Well, I just about let the whole year go by without posting a single thing about the 2010 season. It doesn't mean I haven't been busy with my hobby, just slack about writing a post. Overall this season will have to go down as one of the strangest for me....
The Spring started off well with plenty of moisture and healthy vine growth but the summer months didn't fair so well. First, the drought set in. Now I know you're thinking "I thought droughts were good for grapes?" They are, however, the wildlife need water too. So this year, instead of waiting for the grapes to sweeten a little, the critters decided to come in early to enjoy moist leaves and green grapes. I believe most of the damage came from the herds of deer I have around the vineyard but the vineyard damage wasn't the only problem to evolve this year.
While I watched my young grapes disappear, I also noticed an occasional missing chicken. Hmmm? So as I spent the summer trying to trap whatever it was getting the chicks, the vineyard went to pot. Very depressing.
Eventually, I caught me a monster raccoon but that didn't stop the massacre. Later on, I caught an opossum. After 6 or so yearsof raising chickens, this is the worst predator year on record. I have since provided better living quarters for the chickens and hopefully resolved my predator issue. Now back to the grapes...
Brad and I continued to rack and taste the 2009 vintage of Traminette and Chambourcin and on occassion, we bottled some. I will have to say we were doing something right....this stuff was good!
I decided that the 2009 Chambourcin we had just bottled was good enough for competition so, after skipping last year's State Fair competition, I figured why not. I also entered a 2008 Cayuga White that turned out pretty good also.
In August, Brad and I again purchased Traminette from Jerry Coburn and this year's harvest had much better numbers than last....because of the drought of course. I have been much better about keeping notes this year as compared to last and will post them a little later.
So, as the year winds down...what?...Oh. You want know how we did in the State Fair. Well, the 2008 Cayuga White again, won first. 2nd time. This is a variety I have decided not to grow but Brad loves it so he's getting my vines. Needless to say after winning 1st...twice, it's gonna be hard to tell Brad not to grow it. 2009 Chambourcin is a dry red wine that we oaked...Best of Show! That's right! Best wine at the 2010 Va State Fair. We are on cloud 9! How exciting!
Cheers!
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