Spring 2011 Vineyard Update

Madeleine Angvevine

Spring!? It's July already. Argh. Lots of water under the bridge, so to speak. Time for a quick update on the vineyard.
First, I wanted to try some different vinifera varieties here at Raven's Call (in Puyallup, WA) so purchased a bunch of grafted plants from Cloud Mountain Nursery, Everson WA. They had also just pruned their wine grape test blocks and let me pick up Siegerrebe prunings, as I needed to replace some of my plantings that did not survive. I also grabbed a Gruner Veltliner cutting as it was readily available.
In addition, we took a spring trip up Whidbey Island and stopped at Whidbey Island Winery, where they were nice enough to give me cuttings for Madeleine Sylvaner, a white they use to blend with other whites (like Muller-Thurgau).
Later this spring a vintner friend visting a wine grape nursery in OR bought for me 5 other grafted plants that I didn't have yet.
With these new grafted plants, and the cuttings I (have now) rooted, my current tally is... 34 different "treatments" - where a treatment is any different combination of varietal and rootstock. Here is the roster:

Even though our weather here has been lousy, I am still always impressed with the new growth in the vineyard. As a sort of time-lapse, here are some select photos of the last few weeks (months?) at RCV. (Remember you can click any photo for a much higher resolution version.)

14-May-11 Buds just starting to swell.

14-May-11 Swelling buds.

24-May-11 Nice new growth. Fruits are becoming visible.

06-Jun-11 North Block

06-Jun-11 Madeleine Angevine fruits.

06-Jun-11 South block. Pinot noir on the left and Pinot blanc on the right. Finally getting settled in.

12-Jun-11 Nice progress.

12-Jun-11 Mad Ang

19-Jun-11 Mad Ang

01-Jul-11 Northern block this morning.

01-Jul-11 Mad Ang are very vigorous. Lots of fruit this year.

01-Jul-11 Mad Ang rows.

01-Jul-11 Pinot noir and Pinot blanc. Looking much better this year.

Well, just wanted to share some photos and update the status. Enjoy!