The late winter frost gave way to more of the much needed rain until the weather finally broke this week to warmer temperatures and sunny skies right after the spring equinox.  The long dormant vines in Clos du Lac vineyard Block D chose this week to awaken from their long slumber and the buds burst into into new life, new green shoots and the tiniest of leaves.

Typically it’s the younger, homeowner AMA vines that are first to awaken, but this year it was the more moderately aged Cabernet Franc vines in the pond side vineyard block D.  This probably has to do with when those vines were pruned.  Block D was one of the first vineyards pruned and that combined with the change in weather resulted in them staring first.

Now it becomes more important than ever to get the deer off of our properly.  Hungry deer can do a tremendous amount of damage to the young and tender shoots before they establish themselves.  A major deer drive to evict them from the property is in order.  Unfortunately this is a fairly challenging endeavor given the amount of natural wild space cover they have on the back party of the property.  An organized event is necessary and the cooperation of homeowners on the larger parcels.

The worry also begins regarding the weather.  A heavy rain storm or hail storm can also damage the young shoots.

Still, this is one of my favorite times of the year in the vineyard, when you see new life stirring and the sticklike vines begin to grow.

This is a good time to consider the life-cycle of the wine grape vine.  Checkout the Vineyard 101 series I’ve started here: Vineyard 101.