Suckering Time

Note - this post was originally published 04.09.2014.

Spring has sprung and so have our schedules.  We're finding ourselves busier and busier which is exciting.  The Russian River Valley grapes are a little ahead of the Napa Valley vines in growth.  We started suckering this week and getting excited about this vintage of grapes.  Can you see the little clusters to-be in this photo?

Out here suckers are what we call the new growth.  And the vine sends out shouts all over, not just the places we've prepared for during pruning.  So, suckering is when we remove the extra shoots.  Less shoots leaves more resources (nutrients, water, etc) for the grapes to-be and gives us higher quality fruit.

All this lovely green after the last couple of winter/rain.  Here's a photo... making wine in the rain and hail last week: