Not only are the grapevines leafing and flowering nicely, but also the development of the vineyard itself - the trellises and supports for the vines - is progressing at a rapid pace and we are preparing to construct the overhead pergolas.
Alex has been busy. He's planting poles next to the baby vines to train them upwards until they can stand erect on their own. He had a special device made to help him pound the poles into the ground more safely. Using a sledgehammer at the height required for 8 foot high poles was downright dangerous. So he had a pole driver made by a local craftsman and it works brilliantly.
Alex has also dug deep holes where 8-foot long telephone poles will be sunk around the original 10 vines which will support the overhead pergolas in the style of Spanish vineyards. This is year 5 for the original 10 vines and we have high hopes. They are flowering profusely. Good first step. I hope we have pruned them sufficiently this year to yield a nice first crop.
Alex has also moved the electric fence to the outer perimeter and installed a gate to enable a tractor to enter the vineyard and mow between the rows while the vines are still young. We have five years to go on most of them. but, in the interim, we have to give them a good chance and keep it neat. Of course, we don't have a tractor - yet! Every farm should have a tractor, right?
I've walked the entire vineyard and checked all the plants. All are alive, two of the new Albariño plants look iffy and had poor roots to begin with. We may have to replace those. One of the original Rondo plants is also not keeping pace with the others. All the Solaris are thriving. The Chardonnays are looking good, as are the Pinot noir. The Albariño vines are slower than the others to unfurl their leaves, probably because they were the last to be planted and had less time in the soil and less exposure to the rains before the weather turned. It's been quite cold and rather dry for several weeks now, with uncharacteristic northerlies prevailing.
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| Itzy the vineyard cat. |
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| Five-year-old vine primary stem or shoot |
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| Chardonnay newly planted in 2019 |
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| Newly planted Pinot noir in 2019 |
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| Newly planted Albariño for 2019 |
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| Lovely 2-year-old Chardonnay |
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| Two-year-old Solaris vines need weeding |
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