Vineyard Life

We are having a fantastic time here at the vineyard. This is a small operation and they do not make any wines themselves, but rather sell the grapes to a larger vineyard down the road. The grapes grown are Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Riesling. We hear that Otago Pinot Noir is the best and hope to bring some home for Christmas if possible (both Vicky and Aunt Vicky enjoy Pinot Noir very much)! There is not a ton of work to be done but our wonderful hosts; Glenda and Russell are doing their best to keep us busy!

Through the week we worked moving wiring down so that the recently pruned vines can grow through and did some “layering.” Layering entails using the long tendrils of some of the vines to start new vines. We trim off most of the lower buds, dig a hole to place the bend (we bend this tendril in a U shape), and place a rock on top to keep it down. Then we fill in the hole, place a plastic protector around the base, and tie the top to the closest wire so that hopefully this plant will take and be clipped from its parent at a later time, creating a new vine. It is interesting work!

We experienced some of the region’s famed crazy weather as well. On Tuesday, it was so warm and sunny that we were quite hot when climbing. Then on Wednesday, it snowed! Below are some pictures of the vineyard when it was snowing and then the next morning with fresh snow on the distant mountains. These are ski mountains and look much more so now!


Finally, the sunset on Friday...