Raven's Call

Raven's Call
Haida Raven

Friday, July 1, 2011

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!