more about the wine making process than I could by taking a class at Davis. I'm exaggerating a tad here, but my pen and notepad could barely keep up. And by the way, we have the best winemaker in the whole Napa Valley hands down!
The vines are starting to grow. I am told this is called bud break. The agriculture and farming aspect of the biz is very interesting to me. The vines are just beginning to grow and its fascinating how they look more like mothballs than anything reminiscent of a grape right now. They will continue to grow until around the 1st of May and by April the vines will be about 2 feet long. Dean says that that we are heading into the potential frost time of the year. If the temperatures drop to 28°F- 30°F the vines are at risk.
There are a few different ways to prevent frost. One way is to plant the vines on the side of a hill, another way is to use overhead sprinklers. I thought this was extremely odd but evidently the ice, that forms on the little buds from the sprinklers, act as an insulator and protect the vines. A different way to prevent frost is to use Wind Fan Machines. The fans circulate the air and keep frost from developing. And apparently turning on the wind fans at 3am or whenever the frost alarm sounds is part of my job description. Who knew that a Marketing Assistant would be responsible for circulating the air with the Wind Fan Machines? My boss said it's easy since I already blow a lot of hot air around here. Thanks Mike. :-) Hey it sounds like a learning experience to me so if you see a little bundled up figure moseying around the vineyards, yelling at a giant fan, don't be alarmed it's just little old me taking care of my buds.
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Posted by WLW on March 21, 2008 9:44 AM | Permalink
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