Exploring the Vineyard

Yesterday, we went into the fields to learn about the vineyard, something I had been looking forward to. In coming to a winery, I was more interested in the production of wine and the fields than in the cooking. I am happy to be in a kitchen some days, but I really enjoy learning about something I feel I do not know enough about. When in the associate's program at school, we had to take a 3-week wines class that really just touched the surface of the world of wine, but it was enough to interest me. This played into my decision into coming here to study for 3 weeks. 

Right now is when the vines are pruned, as they will begin growing shortly. The red grapes are pruned to have 2 buds per branch, while the white, like Chardonnay, has 3 buds per branch. This is because the red grapes need a better quality to produce a richer wine, while the white is a little more about quantity and freshness. 

 This little red looking tie is to help with insects. The vineyard is totally organic, therefore no chemical pesticides or insecticides can be used. The one virus that is the most common is from butterflies. The females lay their eggs on the grapes and the males go to that smell. Then a caterpillar is formed, which creates a liaison in the grape, causing a disease. This little red tie has the scent of the female butterfly eggs to distract the males, therefore they will not create a caterpillar. 

Here at Winery Tormaresca, these rose bushes are used simply as decoration, but for many, they do have a purpose. Rose bushes are very susceptible to disease, therefore when they look weird, it tells the workers that something is wrong, before it spreads down the vineyard. These rose bushes are put at the start of each row of vines for this purpose. Here, they have a special machine which tells them based on specific conditions, if they should watch for infection. With certain conditions, like humidity, precipitation, heat, etc., infection is more common. 

We also got to see grafting in action! We learned about this in our wines class, but it was very cool to see how it is actually done. Grafting is when they take a wild growing vine and place another vine on top, connecting them. This produces a new grape variety. 

We also were able to help the workers in the olive fields. Unfortunately, due to the frost, about 18% of the olive trees were destroyed. They may not produce much if any, olive oil this coming year. 

This upcoming week we are traveling to 3 different restaurants to work, something I am very nervous about. We leave the winery this Friday and return next Friday to work our last day here.

With Love,
Baylee