Ever wonder how a vineyard gets its start?

There are so many great things about spring time; sunny weather, Bbq’s, days at the beach and planting fresh vegetables to be enjoyed all summer long. With spring the opportunity also comes to plant a new vineyard. Starting a vineyard from scratch takes not only a lot of advanced planning but time, and of course a little financial investment. I went out in the vineyard with my dad and grandfather so he could take me through some of the meticulous steps.

This specific block that we are re-planting is about 2.0 acres. The first vineyard planted here was in 1964. We pulled those vines out in 1980 because they were starting to show their age and dropping in production. We then planted it for a second time but the vines developed phylloxera and started to die off suddenly. Two years ago we decided to start with a clean slate and pulled out all the existing vines. Hopefully the third time is a charm.

 So far we have prepared the ground, laid out our drip irrigation system and put in our stakes. We use vine spacing that is 11 x 6, which means that the rows are 11 feet wide and the space between each vine is 6 feet. The larger area used for planting a single vine enables that vine to have more room to grow and extract water from a bigger region, cutting down on the amount of water used to irrigate.  With this spacing we have estimated about 660 vines per acre with the total planting being around 1,480 individual vines. We use many different types of rootstock on the ranch but for this particular block  we are using the St. George rootstock.  I like St. George because it is a tough and hardy rootstock that is disease resistant. It is critical to start out with a strong rootstock to ensure a healthy vine in the long run. We purchased the rootstock from a nursery in Winters and have been keeping it packed in sawdust, moist and cool until we plant it. It is very important that once the rootstock leaves the nursery that the roots are kept moist or the vines will die before they are even planted. To prepare for the planting we take each individual rootstock, (that’s 1,480!) trim the top and the sides. The trimming of the sides will help to reduce the possibility of suckers growing next year. Newly planted rootstocks have a tendency to want to grow in several different places where they are not budded. This makes for more clean up work and labor after the vines begin to grow.

We dig a hole about 18 inches deep and plant the rootstock, its as simple as that. At this point because they are fairly sensitive we usually cover them with a milk carton to protect them from direct sunlight and extremely cold conditions. Now it’s a waiting game. We will wait until Fall when the wood on the rootstock hardens and then bud the rootstock with budwood from our own vineyard. Ever wonder how vineyards get expanded with the same type of grapes? We will take the budwood from an existing vineyard, mostly likely the Wente clone and bud it on to our newly planted rootstock. A fall budding will enable us to transplant the bud directly from the existing vineyard to our new rootstock, ensuring a higher level of success. We will do occasional updates of this vineyard and its various stages so check back soon! 

~ John Bacigalupi