#182 When Reporting a Problem, Also Report a Solution.

Frost took a toll on our vineyard, but our Vineyard Manager had a back-up plan.

We had nearly finished pruning and tying down canes when the frost occurred. After a frost like this one, we had to assess the condition of each “node,” or “bud,” on each cane. Had the bud pushed any green material out? If it has, does the exposed foliage look healthy. If there is no foliage, does that mean the bud has suffered terminal damage?

We have been examining our vines since the frost on the morning of April 21. Temperatures were 24 degrees for six hours. Our consensus the day after was that we would have to wait for several weeks before we could confirm the effects of the cold.

So far, the assessment is “mixed.”

We have canes where the buds had either burst or were swollen with moisture, but not yet burst. These were at a stage that made them vulnerable to the freezing temperatures. Some were damaged. Some were not. We also had canes where the buds had pushed out foliage; maybe 70 percent of those survived.

On the left in the picture above is a young Riesling vine planted in 2024. It is looking unscathed, with bud break at every node on the cane. On the right is an older Riesling vine planted in 2010. Buds were just beginning to swell. Many of them were at a stage where they are not likely to have survived.

Overall, we are seeing that the older Riesling, Cab Franc and Gewürztraminer vines lost more buds. Our guess is the loss is around 30 percent on the older Riesling and Cab Franc; 80 percent on the Gewurztraminer.

On the left above is a Cab Franc cane planted in 2022 that has all live buds. On the right, is a Cab Franc cane planted in 2013 that looks like it may have no live buds. There is great variability throughout the vineyard depending upon location, age and varietal.

Our Vineyard Manager, Kees Stapel, says that when he began working in the vineyard at Sheldrake Point, he learned the pruning practice of always leaving two extra canes on each vine. Those two extra canes are there in case frost damages some percentage of the buds on the canes that are tied down. He and his team can tie down these extra canes with live buds to supplement or replace the canes where buds were lost.

In years where we have no frost damage, we simply cut the extra canes off once the risk of frost is behind us. It is a good thing, though, that we have these extras.

We expect temperatures to be in the 40’s to 60’s in the coming two weeks, which is just what we like to see. We all remember that we had a hard frost on May 18 in 2023, so we are not in any hurry to see any more growth. We want to be well past the “last frost” date before it gets warm enough for the vines’ growth to accelerate.

Above is a young Cab Franc vine planted in 2024. Most of its buds appear to have survived. buds look fine. The younger vines seemed to have survived the frost better than the older ones.

In the final analysis, no matter how you get there, the point is to have all LIVE buds on the wire, all the way across, with 4-inch spacing between them.

The vineyard team has a lot of work ahead to assess every vine. Each original, tied-down cane will be in better or worse condition and each of the extra canes will be better or worse condition. It is up to the judgment of member of the vineyard team to re-configure each vine so that we achieve a successful harvest in spite of this frost event.