Well…we have been busy here here at Turtle Vines the last few month.  I will just catch you up on the highlights!

For my Birthday this last January Joanne gave me a Vinmetrics 300 so I can now do pH/TA and Sulfur tests on our wine and grapes during harvest season.  We tried them out and compared them to our local lab and found it to be quite accurate and pretty easy to use, although I had to channel my high school chemistry lab (thanks Mr Fletcher).

We bottled and labelled our 2014 Merlot…sorry not for sale as we only had 4 cases, but if you are lucky enough to be in town, I’ll open up a bottle.  It is the perfect pizza wine.  Last week I labelled our 2013 Pinot and spun capsules on the tops.  I REALLY like this wine, as does the “Prince of Pinot”, so if you want some order it fast when I release it in the next few weeks.  We also bottled, labelled and capsuled our 2014 Sauvignon Blanc (8 cases).  This year it is much more like a traditional Sauvignon Blanc since we had more Clone 1 than last year.  And I researching an easy way to make Champagne on a small scale!

Lastly, as you can see from the picture above, the vines have grown like crazy this year.  Not only did Bud Break and Bloom happen 2 weeks ahead of last year, but the last 6 weeks were perfect for plant growth…warm with a few instances of rain.  We have finished shoot thinning and moving wires…but we now have to shoot straighten to prevent powdery mildew, hedge the top at 6.5′ for the perfect amount of foliage, leaf and weed whack around the base.  Hoping to finish these by the first week of June, and then the vineyard will be in great shape for the rest of the year.