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deVine Blog |
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Click on a date or scroll down to view
previous entries.
February 19, 2006
February
26, 2006
March 13, 2006
March 21, 2006
April 1, 2006
April 21, 2006
May 4, 2006
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May 4, 2006 |
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"Somebody's gonna come undone,
there's nothing we can do." Heartache Tonight", The Eagles.
The wine grapes seem to have survived the morning of April 26,
but
there are over 10,000 acres of juice grapes in the area that
look like
toast. It was below 30 degrees by midnight that night and was
25 by
around 6 a.m. That's the danger of an early spring. One night,
a few
hours, and the whole crop may be gone. By noon the sun is
shining
as if nothing happened. There are a couple cold nights
predicted this weekend that we will have to watch out for. The
wine grapes that were
packed tight in their buds on the 26th are now popping out and
exposing themselves to whatever the night has to offer. The
first
picture shows the grapes by the winery that were unharmed, the
second shows some of the juice grapes that are wilting,
turning brown, and dropping off. Control the things you
can, don't worry about things you can't. It's all good.
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April
21, 2006 |
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What a great time of the year. My Godfather, Eddie B. used to
always
say, "We are all rich in blossom time!" I always loved that
saying.
Like Cub fans, we are all perennial optimists. A week straight
of warm
weather and we're off to the races. Cherries are in full bloom
along with
peaches. The neighbors are picking asparagus and everything is
an
incredible color of green. We're a little ahead of schedule
weather
wise, but I don't get to do the scheduling anyway, so what the
hey?
Grapes are popping buds and showing green tissue which means
there's no turning back now. We need to go three more weeks
without
major frost before we are beyond the typical last frost date
in our
little corner of Eden. No problemo! Now everything needs to be
done
at once. Half the tractors are in the field and the other half
are being
repaired somewhere at various shops in the county. We are
nothing if
not good for the economy. Trail event this weekend when we
host
three or four hundred fun travelers. After that we look
forward to a wine and music at sunset event at Weko beach in
Bridgman in June. To
quote the prophets, (The Grateful Dead), "I may be goin' to
hell in a
bucket, but at least I'm enjoying the ride!"
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April
1, 2006 |
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Are those nuclear power plants in
the distance, or are you just happy
to see me? Perhaps a new Pope has been elected in South Haven.
Ah, life near the lake. How times have changed. What was once
a symbol of mass destruction is just another day on the beach,
and the view off our back deck overlooking the cherry orchards
and out to Lake Michigan. What were once vices are now
habits. That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger, or makes
us glow, whichever. I believe this particular nuclear plant is
still for sale, by the way, if you know of anyone who is
interested. We've thought of making a bid on it. Probably
great lake front property, already a gated community, heated
pool, and you know the electric bill would be like nothing.
What does this have to do with winemaking? It's all related.
Perhaps it's a symbol that the cold war in Michigan is over
for another year. "Mr. Gorbachav, trim those grapes." Perhaps
it symbolizes the enormity and minutiae of our existence when
measured against the nuclear finality of time.....nah.
It was just the only picture I took this week.
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March 21, 2006 |
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"Well, you have to start trimming sometime. It was nice having
no payroll while it lasted. The first picture is from the
juice grapes, Niagaras, that will ultimately go for Welch's
white grape juice. It's a jungle out there. A very cold
jungle, but a jungle none the less.
Each vine has to be tended to one at a time, and it takes
time.
Between the juice and wine grapes there are over 100,000 vines
to take care of here. We have excellent workers who know
exactly what to do.
They have pruned all over this corner of Michigan, where there
are more than 11,000 acres of grapes to keep them busy. The
wine grapes, in the second photo, are saved for last. They are
much more winter tender and you wait as long as you can before
the end of dormancy to prune and bend them down to the
fruiting wire around knee level. At this point the wood looks
great, a nice tan to reddish color. Yesterday was the first
official day of spring and we are in a March funk, barely
above freezing for the daytime highs. Lousy for people, good
for the grapes.
Nature is such a tease...
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March
13, 2006 |
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March is the month we will see all
seasons. We've had a few days of
beautiful weather in the upper 50's to 60's. One morning we
woke to a
foggy frost that covered everything. At this stage in the
vines'
development we can just enjoy the beauty of the ice on the
vines. A
few weeks from now, this would be disaster. What a difference
a little time will make. Time to start trimming. Time to get
the tractors started. Time to start getting serious. At least
until it turns cold again later this week. Maybe after St.
Patrick's Day!
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February
26, 2006 |
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"Last week of
February. What a nice week. We spent a night at a great B&B in
Union Pier, Pine Garth Inn, celebrating our friend's birthday.
It is great to
lounge and pretend we are tourists in our own back yard.
Our rooms looked out at a cold Lake Michigan, with ice forming
at the beach. We sat by the fire enjoying our wine before
venturing to New Buffalo for a nice meal at Brewsters. We were
away for 24 hours and it seemed to take us far, far, away. New
Buffalo is now virtually a Chicago suburb and it is exciting
to see the changes happening along the Lake Michigan Shore. We
were in St. Joe last night for a fundraiser at the Krasl Art
Center where we shot the photo of the pier.
Both the sky and lake are a beautiful, but very cold, blue.
They seem to know that warmer days are coming soon. So do the
vines. The pinot vines outside the winery door are waiting to
be trimmed. We will wait a few more weeks as we get into March
to get us as close to the break of dormancy as possible. March
is the month when we will see all four seasons, sometimes in
the same day! There are wines to be bottled, vines to be
trimmed, tractors to get started. But not today. It's too
cold. To everything there is a season. This ain't it yet!"
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February
19, 2006 |
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"Here we go. It's the 19th of February and about 10 degrees
outside. We lucked out last night. It only got down to
around 5 degrees, not the minus five or less that was predicted.
Those kind of lows could be devastating to the Pinot Noir and
Merlot vines in particular. The dirt is plowed up around the
vine in the fall so that if we do have a killer winter we at
least save the bottom eight inches or so of the plant and can
start over without losing the entire vineyard. We won't trim any
vines for another month or so, until we know the worst of the
cold weather is behind us. If the temps remain moderate the rest
of the way we will have cleared the first hurdle in growing
vinifera varieties in Michigan...winter. Ahead will be the
second hurdle...spring! The tasting room is now open Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, so Sue and I have to get back into the
swing of things and make any quick trips happen Monday through
Thursday. You can already tell, 2006 is going to be a busy
year."
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Karma Vista Vineyards & Winery
6991 Ryno Road
Coloma, MI 49038
Hours
Open: 11 - 5 Monday - Saturday, 12 - 5 Sunday
Closed: Tuesday
Phone: 1-269-468-WINE (9463)
Email:
[email protected] |
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Copyright � Karma
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Last Edited:
05/04/06
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