Week 15 (Sept. 23rd - 27th)

This is a clear example of a "bull cane." This shoot is characterized by excessive vegetative growth, which can be caused by various reasons. If soil nitrate levels are too high (or alternatively looking at it, if soil organic matter above 5%) vine shoots can be dominated by bull canes. However, this isn't the case for this vine since we don't fertilize and our organic matter is around three percent. You can see that the right cordon is dead (right above the cane), so therefore all nutrient and water supply from this half of the vine (maybe even a whole second trunk) is fueling the growth of this individual shoot. This may seem like a good thing, and it even looks good since the bull cane is in a perfect spot to renew the dead cordon, however this isn't the case. Bull canes are not winter hardy, because they wont ripen off properly and have big buds, and don't necessarily produce quality fruit. Therefore, these shouldn't be used as fruiting canes, but can temporarily be kept in order to keep vegetative growth in check (just like kicker canes). A goal is to keep fruiting canes smaller than the width of a pencil. 

The patterns on these leave are a result of a bud mutation. Just as bud mutations can change fruit color, so can they alter the chemical make-up of the leaves. These leaves are called chimeras and the white patches are due to the leave's inability to produce chlorophyll in certain areas. Whole shoots can be mutated white, which is bad for plant health because then they become nutrient sinks instead of sources. 

We decided to harvest half of our Marquette early in order to compare it to a second harvest in a few weeks. Of the two clusters per shoot, we alternated picking the top and bottom of each shoot in order to get a representational sample size. Typically the basal most cluster will be farthest along in fruit development since its complimentary leaf will have had the most time to mature (and it is closest to the cordon). Sometimes growers will let their basal clusters hang and remove them later for a reserve wine. These lugs were weighed, destemmed (in the destemmer to the right), fermented in the upside-down white buckets, pressed in our bladder press, racked, sent through malolactic fermentation (in order to add aromas and drop malic acid), reracked again and then aged. 

You can notice the difference in color of the berries that were exposed to the sun verses those that weren't. Fruit exposure to sunlight is important in increasing flanvanols (phenolic compounds which make up the wine's flavor, astringency, complexity, and aging potential). Additionally, exposed berries will have lower levels of acid (both tartaric and malic).  Lesson to be learned: find the Goldilocks. Learn how to expose fruit to the sun so that you can increase the flavors and colors to their maximum potential, while decreasing unpalatable acids.  However, if you leaf thin too much in the wrong places or at the wrong time, then berries may become sun burned and wither out.