2016:
November 30: Post Harvest Vineyard Maintenance, with a focus on Vine Nutrition
at Falcon Hill Vineyard, Santa Cruz
Katarina Flores, Certified Crop Advisor and PCA with Simplot in Salinas and Prudy Foxx, Foxx Viticulture will talk about post-harvest maintenance practices, with some new thoughts on vine nutrition and amendments. As well, Katarina will talk about salts concentration affecting vineyards, including: signs of salts concentration; how to determine whether your irrigation water is contributing salts; and how to solve the problem. Denis Hoey of Odonata Wines will introduce the topic. Denis sources Falcon Hill’s Pinot Noir and has implemented a number of changes in the vineyard over the past few years. He and Jim Adkisson, grower and owner of Falcon Hill will show us around the vineyard.
August 5: Preparing for Harvest
and: Cordon and Cane Pruning
at Branciforte Ridge Vineyard, Santa Cruz
We will walk through the vineyard discussing pre-harvest irrigations, hedging, leaf pulling, and any other late-season issues. As well, we’ll discuss and view the difference between cane and cordon pruned rows and hear why Branciforte Ridge has converted every other row from cordon to cane. Branciforte Ridge sources Pinot Noir to Jeff Emery, Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard.
June 1: Weed Management with John Roncoroni, UCCE Weed Science Farm Advisor who specializes in vineyard weed management and speaks to growers throughout Northern California. John will talk about issues including: identifying weeds vs. cover crop; the status of organic herbicides; weed management options. Location: Wrights Vineyard & Winery.
Tailgate at Thomas Fogarty’s Gist Ranch, Thursday, May 5. Vineyard manager Marshal White will give us a tour of Fogarty’s ‘southern estate’ vineyard, a 100-acre parcel with 14 acres of vineyard located 17 miles south of the winery off of Skyline Rd. He will talk about their soil management program, including spading, composting and cover crop.
About Gist Ranch: The property features 14 acres of organically-grown grapes including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Nebbiolo. Gist Ranch sits atop a ridge at 2300 feet above sea level and experiences a relatively cool climate influenced by the Pacific Ocean about 14 miles to the west. Planted in 1999, this vineyard is responsible for a number of Fogarty’s single-site bottling.