Planting a New Vineyard

Yesterday, we began planting Vignoles. This new acre is located along the driveway as you enter the winery. There were five of us in the field dealing with gusty winds and more rocks than you could ever beleive! This has to be the rockiest section of our land. Can you imagine digging 350 holes by hand and hitting rock each time? Our crew was great - they just kept digging and planting. I heard rumor we will be picking up all the exposed rocks at a later date. I think there will be enough rock to build a heck of a wall somewhere!! By end of day, each vine was watered and a grow tube was placed over it. The vines are dormant now and the grow tubes act as a hot house. They also protect the vines from nibbling animals. We only completed half of the acre yesterday. We will be planting another 350 plants as soon as they arrive...and we will start all over again. I only hope the gusty winds are gone by then!

Also, good news today - we received word that 2 of our wines won medals in the Fingerlakes International Wine Competition. Our Blush took Bronze and Chambourcin took Silver! Winning medals never gets old, it’s always exciting!