Seasons
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
The first crucial step to ensure a top quality vineyard is to start with the right vines. When ordering vines, we made sure we selected varieties and clones that would grow well and ripen in our climate, and were proven to make wines with complexity and character. Once our dormant vines arrived from the California nursery from which we bought them, we sorted through each vine to test its graft union (about 350 failed and broke in half, which is actually not bad) to be sure that we did not plant any weak vines. Once the vines had made it through this screening step, we set them in barrels of water mixed with a little special compost to help stimulate root growth.

The vineyard is planted following French tradition, with much denser spacing than most vineyards in the East. The rows are seven feet apart, with one vine planted every meter within the row. We have1900 vines per acre while 600-800 vines per acre is typical in most Eastern U.S. vineyards. We approached the vine spacing decision by looking at several key variables, including the varieties we are planting, our climate and our soils. When we looked at these factors all taken together, we found that our vineyard profile was most similar to those of Bordeaux, where close spacing is the rule.


Decomposing slate subsoil
While we think our spacing strategy is the right one for our site, this decision is risky in several ways. First, it is significantly more costly to develop and farm. Second, the prevailing wisdom in the Eastern U.S. is that our abundant rainfall and humidity create vines which grow too vigorously and need wide spacing. However, the common belief in Europe is that small vines make great wine - the yields per acre are the same, so denser planting means each vine produces fewer but possibly riper grapes. (We'll expect to get about four pounds of grapes per vine while 10-15 pounds per vine is typical for other Eastern U.S. vineyards). We have chosen to take the chance and plant a high-density, European-style vineyard, and do everything else we can to manage over-zealous vine growth: we have found well-drained, low vigor soils, chosen growth restricting rootstocks, and will plant competitive cover crops if necessary. We'll know in a few years whether this grand experiment is a success.


To actually get the vines in the ground, we hired Ken Whitty to come down from Ontario and help us plant the vineyard. His laser planting machine enables the rows to be perfectly straight and the vines to be spaced uniformly in the row. Having the vines perfectly planted makes it easier for us to care for them as they grow and makes it less likely that a vine will be injured by a piece of machinery as we work in the vineyard.

A newly planted vine
Aside from Ken and his team, we had a great crew of family and friends who came out to help us plant, including the newest addition to the family, Timothy, who was born in February 2003, and was just six weeks old at the time of planting. He was in charge of comic relief and making sure no one got too much sleep during this busy period.


In mid-April, once we finished planting, we immediately began building a trellis to support the vines. This was a time critical step, since all of our weed control is done with mechanical cultivation, and we had to have the first elements of the trellis completed before we could use our weeding machine. We placed a steel rod next to each vine so that the weeding machine's sensor bar could differentiate between weeds and vines, and placed a milk carton over each vine to keep deer, rabbits and other hungry critters at bay. This job provided an opportunity for our oldest son to get into the act: CJ spent the better part of his 6th grade Spring Break placing milk cartons on the vines.


The rest of the summer was spent finishing the trellis, tying up the vines as they grew, and spraying the vineyard with sulfur, copper and anti-fungal teas to protect it against disease. Despite a very tough, rainy year, the vines came through well, and after completing our first full season as grape growers, we felt we were off to a good start.