Another vintage past, getting ready for the next.  The cycle of the small farm winery is nothing like 'modern life' is anymore.  I see the muscadines weeping when they're cut and the winter crocus blooming and the willow's bark and tiny buds greening and I know the explosion of spring growth is just around the corner.  Now that my occupation (farmer) isn't even counted by the US Census anymore, I always wonder what we would do if (when?) something bad happens and the majority of us living in urban environments couldn't just go down to the store or restaurant and buy food.  Where would we get it?  Could we provide for ourselves?  Do we know how to do anything besides watching television, surfing the internet, talking on cell phones, driving, using MS Office, and killing time on Facebook?  Please make this the year you learn something about where your food comes from and try to make something for yourself, especially food.  Try to 'feel the hills' as you ride through your life instead of putting it 'on cruise' and jamming it along at a constant rate.  If the Amish driver ran his horse like we "English" ride our cars and lives, the horse would be dead in one trip!  Dare to step out of your insulated "bubble life" and meet new people, discuss ideas without being angry, and "do unto others as you wish they would do to you!"  Most of all, TURN OFF THE TALKING HEADS telling you how to think and think for yourself - including the background study really knowing a subject requires.  Don't be a lazy American expecting 'the good life' to fall on your doorstep.  Learn, love, tolerate and give to the world instead of thinking you are the center of the universe deserving to profit from your every action.

Wow!  How's that for a rant on Americanism!!!  Now to the vineyard.  I may remember 2010 as the vintage that Global Warming came home to roost in Virginia.  It was a very hot year (most varieties ripened 2-3 weeks early) and very cyclic in precipitation.  The season started hot in March while I was finishing pruning.  A whole week was above 80F with at least one day at 90F!  By the time I finished pruning some vines had 4" long shoots.  The moisture levels were good into June, but then it was very dry through July into August, the period when my grapes are growing rapidly and getting ready to ripen.  In August the rains returned and many cracking susceptible varieties split, requiring rapid harvest to save them for wine.  As it was I lost half my Vidal Blanc to cracking.  The rains then held into September when another dry spell happened during late harvest.  That worked out fine.

I did extensive bird netting in 2010 using round bale netting which served to protect the fruit well and allow the reds to ripen more fully.  I was very pleased with the results and am currently testing leaving the bale netting out in the vineyard rolled up under the lowest wire through the year.  In my 'one man show' this is a major labor saving step.  So far the netting looks as good as new with no photodegradation.   If I somehow manage to go three years with the same netting, it would be a major triumph in cost-effective bird control.  Even two years is a huge savings by cutting the expense per year in half.

New hybrid fruit was everywhere across Chateau Z Vineyard during the 2010 harvest season.  Instead of posting too much here, I direct you to the Virtual Vineyard at: http://www.chateau-z.com/gpage.html where you can select the '2010 Virtual Vineyard' link to see all the photos and data I collected over the season.  Any variety with a numbered identification of the form YY-XXX-vv is one of my hybrids.  YY is the year of the cross, XXX is the cross number and vv is the vine number from the cross.  All of my cross information is listed at: http://www.chateau-z.com/zhybrids.html .  This is where you can find the pedigree of each cross.

One special beauty that fruited for the first time this year was my 06-92-1 hybrid from a cross of my 'Panther Falls Road tannic aestivalis' with 'Suffolk Red'.  Here is the fruit:

This grape makes a really delicious rose' with just a slight hint of Delaware flavor.  A true treasure from a wild vine's seed!

The 06-92-1's sister, 06-92-2, is also a fascinating grape in that it appears to be very similar to the historic variety 'Red Bland' which I mentioned last year in looking at my 06-114-1 which also looks like how the 'Red Bland' was described.  I now favor the 06-92 type cross (aestivalis X labruscana) for a 'Red Bland' analog because of the overwhelmingly aestivalis character of its offspring 'Norton'.  Here's the fruit on the 06-92-2:

Back crossing this kind of grape with a wild aestivalis selection will make the offspring 75% aestivalis which is pretty much what 'Norton' looks like.  What would be fascinating (and I intend to try it) would be to pollinate a wild aestivalis with the 06-114-1 'Foxy Vixen' based labruscana (as I suggested last year, but all attempts last year failed), select a self-fertile, then pollinate another aestivalis with that new seedling.  These should also have a high enough aestivalis content to be 'Norton Class', but the addition of cordifolia in the labruscana grandparent would be interesting to follow into the grandchildren.

There's lots to do in 2011!  Get outdoors, grow some seeds, hike the forests and parks, get out of your house and car, and let go of the stress the media is pumping you full of.  Turn it all off.  Unplug.  "Get back to Nature" as they used to say!