Deleafing of Traminette Prior to Harvest 2009

Fall at the Farm

The leaves are dropping in waves and in this photo, the sycamores planted by Fred Johnson, Sr., have done just that. Harvest, running late this year, wasn't complete until early November as we wanted to give the grapes as much time as possible to ripen. Here's a photo of the new Traminette vineyard after deleafing to expose the fruit to as much sunlight as possible.

Harvest Beginnings, October 2, 2009
It has been a blustery, rainy day, but now the sun has gingerly appeared and is shining on the metal posts of our new Riesling vineyards on the first slopes to the south. In the background, the trees are still very green, but if you look carefully, you can see the beginnings of orange on the maples, the first to show their fall colors. I’ve just cut some oregano and thyme for the coq au vin I am making and I filled my sweatshirt, kangaroo-pouch style, with Seckel and Bosc pears from the espaliered trees in the orchard. Sounds blissful and pompous!

The harvest started last week, first with the Marechal Foch, whose dark, small berries were sweet despite the less-than-congenial summer for ripening grapes. We knew that they were sweet – and the crows discovered them first. Then Ron set up the campaign to discourage the birds from nibbling – a multi-variable approach: cannons (sporadic booms which are eventually not so surprising and if you walk near the gas tank, you can hear the click which will warn you that the boom is coming), the mylar balloons in yellow, red, or black with large, owl-like eyes that are meant to remind the birds of the owl’s carnivorous nature, mylar strips that wave and crinkle and are like chalk squeaking on a chalk-board to birds, and finally, the bird distress calls – all signals that maybe they don’t want to be there…

We are hoping for Indian summer weather to continue to ripen the grapes while the leaves on the vines are still green and can process nutrients. The Niagaras are harvested, many sold to a winemaker near Philadelphi, and the rest for our winery. The Traminette is beginning to ripen and I noticed that they had been de-leafed. Fred explained when I asked that yes, deleafed on just one side of the wire. When I asked why, it was because the winemaker had requested that only the east side of the fruit be exposed so that the sun could “caress” the fruit (!).

Spring at the Farm and Winery

A Late Frost and a New Riesling Vineyard

The vineyards are flush with new growth about ten inches long (or at least they were yesterday - they grow fast!)- all a tender lime-green color. At least the buds that were not frozen are a lime green color with a delicate, and what looks like a miniature grape bunch, at the end. The frozen ones are all brown and crispy.

One week ago, a cold spell threatened many of the area's vineyards with damaging frosts. By and large, the damage to our vineyards was limited to the most northern of our vineyards, particularly the Chancellor vineyards (a French hybrids that were Frederick Johnson Sr.'s favorite wine grape). Unfortunately, some other local vineyard owners were not so fortunate and their concord crops will be seriously diminished.

Our vineyard manager, Ron Guzzetta, is very busy and this week's major task was the planting of a new Riesling vineyard - with the assistance of laser technology, which significantly reduced the time required to plant these new acres of vineyards.

Jennifer Johnson

Johnson Estate Winery - Letters from the Owners