October at Birdland Vineyards - Harvest Time!

By guest blogger John

It's harvest time - finally!!

The grapes were ripening nicely to start the month but then we had heavy rain on October 3rd. This was followed with breezy sunshine so the grapes dried out quite well and we breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a tricky year with late spring sunshine and now we needed to see the sugar levels increase.

There was another blow on October 10th with a day of rain followed by damp humid weather for a few days which is not good as these are perfect conditions for bunch rot to develop. Bunch rot causes the grapes to lose their elasticity and fall from the bunch leaving a sticky mess. It's not dangerous to us and in fact the French infect some white grapes with it when they produce sauternes as it creates a very sweet wine. It's not, however, good for Merlot!

Everything looked OK for about 10 days and then I noticed that we had bunch rot in some clusters, and we knew this spreads very fast. The guy from the winery arrived to inspect the vineyard on Friday Oct. 21st and said lets harvest as soon as possible. Our vineyard manager said he could do it the next day on Sat., so with only a few hours notice and no chance to enlist the help of friends and family (apart from Dennis who helped all morning) to pull leaves from the bins, Ruth and I spent all day yesterday bending over the bins pulling out leaves and damaged fruit, while trying not to fall off the moving tractor.

In the end, after about 8 hours of work, the pickers had finished and we took 42 half ton bins to the winery to be crushed.

 

It was a satisfying but exhausting day and we still have aches and pains today.

So that's the end of any real activity in the vineyard for some time. The leaves will turn yellow and red and then drop off but no more work until pruning next spring.

Birdland Vineyards in September

It's early September and thankfully the Merlot grapes have changed color and are now a beautiful purple. The change in color of the grape berries is called "Veraison" and this is the transition time between berry growth to berry ripening.

The pundits are predicting a fairly late harvest this year but it seems that the grapes catch up and it will probably be at a similar time to 2010 when we picked on October 19th. The completed color change in 2008 was around Aug. 17th and in 2009 it was Aug. 31st but in both these years the harvest was towards the end of October.

We did, however, go round this week and remove any small bunches of grapes that were still green, as this green drop means that the sugar levels will be consistent rather than have some that are behind the others.

You can see a photo of our Godello grapes here.  They don't change to purple, being a white varietal, but go from green to a slightly golden color. As I've mentioned before we don't have much of a crop of them so just hope we have enough to make a little wine.

As harvest will be next month, I'll see you then, with lots of action packed photos!

Fun Day!

We had a fun day today with my family at Birdland. This morning we labeled our very own 2009 Birdland Merlot wine, in poppy red labels.

There were  a few challenges half way through when the labels started creasing, but we solved and got them all done and back in the cellar!

Then this afternoon we all tried blending wine.  We started with white wines, then some reds and finally different juices!

The whites we blended together were: Fume Blanc, Moscato Blanc, Chardonnay, and Albarino
The reds we blended together were: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Zinfandel
The juices we blended together were: Blood orange, Strawberry, Pomegranate, and Watermelon

We found out that those who were good at blending white wine, weren't so good at blending reds and vice versa! 

It was fun and I'll post photos soon when I get them from Finny (my brother in law) who took the most!

In the Vineyard - July

By guest blogger John

After all the rain in May and then some in June we have now, since mid June, had sunshine every day and some quite warm weather. This has produced quite exceptional growth in the vines and even at this early stage we will have to start cutting back some of the canes to let more light into the vines and to make it easier to get around amongst them.

Lots of growth in the vines. You can see them stretching across the rows

The grapes are are fairly small as yet but some good sized bunches can be seen in the photo below. They will continue to swell and in August should start to change color in the Merlot vines. We always note the date that occurs and last year it was August 20th before even 20% had changed.

Large bunches of grapes

The re-graft of the Godello is a bit disappointing and of the grafts that survived last winter only a small number have produced any fruit. Hopefully we will get enough to make some wine and as the season progresses I'll get a better idea of how much we might get.

Great Blue Heron next to x-large flowers!

We often get Great Blue herons in the vineyard and perhaps you can guess the large flowers next to him in the photo above.

Finally some sunshine in the Vineyard

BY GUEST BLOGGER JOHN (Ruth's husband!)

After a rather miserable April and May with cool temperatures and rain, we finally got some sunshine on June 6th.  Now, some 3 weeks later, we have been blessed with sunny skies and a few quite hot days. This has produced fast growth in the vines with the established Merlot up over 6' high and even the Godello now at around 5'.

Merlot vines now over 6" high

We re-grafted some of the Godello as the original grafting produced poor results. The re-grafts were done in May and we are now hoping for much better success. Many of the more established Godello seem to have very little fruit which is disappointing. A farmers life, as I'm sure you must have heard by now,  is not an easy one!!

Latest re-graft of Godello showing a green shoot on the right hand side, in the binding

The very cool and wet spring has given rise to predictions of a late harvest with a low yield but we remain optimistic that this year will give us plenty of grapes.

Godello vines showing vigorous growth

Right now we haven't got a buyer for the Merlot grapes but do have a few ideas so that we can sell them once again and, with luck, at a decent price. The Godello is part of a joint venture with 2 well known winemakers and it will be at least another year before we see how that works out.

The vines have been dusted with sulfur to prevent mildew and next month should see more growth.

Spring is here in the Vineyard

By guest blogger John

Happy Easter!

It's mid April and spring has, with a doubt -  sprung. 

The willow tree has new leaves and the pond is being enjoyed by a mallard duck who is sitting on the aerator/fountain just before it starts so I hope he doesn't get startled when it does, although he has done this many times before.


The vineyard is also showing signs of life with fresh young leaves appearing on the vines.

Following on from my report last month I can now show you the difference between cane pruning for the  Godello vines where on each vine 3 canes grow up and are secured to the wires, and cordon pruning, for the Merlot vines where there are shoots coming up off one long branch of the vine.

Godello cane pruning

Merlot cordon pruning

The Godello is a little ahead of the Merlot which is normal for white varieties which tend to be harvested several weeks before most reds. One exception is Pinot Noir which is harvested fairly early but as you know that makes a much lighter wine than Merlot.

Now is the start of work in the vineyard and already we have mowed between the vines to allow for better air circulation in case of late season frosts which can damage the tender young shoots.
Soon it will be dusting with sulfur to prevent mildew and then there is general monitoring of the vineyard.

We had lots of rain in March and early April so the ground will be wet enough to avoid any irrigation for some time.

Until next month.....

Birdland Vineyards in February

By guest blogger John

Editor's note:  I've convinced my hubby to be an occasional guest blogger to tell you about what is happening in the vineyard each month!  Welcome Johnnie ;-D  Now you'll know about Birdland Vineyards as well as Birdland Creations!

Winter time, well really the time after harvest and before pruning is the quietest time of the year for grape growers as the vines are dormant and there is very little to do, particularly in northern california as this is also the rainy season. The vines can survive frost and wet and even the gophers seem to be quiet, perhaps as their holes and tunnels get full of water when it rains hard.

New grafted Godello vines in May 2010

Last year we decided to do an experiment with 2 winemakers by grafting to our rootstock a Spanish white grape varietal called Godello. We tried it out with about 300 vines and although we know that there were a few that didn't take the big test will come after we prune when we find out which of the canes from last year produce buds. Hopefully we shall get a good percentage that survived and with luck produce enough grapes for us to make some wine to try out.

Godello grafted vines February 2011

If it all works well we may graft more vines or even plant a larger portion of the vineyard as this variety is so far not produced anywhere in the USA.

Harvest approaches

We are expecting to harvest our Merlot grapes in a week's time.  It's always a little worrying in the run up, as we don't really want any rain or blazing hot sunshine..... and are heavily reliant, as ever, on  Mother Nature.

So all this grape checking etc encouraged me to revamp a bunch of grapes necklace that I made a while go, adding color anodized aluminum to show through the cut out area.

The necklace originally was a bunch of grapes just with the cut outs and I sold a couple of them - but now the greenness of the grapes shines through and I prefer it.

And yes, Merlot grapes are red grapes not green grapes so maybe I should have done red - but I do so love the color lime green!!!

Bud over in the vineyard

It's been busy in the vineyard this week, with mowing, suckering and "bud over" of a few vines.  "Bud over" doesn't mean you've had some friends round for the day - rather we are changing some of the vines from Merlot to a Spanish white varietal.

This involves using the current root stock from the merlot, cutting off the top and then splicing in a bud from the new varietal.

It's an interesting and precise technique so thought I'd share some photos so you can see what it involves.

Here's what the vines started out looking like:

Next, using a chain saw

the horizontal parts of the vine are cut off - the cordons.

The outer part of the bark at the top of the trunk is then stripped off exposing the old bud sites:

Where there were previously buds,  the bud is removed and an incision made at that point

Next, the new bud wood is prepared.  The bud wood just looks like little sticks:

One little bud is cut off from the bud wood:
 

And this is then inserted into the incision area on the trunk:

This process is  then repeated on the other side of the trunk so each original trunk has two new buds.  If you just use one, it grows too fast and isn't very strong.  By adding two, not only do you get two chances of them taking, but it slows the growth so they are stronger.

Next the top of the trunk is wrapped up, so that the buds are held in place with just the very tip of the bud showing through:

And now we wait and see!  We have to make sure all suckers (leaves growing on the base of the trunk) are pulled off regularly from these vines now - as they would want to product merlot and instead let the plant use it's energy for the new white varietal.

We decided to "bud over" because a couple of wine makers approached us and asked if we'd experiment with them on this new-for-California white varietal.  We are only doing about a tenth of the vineyard to see if it works and if the terroir is good for this varietal or not.  If it works out, we'll do a little more but still have Merlot as our main grape varietal.

I'll let you know how it goes. Hope the piccies gave you some idea of the process.

Go buds!

Bud break in the vineyard

Bud break has just started in our vineyard.  This is the time when you first see the tiny little leaves unfurl.  It starts at the top of the slope of the vineyard and only the very top row is showing those little unfurlings.

It'll be a few weeks before the rest of the vineyard catches up - especially the vines on the flat ground, but it's a lovely  time to see all that regrowth.  We've just had what look like dead sticks since November - and now, signs of new life!

We also had other "signs of life" spottings today in the vineyard.  John was on a conference call - but while he was paying attention to the call (!!!!!) he spotted what he thought was a mountain lion just outside the vineyard.  So I got the binoculars out and had a look and it was in fact a bobcat.  It looked pretty big though - but with the obvious markings on it's body, black tipped ears and a short tail. 

It looked like it was taking a leisurely stroll......Every few minutes, it would sit down and take a rest....which meant that we could watch it for over half an hour while it walked just a short distance.

A little later, we drove out to a meeting and I jokingly said to John "watch out for the bobcat so we don't run it over" and 2 seconds later, there it was on the lane.  To begin with we both thought it was a different bobcat - as it looked so small!!!

The one above the vineyard had looked like this biiiiiiiiig cat - but we then had to face it that in reality, it was just a cute little cat!  We stopped the car -and of course, I got out to have a closer look.  It stood watching me for a while - really quite close so we got to see it so well.  Then it ambled off over the creek.  Unfortunately I'd only had my camera with me when it was outside the vineyard and not on the lane so the photos aren't that clear!

So a good vineyard day today!

What new signs of life have you seen today?

Sunday's spotlight - "LINCOLN'S BIRDLAND (with apologies to Ruth and John's "Birdland")"

By guest blogger Pete.

I thought that this Sunday I'd introduce you to some of our garden visitors at Birdland, Lincoln. I don't have photos of many of them but I'll include the ones I took, during our recent cold spell, with this blog.

One of our favourites - and a regular daily visitor - is LEFTY. Now Lefty is a very handsome dove. He's not the only dove we see but we can recognise him quite easily because some year or so ago he broke a leg (his left one, incidentally!). He keeps going despite this handicap and flies just as well as his companions although he is no where near as mobile as they are when on the ground.

We have lots of blackbirds come to our garden and they really entertain us. They all seem to be acrobats - even though we do see the odd stumble now and again. They absolutely love apples. We attach the apples to one of the trees in the garden and there their acrobatic expertise is soon seen. If eating two apples a day will keep the sparrow hawk away then they can do that in a morning!


Our favourite blackie was a character we called MERLOT. For some reason, Merlot had some white feathers on his head and so was easy to identify. It's months now since we last saw him so we don't know if he's gone to that great apple tree in the sky or just shed his few white feathers.


The blackbirds are real characters. There's another we call BILLY ELLIOTT. We name him after the lead in the film of the same name where Billy was a male teenager interested in becoming a ballet dancer. Our Billy lands on the roof of our conservatory and then with a series of "thump, thump, thumps" hops across the roof to the edge and from there down onto the feeding shelf. With the frost and ice we have been having lately he's found it rather difficult to land and so we have been getting a "sluuuuuuuuuuush" as he slides to a halt rather than the accustomed "thump, thump, thump.".


MRS BULLY is probably the silliest backbird visitor we get. Whenever we put food out in the morning she is soon there and stands guard over it to keep the other blackbirds away. She doesn't attempt to deter the other birds - only the blackbirds. Nor does she ever think of eating any of the food we put out for the birds. The other blackbirds have got her summed up, though. One or two of them will make a diversionary flight in to draw her away from the shelf. Once that is achieved other blackies will swoop down for a quick bite or two before Mrs Bully returns to send them on their way. Yes! You've guessed it. Whilst she is busy seeing off the ones who have started their breakfast down come the others for a quick snack. So it goes on.

We also have a bully pigeon, who is definitely number one amongst his fellow pigeons. We call him HOOVER. Now, as you probably know, a Hoover is a vacuum cleaner and that is Hoover's approach to peanuts. He starts at one end of the shelf and in record time he cleans up every peanut in sight.

There are many other varieties of birds who come to visit us. It took us some time to attract the goldfinches. We used thistle seed to do this and eventually succeeded. When Ruth was here last week she didn't believe they were gold finches and it took the authority of a "British Birds" book to persuade her otherwise. It appears that the U.S. variety of gold finch is all yellow and looks more like a canary than anything else. The U.K. variety is much more attractive - even though I may be just that little bit biased.


Watch the birds. They really are worth watching and they will keep you amused as well.