The Viti+Culture Podcast

Season 1, Episode 0010

Finger Lakes Viticulture – June 10, 2021

There is no denying it, the growing season is going strong so far.  With warm temperatures, and adequate, but not excessive precipitation, I’m feeling good about 2021.

I’m also feeling great about this podcast, and the many projects going on at our winery.  We are gaining hundreds of new listeners, without any real advertisement so far.  Word of mouth seems to be spreading, and I am receiving some great feedback.  As a reminder, the best way to help the show grow is to rate the show with 5 stars in Apple podcasts, and like our YouTube broadcast videos - and tell a friend.  At Missick Cellars (www.MissickCellars.com), I’m proud to announce that we have now opened the Art Gallery at our Dundee location.  The ethos of this show, of sharing stories from others, of expanding our world view in terms of art, philosophy, entrepreneurship, and music, and of working diligently so that we can live our best life, have come into fruition in my own business.  In pairing up with Pittsford Fine Art (https://www.pittsfordfineart.com/) in Pittsford, New York, we have been able to work with an artist owned co-op art gallery, of regionally and nationally recognized fine art artists, to elevate the experience we offer at the winery, and promote the idea of cultivating our own lives around the beauty that we get to experience in this world every day.  I’m grateful to Pittsford Fina Arts, and incredibly proud to share the artwork of these really talented individuals.  If you are interested, you can take a look at a video we released taking you through the new gallery, that link can be found right here, and is on the YouTube channel for the winery.

As far as vineyard development, as of June 8, we currently stand at 507.6 growing degree days.  As of June 8, in 2020 were at 429.4, in 2019 we were at 404.6, and in a warm vintage like 2016, we were at 438.  We are lagging behind 2018, which had seen a growing degree day accumulation of 568, but we have not seen the level of precipitation that we saw in 2018 - at least not yet, fingers crossed.

Many of the native grapes, grape like Concord which we don’t make wine from but grow for jelly and eating, have  gone or are going through bloom. Our vinifera blocks of Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Riesling, are poised for bloom, with cane and canopy growth going strong.  It is at this point most growers will apply a pre-bloom spray regimen in their vineyards.  This is an important time to spray for some common vineyard problems, such as powdery mildew, downy mildew, and black rot.  The sprays made immediately pre-bloom, and until about a month after bloom, are crucial in our efforts to ensure sound and strong fruit, and  a quality crop for the year.  Fungicides are crucial in this period, making the next month one of the key “make it or break it” periods of the growing season.  

Pre-bloom nutrient sprays may be important as well.  Although the physiology between grapes and tomatoes may seem quite different, this is a common time of year to make sure all of our tomatoes have an adequate supply of calcium to ensure problems like blossom end rot do not plague us in the next few months.  Grapes and grape vines also need adequate nutrition, and so depending on where you are located, and the specifics of your site, this may be a consideration for your vineyard as well.

I do love this time of year.  Daisy’s fill the middle rows with large bouquets of white and yellow.  The birds chorus and the rustling of the leaves provide nature’s symphony in the vineyard.  The time for rest has clearly past, the time for diligence and hard work is here and urgent.

In the coming week, we are anticipating slightly cooler temperatures, with highs in the 70’s.  So far though, this has been a great spring.  The precipitation of May and June so far has been scattered.  Only a few thunderstorms have dropped significant rains, most of the time it has been short and gentle showers.  I did have some concern over the high temperatures and amount of rain the last few days.  With that, came higher dewpoints and humidity, which can promote the spread of disease.  With the moderating temperatures, and moderate rains in the forecast however, the year is starting to show promise.  

Be sure to tune in next week, where I speak with Auyon Mukharji, one of the talented signers and violinist in the outstanding indie music outfit, Darlingside.  Darlingside, with its amazing vocal harmonies, literary lyrics, and sweeping instrumentation, capture the modern sound of philosophy embodied in music.  Their sound is often the soundtrack to my cellar work, and their music my accompaniment to winemaking.  Their music offers me a sense of the elevated, the inspirational, and it inspires my work in many ways.

If you enjoy the content, please rate us 5 stars!

We talk with Liz Stamp, a decades long leader of the Finger Lakes wine industry, and partner at Lakewood Vineyards, located just north of Watkins Glen on the West side of Seneca Lake. We discuss her multi-generational farm winery, the nature of family business, overcoming the challenges of Covid-19, and her involvement with the many trade and industry organizations that seek to promote Finger Lakes wine.

Full transcripts available on our Substack at www.viticulturepodcast.substack.com, and full video interview available on our YouTube Channel.

Visit our website at www.VitiCulturePodcast.com, and don’t forget to share with your friends via all major social media platforms @VitiCULTUREPod

Visit Lakewood Vineyards at https://lakewoodvineyards.com/, and Bellangelo Winery and Missick Cellars at www.Bellangelo.com and www.MissickCellars.com.

Season 1, Episode 0008

Finger Lakes Viticulture – May 26, 2021

It has been an incredible stretch of warm, and even hot sunny weather in the Finger Lakes since our last update two weeks  ago.  As of today, we stand at 300.3 accumulated growing degree days.  Nine of the last thirteen days have seen highs above 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and five of those nine above 80.  It’s been sunny and hot beautiful weather, but it is the Finger Lakes, and we are already looking at a weather change, with the high this upcoming Friday pegged at  around 48 degrees, warming to a more moderate trend of high 60’s and 70’s.   Let’s take a look  and compare our current growing degree days to previous years.  In 2020, at this same date, we stood at 212.8, in 2018, we stood at 347, in 2014, we were at 309, and in 2016, we were at 190.  These years experienced some significant variation, and a lot of those vintages were dependent upon the amount of water and sun the vineyards received. 2018 was terribly difficult with warm weather and  a lot of moisture, whereas 2016 stood in stark contrast as a severe drought year with warm temperatures.   Nonetheless, it’s great to see our  growing season on track.

In the vineyard, we are in the midst of the vegetative growth cycle.  The buds have fully burst, shoot development has taken place, we have witnessed flat leaf stage, and the flower clusters have fully initiated.  As you can see from the footage, beautiful flower clusters are branching our from the young tender canes, and the 2021 vintage fruit is about to start its formation.  The clusters represent many small flowers.  Grapes, like all fruit, go through a flowering stage prior to fruit formation.  Each flower on each cluster has what we call a cap, and so our next benchmark will be to look for cap fall, and the start of bloom.  

This chart  from Michigan State University, nicely depicts the stages of the vegetative cycle of grape  vine growth.  As shoots climb ten to sixteen inches, the flower clusters are clearly visible, and the stage is set for the vegetative cycle to end, and the reproductive cycle to begin.  

By the time of our next update, we will likely have seen cap fall and  maybe even bloom.  We’ll be sure to document it along the way, and show you exactly what it looks like.

This time of year,  the vineyard growth moves quickly.  From bare canes to an emerging lush canopy,  it’s amazing how  quickly the  days  go by and the vineyard bursts forth.  It reminds me of how quickly we let our  lives pass, and how important it is, despite the pace of growth and change, to take time and reflect on the wonder of it all.  Ironically, the speed of the growth in the vineyard, forces me to pause and slow down.  The lessons of the vineyard never cease, and viticulture has so many subtle ways to teach us how to live a good life.  

If you like this podcast, please be sure to rate us 5 stars in Apple podcasts and like our videos on YouTube.  It really helps with the ratings and in introducing new folks to the show.  Be sure to tune in next week, where I speak with Liz Stamp, a partner  with Lakewood Vineyards.  With the third generation now deeply involved on this fourth generation farm, Liz’ perspective on this incredible family brand and business takes us through the early days of Finger Lakes grape growing, and launching a wine business on Seneca Lake in the 1980’s.  A story of family, determination, and working  towards a sustainable future, Lakewood Vineyards is a must visit for your Finger Lakes wine expedition.

In this episode, we go beyond wine and vineyards to explore food and culture and family. Today, we're speaking with Paul Guglielmo, a staple of the radio industry in Rochester, New York, and an entrepreneur that relied on his Italian grandfather's recipes to craft World-Class pasta sauces. He's well on his way to carrying a closely guarded family recipe to great heights and in the process, honoring his family heritage and recognizing the importance of community.

If you enjoy the content, please rate us 5 stars!

Full transcripts available on our Substack at www.viticulturepodcast.substack.com, and full video interview available on our YouTube Channel.

Visit our website at www.VitiCulturePodcast.com, and don’t forget to share with your friends via all major social media platforms @VitiCULTUREPod

Visit Guglielmo Sauce at http://www.guglielmosauce.com/, and Bellangelo Winery and Missick Cellars at www.Bellangelo.com and www.MissickCellars.com.

We are in bud break!

After the cold and snow and quite frankly the big scare of April 21, we spent some time assessing the impact to the vines after that real cold episode. Remember we were off to a very strong start of this growing season, with higher than average temperatures, and lots of sun. In the wake of the cold of late April, temperatures have slowly begun to increase, and it doesn’t look like there are any deep freezes currently on the horizon. Overnight lows are still in the 30s, but our daytime temperatures are beginning to reach between 50 and 60, with some 70 degree days on the horizon.  May 4th was a beautiful warm day with a high in the mid 70’s, but between May 5 and May 10, we have barely accumulated any growing degree days.  Down at the winery, we have stood steady for the last week or so with a growing degree day accumulation of 121.6 since April first.  To put that in perspective, in a near perfect growing year like 2020, we had only accumulated 36.1 on the same date, which was actually pretty low on average.   Essentially, despite a roller coaster spring, we remain on track.  Truthfully, growing degree days are interesting to examine this time of year, but with so much of the growing season before us, they don’t mean very much to us quite yet.  If you’re confused about all this talk of growing degree days, check out episode 4 where I break down what these numbers mean, and how to calculate them.  

I often record these vineyard updates a few days in advance of the release of the podcast. As a result, our timeframe for these biweekly updates is pretty close to what is going on in the vineyards, but it’s not always exact as to the day of the podcast release. Since we last shared where we were in the 2021 growing season two weeks ago, budbreak has begun all across the region. When bud break occurs, the rate of development is not necessarily uniform on every vine, and different varietals have different rates of their early development. Furthermore the location and a variety of other factors will contribute to exactly when budbreak in a vineyard will occur. In our vineyard I have noticed that the Chenin Blanc is much more advanced than our Cabernet Franc. These two varietals are located on opposite ends of our vineyard. The Cabernet Franc sits towards the top of the slope, and the Chenin Blanc sits towards the bottom of the slope closest to the lake. Our decision to plant Chenin Blanc closest to the lake was really one of small variations in temperature. There has been concern in the Finger Lakes that Chenin Blanc it’s not as cold hardy as Cabernet Franc, and we wanted to get it as close to that large body of water as possible, to ensure that it would receive as much protection from Seneca lake as we could provide on the coldest of the cold days. So now, let’s take a look at exactly what is happening physiologically with the vine during bud break.

Bud break isn’t necessarily a single event, it’s a continuation of events in the lifecycle of a vine.  In fact, it’s the culmination of energy from the previous growing season, that has been preserved in the vine, and is unleashed as temperatures warm and sunlight increases throughout the day.  Due to temperatures and the long dark days we experience in the winter, the verdant growth of a vine would be impossible.  Amazingly, the vine is prepared for that.  Buds, which will emerge in the following year after dormancy, are developed in the previous growing season.  Throughout the winter months, carbohydrates are stored in the roots and the trunk of the vine, and a hard scale is in place over the bud to protect it.  The energy highway system within the vine, the xylem and the phloem, cease activity.  When the temperatures rise, growing degree days accumulate, and the  sun shines for longer periods of time, the vine is triggered to unleash the reserves of energy remaining from  the previous season, and to begin prompting the bud to begin the growing process.  The bud will swell and develop a fuzzy appearance, and the leaf primordia will  begin to push through the scale.  The growth is remarkable and rapid. 

The entire purpose of bud break is to begin the vine’s growth of leaves, in order to ensure photosynthesis can begin to feed the plant with a new reservoir of energy.  The leaves emerging  from the bud are the catalyst for this, and the growth is rapid to ensure that the vine can take advantage of achieving as much surface area as possible in order to maximize the amount of sunlight it can take in.  Bud break sets the stage for rapid shoot development, where the vine builds its ability to uptake as much energy as possible through photosynthesis, and ultimately, use that energy to ripen fruit.  

Amazingly, the flower cluster formation has already begun, though we can not quite see it yet. Within one to three weeks, we will be able to make out the very beginnings of what will become clusters, and ultimately the fruit we will guide into becoming wine. 

The lessons of life in the vineyard extend far beyond growing fruit.  Viticulture reminds us of the cyclical nature of life, the fact that to everything there is indeed a season.  A season for growth and a season for rest.  It reminds us that bounty can be followed by dormancy.  It sets a rhythm and forms a link between the events that happen in our lives, and the majesty that is nature.  Budbreak, or budburst, is the perfect example of that.  It carries the excitement of birth, of new life, of the promise that awaits us.  New life is springing up all around us, flowers are starting to blossom, the birds are laying eggs, the energy is palpable.  

If you like this podcast, please be sure to rate us 5 stars in Apple podcasts and like our videos on YouTube.  It really helps with the ratings and in introducing new folks to the show.  Be sure to tune in next week, where I speak with the incredibly amiable Paul Guglielmo.  Paul had a great career in radio, but left it behind to put all of his energy into growing his brand of pasta sauces based on his Italian grandfather’s recipes.  Our interview may not be about wine, per se, but his business insights, emphasis on family, and the passion to build something that will be a legacy certainly fit with our goal of defining and pursuing a good life.  

Paul Brock was trained as a chemical engineer, but found his way into farming and winemaking in the Finger Lakes. Together with his wife Shannon, they own Silver Thread Vineyard on Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes. He practices bio-intensive farming practices, emphasizes building soil health, and produces beautiful wines in a serene setting. He has spent the last decade building the viticulture and enology program at Finger Lakes Community College.

If you enjoy the content, please rate us 5 stars!

Full transcripts available on our Substack at www.viticulturepodcast.substack.com, and full video interview available on our YouTube Channel.

Visit our website at www.VitiCulturePodcast.com, and don’t forget to share with your friends via all major social media platforms @VitiCULTUREPod

Visit Silver Thread Vineyard at https://silverthreadwine.com/, and Bellangelo Winery and Missick Cellars at www.Bellangelo.com and www.MissickCellars.com.

Episode 0004:

Finger Lakes Viticulture – April 29, 2021

The growing season is barely underway, and the white knuckles and sleepless nights have already begun, particularly in light of our cold event and snow last week.  I promised you that in our “In the Vineyard” series, which airs biweekly between our long form interviews, you would have the chance to peer into the thoughts and experiences of Finger Lakes wine growers, as we experience 2021.  

April began with daily temperatures in the forties and fifties, and nightly temperatures ranging from the twenties to the thirties.  After the first week of April was behind us, temperatures grew unseasonably warm as we experienced our first days in the 60’s and 70’s in many, many months.  I think it was probably October or early November, since we had temperatures this warm.  For nearly a solid week, daily temperature highs were in the sixties or above, which is important for a concept called growing degree days.

In the Finger Lakes, we generally consider April 1st through October 31st to be the growing season.  That growing season is dependent on temperature, specifically air and soil temperatures.  Grapevines will begin to signal that dormancy should end and the growing season should begin when soil temperatures remain around 50 degrees.  For soil temperature to be at that point, the ambient temperature must be greater than that, or at least above fifty for an extended period of time.   

As part of monitoring temperatures, we use a calculation and temperature tracking system we called Growing Degree Days or “GDD.”  Essentially, to calculate GDD you take the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature in a day, and calculate the average.  You then subtract  50 from that number,  which is our baseline temperature for grapevine development.  The difference will give you the GDD number for that day.  If the result is a negative number, you simply calculate that day as 0.  For example, if the high on a given day is 70, and the low is 50, you add them together and divide by 2 to find your average temperature, which would be 60.  By subtracting 50 from 60,  you end up with a measure of 10 GDD for that given day.  By conducting this exercise daily, and keeping track, you can compare it to previous vintages to see how far ahead, or behind, you are in a given season.  Although you can calculate GDD with the start of the year, the numbers actually start to matter around April first, since that is generally, the period when we start to accumulate growing degree days.

Generally, they don’t accumulate so quickly.  As you can see in this chart, the number of growing degree days we began accumulating in April was pretty high.  And then, we fell off a cliff.

We experienced an event last week that every wine grower fears, and that many in France endured this year as well - the late frost.  We didn’t just have a frost though, we had cold temperatures and snow.  

The unique thing about the Finger Lakes, is just how much the lakes regulate the mesoclimate, or the weather and temperatures, in any given location.  Proximity to the lake, aspect, and a number of other factors determine what the impact is.  As a general rule, there are vineyards in the Finger Lakes that are warmer.  During the growing season, this means you can accumulate more ripeness.  On the outer bands of the growing season, that is budbreak and harvest, frost can cause damage to the vine.  In particular, low temperatures this time of year can damage buds that are starting to grow this year’s fruit.  If you’ve experienced bud break, in other words, the bud has begun opening and the vigor of the vine has begun to push its first vegetation, the cold temperature can freeze the tissue and even young grape clusters, and severely impact fruit production.  The key temperature we look for that will cause damage to grape bud or vegetative tissue, is 28 degrees.

That kind of event occurred this week, with temperatures dipping, snow falling, and chilly winds blowing.  Ironically, the snow and wind were welcome.  Snow, and even ice, can buffer a grape bud and regulate the temperature, keeping it very cold, but at the freezing temperature of water, 32 degrees.  Likewise, air flow can help keep the temperature slightly higher as grapevines don’t generally feel wind chill the way we do.  Cold, still air, is the most dangerous situation.

Quite frankly, we don’t know what the impact will be quite yet.  In our vineyard we were witnessing some of the buds starting to swell.  For vinifera grape vines, we are still a few days and weeks away from budbreak.  In speaking with other growers, everyone is in a “wait and see” mode, with most holding out hope that we grazed a bullet.  We will certainly keep you updated on how this event impacted the region.  

Say your prayers, and send good thoughts.  This was a very difficult start to the growing season.  I’ve been through enough of these cycles in the Finger Lakes to still remain extremely optimistic for 2021.  

I remember a conversation I had with one of our growers, Jeff Morris, back in 2012.  It was a warm, dry year, and I remember asking him how much we were ahead of quote “normal” in vine development.  His response was, there is an average in the Finger Lakes, but there is no normal.  No year is normal.

2021 is out to prove this statement right.  So far, there are challenges, and still a lot to find out.  Was it normal to get this cold and this much snow in late April?  Well, it certainly wasn’t the average.  

As dandelions are beginning to sprinkle the grass with dots of yellow, and trees begin to don their fist brushes of green, spring is arriving in the Finger Lakes.  There is an inevitability to it in the air, and despite a few days on the horizon that may be some cause for concern, the race to harvest is nearly underway.  

If you have any questions about growing grapes in the Finger Lakes, or those things that we are wrestling with this time of year, be sure to drop a question in the comment sections of YouTube of Apple Podcasts.  We’ll answer your show on the air, and share any insight we can.  

Laura Winter Falk holds a Ph.D. in nutrition, is the author of the book Culinary History of the Finger Lakes, is a certified sommelier by the Court of Master Sommeliers and owns and operates a tour company that TripAdvisor has named one of the top 10 wine tours in the United States and number one and the Finger Lakes region. Her tours under the name Experience the Finger Lakes! take consumers on a deep dive of the region with curated visits and experiences at select wineries. We explore what prompted her to leave her successful career, and become an entrepreneur in the wine industry.

Full transcripts available on our Substack at www.viticulturepodcast.substack.com, and full video interview available on our YouTube Channel.

Visit our website at www.VitiCulturePodcast.com, and don’t forget to share with your friends via all major social media platforms @VitiCULTUREPod

Visit Experience the Finger Lakes! at https://experiencefingerlakes.com/, and Bellangelo Winery and Missick Cellars at www.Bellangelo.com and www.MissickCellars.com.

The first in our bi-weekly look at what is happening throughout Finger Lakes vineyards. As we wait for budbreak, Chris explores the various things people are focused on in the vineyard right now. Season 1 will run between April and August, and will alternate between interview shows and vineyard status updates. In Season 2, airing November through March, we will take a closer look at what happens after harvest, in the cellar.

Full transcripts available on our Substack at www.viticulturepodcast.substack.com, and full video interview available on our YouTube Channel.

Visit our website at www.VitiCulturePodcast.com, and don’t forget to share with your friends via all major social media platforms @VitiCULTUREPod

Visit Fox Run Vineyards at https://foxrunvineyards.com/ and Bellangelo Winery and Missick Cellars at www.Bellangelo.com and www.MissickCellars.com.

In this episode, Chris Missick sits down with a man who has been called the Robert Mondavi of the Finger Lakes, a pioneer that has taken his winery, Fox Run Vineyards to great heights and in the process has helped build the Finger Lakes wine region as well. We're sitting down with Scott Osborn to discuss his early days in the wine industry in California, the explosive growth of the New York wine and Finger Lakes wine industry, his exploration of geology and the legacy he hopes to leave behind.

Full transcripts available on our Substack at www.viticulturepodcast.substack.com, and full video interview available on our YouTube Channel.

Visit our website at www.VitiCulturePodcast.com, and don’t forget to share with your friends via all major social media platforms @VitiCULTUREPod

Visit Fox Run Vineyards at https://foxrunvineyards.com/ and Bellangelo Winery and Missick Cellars at www.Bellangelo.com and www.MissickCellars.com.