Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/62522
WineEast Grapegrowing • The most important defense against disease and unripe fruit is a high- quality vineyard site that will create a balanced vine. Find a place that will grow the smallest vine necessary to meet production and quality goals for the type, style and price point of the wine you intend to make. Use Richard Smart's rules of balance as a general guide for vine balance. We learned during this harvest that smaller, open vines had less disease, riper fruit and often picked earlier. • Properly design and develop a vineyard that will take full advantage of the virtues of your site, including slope, local topographic features, aspect, etc. Consider planting disease-resis- tant varieties. • Avoid trees around the vineyard because they block wind movement, create shade and harbor diseases and insects. • If planting vinifera or some hybrids, choose the right rootstock. • Once the vineyard is in production, read the season in the spring and plan accord- ingly. Utilize IPM, canopy management, fruit management, etc. • The spray program is very, very important. The sprayer must be properly calibrated, the correct materials used at the right time, and it all has to fit together. • Control botrytis! • Captan, Flint and Pristine have been iden- tified as broad-spectrum fungicides that may help with sour rot. Plan the spray program so these sprays will be available later in the season. • Canopy management in our cool and often damp climate is so much more important than in dry wine regions. Prun- ing, achieving balance, 3 to 5 shoots per foot, uncluttered head and inter- vine area, hedging and (perhaps most important) timely and correct leaf removal—with a nod toward trace bloom on tight-clustered varieties—will all help to mitigate disease. Get air/wind, light/ heat, spray materials, etc., into the fruit zone and interior of the canopy. • Be proactive in dealing with birds. Net the vineyard, no debate—just do it. Use the best and most appropriate net material. • Deal with deer, raccoons, yellow jackets, etc., as best you can. 60 Wines & Vines DeCeMBeR 2011