Wine Diary
Put Out Feelers
All around our wine growing region, we can almost feel how the plants are gently mobilizing energy, which they have stored during winter. The process is still in its infancy, our young buds have not yet left wool stage. An advantage, as the nights are really getting cool. When they will fully sprout depends very much on the weather of this week.
Dandelions and daisies blossom between the vines in the fresh green grass. It is also the time for all sorts of small creatures to stretch out their feelers in order to get active, whether to the benefit or harm of the growers. Our bees from Loiserberg have already collected nectar from almond, cherry and apricot trees, now they are finding their food on the green ground. Predator mites are settling in the old stems and unwittingly help the vintner with their raids.
We have already brought the pheromones to disorient the dreaded grape berry moths (lobesia botrana). The so called “confusion method” will minimize their procreation in an environmentally friendly way. Here, a well concerted cooperation of as many growers as possible is requested to effectively protect vast contiguous vineyard blocks.