Rain, Rain Go Away

Over the past week we received over 3 inches of rain. This is unfortunate for us because last weekend the mower broke down. We managed to get the backyard done but the largest part of the yard has not been cut for two weeks. The good news is that the skies cleared for the weekend, bringing sun and some temporary drying out of the yard for mowing today - just in time for another 3 inches in the coming week.

The gutter drain from the front of the house.

The concrete sink/countertops are installed in the poolhouse. Plumbing works. Softener installed. Bring on summer!

Last weekend we bottled about 5 cases of wine. The Grenache rosé looks good. The Frontenac rosé lost some color. Lack of tannins is suspected.  But it smells and tastes terrific. We benched trialed some blends of the Frontenac with Chardonel, and in the end we liked the different character of each wine, so they got bottled separately.

Frontenac rosé, Chardonel, Grenache rosé

Two weeks ago we replanted about 20 vines, mostly Vidal. Replanting wasn't has hard as digging out the old roots. Cooler temps seem to have slowed growth up to some degree, but we now have shoots 5-12" long.

Two weeks ago, after mowing and before all the rain

Shawn and Suzanne came over for some wine. We had an outstanding Arneis, a white grape from Piedmont. This bottle came from California, but it was delicious. We lit a fire and had S'mores. Shawn achieved the perfect toast. As it darkened we spotted the Space Station and, as a bonus, a beautiful blue-green meteor to the south.

We have a short 3 day work week next week, as we were previously scheduled to be off for a couple of days to work at home. I'll be watching the forecast.

Vidal Revival

Survival of the Vidal Blanc vines was poor compared to all other varieties, but they are making a bit of a comeback. We were down to just 4 of 36 vines, and yesterday I spotted growth on eleven. We got 1/2" of rain yesterday and I'm hopeful that we'll see more shoots emerge. A couple of the vines are approaching the top wire already. If a few more return I may replant the Vidal after all.

The rainfall yesterday morning was badly needed in the greenhouse. I just installed the summer rain barrels and water was running low. Unfortunately, one valve was shut off and one gutter was clogged, so almost all of the rainwater missed the barrels.

We have this swimming pool however, and it was covered. So I attached the long hose reel to the cover pump and pumped all of the water on the pool cover back into the barrels. They are now completely full and should last until the next bit of rain.

Trying an elderflower wine, but not particularly optimistic. Full post to follow.

2018 Grape Update and Photo Album

The grapes, with one exception, are coming along. Frontenac and Foch have started to bloom. Traminette and Chardonel are loaded. I'm removing all of the blooms from Chambourcin and Norton. The Norton doesn't show the vigor of the others but they were a little slow last year as well, so we'll just be patient and see how they progress.

The Vidal Blanc shows no further signs of recovery. We've started to look at replacements, and considering La Crescent, Brianna, Itasca, and Frontenac Blanc. Unlikely to get them replanted this year so we have time to look around.

There is a subreddit powerwashingporn which would be a good place to post pics from last weekend.

This weekend is rainy and cloudy so we got some wine work done. 2017 elderberry came out of the barrel and went back into the carboy. I barrel aged 1/2 of it, and it seemed to improve the wine, will consider doing the other half depending on what we have lined up for the barrel later. One half of the 2017 old vine Zinfandel went in next. I will likely give both halves 3 months each in the barrel before bottling.

Most country wine experiments end poorly but 2017 pawpaw wine might just be an exception. Aroma is very light but there is definitely banana and other tropical fruit there just at the beginning. I added a bit of glycerin to smooth it out and went ahead and bottled. We'll chill this and give it a try this week. Judging from the looks of the trees so far, I will have more pawpaws than I can use this summer.

We bottled the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc last weekend. I probably won't even bother with caps and labels, this wine is good enough that it won't last long. The surprise of the weekend however was the 2017 Vignoles. Early on this wine had a very nice passion fruit tropical aroma and somehow I've not managed to screw it up. Bottled just a portion to be sure we have the residual sugar right, and if so we'll bottle the balance in the next couple of weeks.

Pictures taken before the rain came...

Haskaps