Dry, cracked ground at CJS Vineyards & Aurelius Winery.
Dry, cracked ground at CJS Vineyards & Aurelius Winery.
Chris Scholomiti
Grapes love sunshine and warm weather, and so far this summer we’re getting plenty of both! This past week was the third heat wave in the Finger Lakes region; the weather people say three days in a row with 90-plus-degree temperature is officially a heat wave. According to our friends at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Finger Lakes Grape Program we are about four days ahead of a normal season for heat “growing degree days." That’s amazing, since we were 23 days behind at the end of April! On the downside, we barely saw any rain in July until this week, only 1.1 inches of rain in June in our Fosterville vineyard, and just a slight bit of rain in the lake vineyard. We “dry farm” our grapes and do not have any irrigation system; fortunately, established grape vines have deep root systems and can access ground water below. New vineyards planted this spring or a year or so ago need to be watered in this type of weather. We are about 5 inches behind in rain since April compared to a typical year. The best thing would be for Mother Nature to give us a couple of inches of nice, steady rain over the remainder of the month.
On Tuesday, I met with other grape growers online. We used to get together in person every two weeks during the growing season at “tailgate meetings” hosted by a local vineyard and the viticulture extension specialist from the Finger Lakes Grape Program. Since COVID-19, we do Zoom meetings. Everyone is seeing lots of vine growth and experiencing dry conditions. This time of the year, we start to do “leaf pulling” — this is a practice where we remove about 60% of the leaves around the growing grape clusters to expose them to more sunlight and wind. This prevents the grapes from getting sunburned later in the season, and helps air circulation to dry out the vines from the morning dew, and minimize mildew. So, we are always busy in the vineyards.
In the winery, with this hot, dry summer, winemakers are starting to think about an early harvest as the grapes are developing very quickly, similar to 2012 and 2016. In those hot years, we finished up harvest almost a month before we normally would have. Looks like 2020 could be early, so now we will start getting picking and crushing equipment cleaned and readied for this year’s winemaking. Oak barrel orders need to be in. We have to put a new seal in one of our pumps, and check out the crusher/destemmer and the bladder press. We’ll also bottle some of our dry red wines that have been aging for almost two years in oak barrels. We’ll need those barrels for this year’s vintage. Before you know it, September will be here.
Our tasting room has been open since June 13, by appointment, and we’ve seen a steady flow of visitors from New York state and the Northeast area. We practice social distancing, sanitize thoroughly after each tasting session, and it’s been working out very well. Folks are glad to be able to get out and taste some fine Finger Lakes wines in a safe environment. If you’re planning a wine tasting trip, call ahead to see when your favorite wineries are open, and if appointments are needed.
Chris Scholomiti is co-owner and winemaker at CJS Vineyards & Aurelius Winery, located at 6900 Fosterville Road, Aurelius. The winery's tasting room is now open by appointment, and it also offers curbside social distancing pickup and wine shipments. For more information, questions or comments about the column or wine and grape-growing in the Finger Lakes, email wine@cjsvineyards.com, call (315) 730-4619 or find the winery on Facebook.
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July 17, 2020 at 05:02AM
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Finger Lakes Wines and Grapes: July rain couldn't have come soon enough - The Citizen
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