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6 WINES&VINES March 2018 A member of Wine Communications Group Inc. ADVERTISING Vice President and Director of Sales Jacques Brix jbrix@winesandvines.com (707) 473-0244 West Lydia Hall lydia@winesandvines.com (415) 453-9700, ext. 103 Midwest Hooper Jones hooperhja@aol.com (847) 486-1021 East (except New York) Laura Lemos laura@boja.com (973) 822-9274 New York and International Dave Bayard dave@bayard.com (973) 822-9275 Advertising Production Manager April Kushner ads@winesandvines.com (415) 453-9700, ext. 114 DIGITAL EDITION All print subscribers now get digital access to Wines & Vines. You can: • DOWNLOAD pages or full issues • BROWSE current and archived issues • WATCH videos • ACCESS via desktop, tablet or smartphone • SEARCH by keyword or table of contents • NAVIGATE by topic or page thumbnail • QUESTIONS? Contact customer ser- vice at custserv@winesandvines.com or (866) 453-9701 Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. PDT. 36 WINES& Research shows post-véraison irrigation does not increase berry size but may reduce dehydration KEY POINTS CONNECT WITH US CONTRIBUTORS Laurie Daniel is a veteran newspaper and magazine journalist who has been covering the wine industry for decades, including 12 years as a contributor to our pages. Her insatiable curiosity makes her a good interviewer, and in this issue her subject is Randy Heinzen (page 32), a young viticulturist and entrepreneur in San Luis Obispo County, Calif. Heinzen owns Vineyard Professional Services and explains what sorts of innovations are useful in the 4,000 acres his company oversees. In his article "Grapevine Phenology Revisited" (page 60), viticulture consultant Fritz Westover reviews the reasons for keeping good vineyard records. He says the beginning of a new growing season is an ideal time to start tracking growth stages of the different varieties in your vineyard. Seasonal phenology records can be especially help- ful in canopy management as well as pest- and disease-control pro- grams. The potential results, according to Westover, include improved efficiency, vine health and reduced labor costs. In this issue, Dr. Tim Martinson contributes the second installment in a multi-part series on genetics. In "DNA Sequencing Now Costs Pen- nies" (page 64), he explains how new technology enables grapevine geneticists to find out almost overnight which seedlings resulting from a cross carry the desired genes for disease resistance or fruit quality, instead of waiting for years. As a senior extension associate in the Cor- nell University School of Integrative Plant Science, Martinson works to provide growers and wineries with educational programs and applied research that supports profitable production of grapes and wine. MARCH 2018 PRACTICAL TECHNOLOGY What works for small and large growers Irrigation Myths • Grapevine Phenology • Plus: New Barrels ON THE COVER As the cover of our Vineyard Equipment & Technology Issue illustrates, mechanization is not just for large winemaking companies anymore. Tools such as these automated pruning shears by Pellenc make it possible for older vineyard workers to extend their careers, work efficiently and avoid repetitive motion injury. QUESTION FOR MARCH: What steps have you taken toward mechanizing your vineyard? Don Brady Lead winemaker Robert Hall Winery Paso Robles, Calif. Any time we can replace hand- work with a machine operation and get equivalent or better quality, we get excited. Currently we are using machine leaf removal to very good effect. We also are machine harvesting the bulk of our fruit. The new generation of mechanical harvesters with selective harvest capabilities provide very clean fruit, picked and delivered with optimum timing at a fraction of the expense. Jason Haas Partner and general manager Tablas Creek Vineyard Paso Robles, Calif. We have not increased mechani- zation at Tablas Creek. In fact, in recent years we have de-indus- trialized our vineyard. We have integrated a mixed flock of 250 sheep and alpacas that graze our cover crop and fertilize naturally. In pruning and picking, we've gone to multiple passes. In both cases, the extra labor costs are worth it in the higher quantity of top quality fruit that we can squeeze off our 105 acres. Mark E. Lingenfelder EVP-vineyard operations Chalk Hill Estate Healdsburg, Calif. We purchased a Pellenc mechan- ical leaf remover and will use it for the first time this season. We may purchase additional units in the future to cover more acres in a timely manner. We are planning to machine harvest about 10% of our acreage in 2018. Only some of our blocks are suitable for machine harvest, and those require some trellis retrofitting. All future plantings will be configured for machine harvest. BRITTANY APP