Post harvest activities

Well, harvest is done, the grapes have been pressed and the juice recently inoculated with yeast! The winemakers job has begun, but the viticulturists job continues!

I got out into the vineyard today to flush the irrigation system to ensure that the lines would be free of debris that could potentially clog the emitters. Once this is done, the vines got a nice six hour drink, at 1.2 litres per hour. This should be enough to wet the soil under the emitters to a good depth, and get water to the roots. The vines will now have access to plenty of water that should allow them to photosynthesise and store nutrients needed for next season's growth. Many leaves have yellowed by this point, but there are still lots of green leaves that can do useful work.

This is the first irrigation of the season, so in some ways, it is pretty unusual to have this happening after harvest!!

As well, I mowed the vineyard, which keeps walking down the rows pleasant, especially if you're doing it early in the morning or after a bit of rain.

If we're lucky, there will be another month and a half of useful photosynthesis going on. As temperatures fall in the late part of the season, the vines take this as a signal to get ready for winter, drop their leaves, and harden off the shoots. They become a lot less green and the shoots develop a brown periderm, which protects them from low temperatures and otherwise harsh conditions. Once the leaves have fallen off, we will call the shoots canes instead!