Establishing a vineyard in the Puget Sound Appellation

1. Establishing a vineyard in the Puget Sound Appellation WWHA Jan-2008 Mike Lempriere mike@PerennialVintners.com Slides will be available at: http://www.PSWG.org/

2. Agenda • Must do & Must read • Puget Sound Appeallation and its winegrowing history • Jargon • Location, Soil, Slope/aspect • Layout (row/plant spacing) • Vineyard floor • Pests • Organic certification • Trellising Styles, Posts/wires • Irrigation • Grape Varietal selection • Rootstocks & grafting • Acquiring plant material & making cuttings • Initial area preparation • Planting, pruning • Recommended: Organizations, Vendors, Products • References • Methods

3. Must do • Puget Sound WineGrowers: • Become a member ($50) • Subscribe to public mailing list (free) http://www.pswg.org/ • BIVW annual PS AVA grape growing class 02-Feb-2008. Call the winery and sign up ASAP (additional class may be scheduled if demand): http://www.bainbridgevineyards.com/ • Another PS grape growing class, Steve Snyder (scheduled for Mar-2008): http://www.HollywoodHill.com/

4. Must read • WSU Mt. Vernon EB2001 - Gary Moulton http://pubs.wsu.edu/ • In search box, enter "grapes“. • Click on EB2001 – free PDF download. Discusses cool climate grape choices, pruning. Overall an excellent introductory reference. • Oregon Viticulture – Edward Hellman http://bookstore.ucdavis.edu/Display.cfm?itemId=905 • I wish this had been available when I got started. • Everything you need/want to know is here. • Skip chapters on specific OR planting areas.

5. Must read (cont.) • The Grape Grower – Lon Rombough An excellent reference with detailed discussions on pests, trellising, unusual varieties, and has an overall strong emphasis on organic methods. http://www.BunchGrapes.com/ • Buy directly from author • Also available at http://www.powells.com/ • Greg Jones climatological study for Olympic Cellars. • Study is not listed on the Olympic Cellars website, but it is buried there if you know the URL: http://www.OlympicCellars.com/istore/grapestudypt1_page57VXD.pdf • Can be found by external search engine. • Free PDF download.

6. PS AVA Map from Washington Wine Commission 1997 Purple on top left Is PS AVA.

7. PS AVA (cont.) • Approx 500 wineries in WA State • Approx 120 in PS AVA. • Only 2 produce 100% PS AVA wines. • 14 produce PS AVA wines in addition to non-PS AVA wines.

8. PS AVA history • Earliest vineyards in WA state were western WA • Earliest known, 1825 Fort Vancouver. • 1890’s, Lambert Evans, Stretch Island/Grapeview. • Hoodsport Winery still makes a small amount of wine from the descendents of those original plantings. • In WA state, Prohibition: • Began in 1916, ending commercial winemaking. • Was Repealed 05-Dec-1933. • WA winemaking resurgance - Associated Vintners, 1969. • Old style was sweet, new was premium vinifera.

9. PS AVA history (cont.) • Gerard Bentryn of BIVW established the first PS AVA vineyard/winery of the “modern era” 1975. • Gerard used his experience as a climatologist and wrote the PS AVA petition in 1995. • The borders follow the 600’ elevation line. • The 600’ elevation line fairly closely matches the 60” isoyet (annual rainfall line). • (Bear in mind that most of that 60” falls outside of the growing season.)

10. PS AVA climate • Rainfall typical 37” (SeaTac weather station) • Most rainfall in winter – outside of growing season • Growing season typical 210 days • GDD typical 2050 (SeaTac) (more on GDD later) • In general, PS AVA climate similar to • France: • Nantes (Loire / Atlantic) • Champagne • Chablis • Northern Rhine in Germany • except longer dry Autumn

11. Quick summary of jargon: • Row spacing • Headlands • Note afternoon shadow; not good.

12. Jargon (cont.) • Canopy • Fruiting wire • Plant spacing

13. Jargon (cont.) • GDD (Growing Degree Days) - sum of ((maxTemp + minTemp ) / 2) – 50 • Each day from 01-Apr through 31-Oct • Plants do not photosynthesize below 50F • Note that grape plants grow optimally at 77F • At 105F, plants shut down (stomata close and no photosynthesis occurs) • “sweet spot” is 68F to 86F • GDD is only useful within a similar climate

14. Jargon (cont.) • Vigor - strictly means to grow fast, though often misused to indicate lush/thick foliage. • Vitis Vinifera – The primary species of grape used for winemaking

15. Location • Streams/wetlands; may be mandatory “riparian setbacks” (buffer area that must remain native) • Stream nearby? Take care to note when it fills in Autumn, and when it dries out in Spring to determine salmon spawning status. • Check with city and county.

16. Location (cont.) Seasonal streambed in gully

17. Location (cont.) • Bear in mind property lines; leave yourself at least a tractor’s width to neighbor’s property. • Do not trust an old fence line, pay for a survey. • Do not plant too close to neighboring trees (note reduced growth on topmost plants).

18. Location (cont.) • PS AVA is a cool climate – everything we do is to maximize heat accumulation. • Avoid high elevation; temp can decrease 3.6F/1,000ft. • Low elevation may be too close to cool ocean air. • Ideal 100ft – 400ft. • Buy a datalogger; observe the temps for a year. • Hobo is inexpensive http://www.OnsetComp.com/ ($70) • ecH2O – http://www.ech2O.com/ • Also soil moisture, relative humidity, telemetry ($500)

19. Location (cont.) • Not too close to valley bottom as cooler air pools into depressions. • E WA • 7 year hard freeze may kill back vine to ground. • In PS AVA depressions mean cooler mornings, thus: • Freezing not much of a problem (buds killed about 0F). • Moisture pockets – more mildew. • Less warmth, later ripening.

20. Location (cont.) • Depressions (image from Rombaugh)

21. Soil • Must drain well (grapes don’t like wet feet) • Rocky: • Grapes don’t really mind. • Is hard on equipment. • Many French vineyards are very rocky. • Rocks help hold daytime warmth into evening • Only useful as long as the sun is shining as the plant does not photosynthesize in the dark. • Deep sand requires irrigation and ongoing nutrient additions. • Have a soil test done! • Procedure in addendum. • Attend Art Chippendale’s talk later today.

22. Soil (cont.) My son Ellis with his favorite vineyard rock. We sure felt it when the rototiller hit this one!

23. Slope direction • Slope facing downward towards: • South: very good • SouthWest: ideal • West: good • East: tolerable • SouthEast: reasonable • North: not so good • Only Madeleine Sylvaner or Siegerrebe are likely to ripen well on a North slope in PS AVA

24. Slope aspect (angle) • Ideal angle is perpendicular to sun which maximizes reflected warmth. • Slope angle too steep cannot be worked by machine. • Possible to terrace steep slope: • Tons of initial work. • Very expensive. • Compromise is about 10-15 degree angle.

25. Layout - row angle • North-South to NorthEast-SouthWest if possible. You want sun to get to both sides of canopy: • Slope may dictate otherwise. • Warm grapes ripen sooner. • Air temp is higher in afternoon. • Grapes on west side usually reach overall higher temp.

26. Layout - row spacing • Ideally, the wider the better – more heat from reflected sun. • Each row shades its neighbor early and late in the day (low sun angle) • Reduces ripening time. • Wider rows maximize morning/evening sun. • Tradeoff is less fruit per acre. • Important with expensive PS AVA land.

27. Layout - row spacing (cont.) • Canopy should have 12-16 buds above the fruiting wire; if plants have long internodes (e.g. vigorous) this height may force wider rows due to greater height. • This can be counteracted by having low fruiting wire which also gains warmth from the ground. • Compromise ratio: aisle width to row height should be about 1.0 x 1.1 .

28. Layout - row spacing (cont.) • However, aisle width is often dictated by equipment width. • I use 7’ row spacing. • Rototiller is 5’. • Tradeoff is 2 passes when tilling (1 up, 1 down). • Rows are never perfectly straight.

29. Layout - row spacing (cont.) Don’t forget to leave sufficient headlands to turn a tractor in. And remember the tractor will have a rototiller on the back. Shown 11’ is not quite enough, make it 15’.

30. Layout – plant spacing • BIVW recommends: • Pinot Noir – 3’ • Madeleine Angevine – 5’ • Most others – 4’ • Closer plants, more root competition, less vigor. • May be problematic if long internodes (e.g. MA) • Burgundy, France uses "meter square": • Must be hand managed, or expensive specialized “over-row” equipment.

31. Vineyard floor • To maximize heat, use bare soil in summer: • Shallow rototilling achieves this and controls weeds. • Under grapevines too – shallow roots undesirable. • Sow a winter cover crop to prevent erosion: • Many simply mows the native weeds in late summer. • See Mercy Olmstead’s paper: WSU EB2010; bear in mind paper is intended for E WA dry climate. • I use annual rye.

32. Vineyard floor (cont.) Bare dirt in summer. • My wife Beth hand rototilling the first summer. • Note stakes holding up plants.

33. Vineyard floor (cont.) Supervisory staff…

34. Vineyard floor (cont.) Annual rye cover crop • Sowing with shoulder seed spreader (left), in Autumn (right)

35. Vineyard pests • PS AVA tends more to vertabrate pests • Deer – eat new shoots in spring preventing plant from growing. • Birds – eat grapes at ripening. • Mice – especially with snow, will eat bark of trunks “ringing” to avoid starving. • Moles/Voles – dig around root system, killing plant. • Rabbits – nibble leaves off young plants preventing growth. • Raccoons – eat grapes at ripening.

36. Vineyard pests (cont.) Tame deer – this guy had just walked right by the tractor, while rototilling!

37. Vineyard pests (cont.) Deer damage

38. Vineyard pests (cont.) • I recommend keeping a dog and a cat. • Dog presence discourages deer, raccoons, rabbits, coyotes (which would prey on cats). • Cats control other small vermin, mice, rats, moles/voles. • Plastic “grow tubes” or old milk cartons around new plants for the first year • Protect from rabbits. • Protects from spray, allowing herbicide weed control.

39. Vineyard pests • You will almost certainly need deer fencing in PS AVA. I recommend: • 10’ “T” posts • 8’ plastic mesh (black or transparent) • You’ll need 3 wires, top, middle and bottom • Use UV-safe black cables to mount mesh to wire

40. Do you want to be certified organic? • Huge paperwork overhead; I just met WSDA inspectors Dec-07, they swear this will be much improved in 2008. 2007 packet pictured.

41. Organic? (cont.) • Organic takes more work, e.g. manual or machine weeding vs. easy glyphosate spray (“Roundup”). • It will cost more money to maintain vineyard; e.g. organic alternative to Roundup “Burn-out II”: • Is really expensive. • Requires far heavier dose to be effective. • May require multiple applications. • Alternative is mechanical or flame. • “Carbon footprint”?

42. Organic? (cont.) • However • Grapes/wine bring in more money • You can choose your organic certifier: • WA state (WSDA) organic certification website: http://agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal/Organic/ • There may be label considerations for non-government based certifiers. • Attend Brent Charnleys talk later today.

43. Trellising Many trellising styles, most common you’ll see: • Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) • Simple trellis (no cross braces, just posts and wires). • Simple means less expensive and easier to maintain. • Proven effective in PS AVA. • Strong recommendation for this method.

44. Trellising (cont.) • VSP (image from Hellman)

45. Trellising (cont.) • VSP Pictured Spring 4th year, first year of 2 arms, full crop.

46. Trellising (cont.) • Geneva Double Curtain (GDC) • Gerard Bentryn’s 1980’s experiments showed that double-canopy systems, e.g. Lyre and GDC lose their devigorating tendency over time; the plant eventually will come into balance. • Are consistently harder to maintain. • Works well for American varieties which tend to grow downwards; it’s a struggle for Vinifera that want to grow upwards. • Not recommended for vinifera in PS AVA.

47. Trellising (cont.) • GDC (image from Rombaugh)

48. Trellising (cont.) • Scott Henry • Edward Hellman is an advocate. • This appears to be a lot more work to me. • As with GDC, you’re fighting the plant, it wants to grow up, but you’re forcing it down. • Does have track record in OR, but not in PS AVA. • Not recommended. • Additional discussions and styles in Sunlight Into Wine, Richard Smart.

49. Trellising (cont.) Scott Henry (image from Hellman)

50. Trellising (cont.) Scott Henry