It's Not Broken

Posted 03/21/2008 at 03:39 AM by Dirk

"Bud Break" What's that? Usually when something "breaks", it is a bad thing. In the case of buds in Napa Valley, it means only one thing; Spring is here. It means that pruning better be about done, and the frost systems better be working. (Sometimes we don't prune until we see growth because late pruning delays the real growth by a week or two (or it means we are behind and it gives us more time to fix the frost protection systems.)

Bud Break in the Martin Stelling Vineyard

We are spoiled by our weather and are thankful for it. (Remember, we know that we are here because of the soils and weather. The great restaurants are just a perk.)  We have trees and flowers in bloom everywhere in the valley. Even some of the Azaleas at Far Niente are warming up for their spring show. In contrast, my son, home for spring break, left behind about two feet of snow in upstate New York.  Another son visited a fantastic college in the south where he wondered if the trees were dead... (nope, just dormant.)

Bud break is not a dramatic moment in the way Jack's bean stock blasted out of the ground in the TV cartoon of my youth. However, we discuss bud break as if it were the defining moment leading us to another memorable vintage.

Tender growth like this may require frost protection during this time of year.

Bud break arrives in stages. We notice the buds start to swell and pruning wounds start to weep a little. We eventually see a little green start to appear. It doesn't show everywhere. Shortly after that, the shoot is pushing and soon after, the tiny clusters can be seen.

A cold rain or bit of cool weather can stop bud break in its tracks. Vines don't grow "on schedule" – think of the airlines where the schedule is more of an approximation – you know where you are going – you just aren't quite sure when you will get there. i.e. Predicting vine growth at this early stage can be almost as frustrating as traveling with Jet Blue during a New York snow storm. On the other hand, unusually warm clear weather can heat up soil temperatures faster than normal and can lead to growth that is so fast that even a day's growth is easily noticed. It is exciting, for those of us into vineyards, when the buds push. Once they get going, a shoot can add more than an inch in a day.

Even though we are seeing growth and having to turn on the frost protection on cold nights, (the fans sound like low flying planes that change their pitch just enough to effectively remove any chance of going back to sleep), we won't know if 2008 will try us with an early or late harvest until we have made it through bloom. Bloom won't happen for a couple of months. That will give us plenty of time to worry about the weather during bloom (before we become completely obsessive compulsive weather watchers for harvest).

 

E-Mail | Digg this! | del.icio.us
Dirty Talk on Wine RSS | Comments RSS for this post

 

Dirty Talk on Wine RSS