Finger Lakes Wines and Grapes: Rolling with summer’s rains

I am always amazed at the vine growth this time of the year. We waited all winter for bud break in May, then flowering began in June, the grape clusters developed and now we’re off to the races.

In a typical year, warm and sunny weather with just enough rainfall causes explosive vine growth starting in mid-July. We certainly have seen it here in 2023! Our weather station recorded 90-degree-plus days in April, May, June and July. Rain has been up and down: April was 7.01, May 1.28, June 5.5 and July 3.3 inches. It averages out to around 4.25 inches a month, just a bit above normal (whatever that means) for our area. Often, rain is very localized in the Finger Lakes, so different spots had more or less rain than we did.

With all the canopy growth, we recently started hedging the vines. This is a process where the canopy growing above the top trellis catch wire is trimmed off to prevent the vines from falling over and shading the fruit. Additionally, it improves air circulation around the vines and throughout the vineyard, which helps prevent mildew from forming.

We do get high humidity levels here in the Finger Lakes, which often keeps the leaves wet, promoting mildew. Powdery and downy mildew are the two main varieties that affect our grape vines. Powdery mildew is in vineyards all around the world, and Vitis vinifera (old world European grapes like riesling, cabernet, pinot noir and chardonnay) are very susceptible to this mildew. This requires growers to spray fungicides during the growing season. When the grapevine shoots reach 3 to 5 inches, spraying will begin.

The other mildew is downy mildew, which becomes active when the shoots reach 10 inches in length. Many of the French-American hybrids (Cayuga white, chambourcin, baco noir, etc.) are not as troubled by mildew. Therefore, they don’t need to be sprayed as often. If the canopy is well-managed and we get a good amount of sun, the vines tend to stay healthy!

There are some other grapevine diseases that need to be watched for. Fortunately, here in the Northeast, we do not have many problems with bugs! The Japanese beetles are about now, but normally they only do cosmetic damage to established vineyards, so we ignore them. However, if you have a newly planted vineyard, you must watch out for them, as they can decimate small vines that don’t have many leaves. Even with the May 18 hard freeze, we are hanging a large crop of grapes on the vine. The new vines we planted are looking really good, peaking out of the top of the grow tubes.

Overall, the vineyard is in great shape right now — let’s hope for a little cooperation from Mother Nature to get us through the remainder of the growing season unscathed!

Our barrel tasting event in July was a big success. We tasted 2021 Cabernet Franc, 2021 Pinot Noir, 2022 Chambourcin and a red blend. Our guests had fun, asked lots of questions and enjoyed the cellar tasting. The wines are really aging well, with the 2021s scheduled to come out of the barrels early this fall to make room for the 2023 vintages.

Aug. 1 means we need to start planning for this year’s harvest. What is the estimated crop load, how many tanks and barrels will be required, and what will our yeast and yeast supplement needs be? These are a few of the questions we asked, and soon we will have the answers! It also means we start to check out harvest equipment: picking bins, crushing-destemming machines, wine press, pumps, tractors, etc. As we go through August, we will need to empty some barrels and tanks and bottle those older vintages that are ready to drink. It’s always a busy time in the vineyard and the winery.

August is officially Finger Lakes Wine Month. The Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, the wine trails of Keuka, Seneca and Cayuga lakes, Finger Lakes Wine Country and the New York Wine and Grape Foundation partnered to recognize and celebrate the wines of the Finger Lakes. Enjoy this welcome summer weather and get out and do some local wine tasting. You can see how grape growth is progressing and taste some great Finger Lakes wines, all a short distance from your home!