By Randy Agness
After two consecutive years of record setting cold temperatures and severe frost conditions during bloom, Finger Lakes vineyard managers were hoping for a reprieve from a third bitterly cold winter in a row.
“The vines definitely need a break as even the hardiest of the Vinifera vines experience high ratios of dead buds along with trunk splitting. Thankfully, the renewal trunks grew rapidly, aided by the 28 days of rain in June and nearly reaching the top wire by harvest. El Nino, however, is posing a different and concerning set of circumstance for the vineyards of the Finger Lakes.
Temperatures reached nearly 68F on Christmas Eve with painful reminisce for many of the seasoned Finger Lakes vineyard owners. “The Christmas Day Massacre of 1980 occurred when the daytime readings were recorded near 46 F on Christmas Eve then rapidly dropped to a brisk -23F overnight,” recalled Art Hunt, owner of Hunt Country Vineyards.
“The severe change killed nearly every vine above the snow line with a tremendous amount of damage along the canes resulting in vines barely of any grapes for the harvest of 1981 across numerous vineyards,” explained Hunt. .
The average daily temperature for December in the Finger Lakes typically runs between mid 30’s for the highs and 20’s for the lows, with snow totaling 20 inches in the same time period.
For this December, no trace of snow fall has been recorded, and the average temperatures were significantly higher at 42 degrees average daily high according to local meteorologist Kevin Williams.
“Throughout the fall and into December, the climate matched what we are seeing now, and that’s concerning”, commented Hunt, “We are ultimately farmers and have to deal with the weather we’re dealt, and we’re still in a harvest deficit, which means we continue to take vineyard management precautions covering the vineyard rows with hay and hilling above the tender graft unions for the grafted viniferous wine grapes.”
In the latest edition of the Finger Lakes Grape Report called Vineyard Notes and Update, Hans Petersen explains the effects of chilling air temperatures as pointed out in a study of the LT50 results for bud death among varieties when temperature reaches -10 F. Cornell Extension surveys the vineyards of the Finger Lakes annually to gather data and verify the weather conditions.
The reverse situation may also create concern as dormant vines will begin to show signs of bud development due to unusually mild temperatures, and the condition of the grapes held on vines for Ice Wine production may be at risk.
“We picked half of the typical grapes hanging for Ice Wine as late harvest due to the concerns,” explained Hunt.
At Sheldrake Point Vineyards, owner Chuck Tauck said, “It depends on the warmth and wetness on the grape clusters, it could induce rot and fungus – disease pressure. It’s like having the grape sit on the kitchen counter versus in the refrigerator.”
The warmer weather also has allowed for the vineyard staffs to get an early jump on winter pruning. “Nature happens, but should the mild temperature continue much further, the chances of bud swell will increase across the Finger Lakes region. That’s our biggest concern”, said Tauck.
“The ideal situation would be for a gradual drop into more seasonal temperatures as so far we’ve seen no bud swelling in the vineyards,” Glen Shaw , Shaw Vineyards mentioned, “and with the mild winter so far, the vines are actually in great shape.”
“Two years ago, the air temperature requirements of 17.8 F and being a period after the first frost were reached before Thanksgiving and last season between Christmas and New Year’s Day to begin the Ice Wine harvest,” commented Matt Cassavaugh, winemaker at Casa Larga Vineyards, “with the continued warm weather extended forecasts, proper conditions for harvesting the Ice Wine grape might not be reached until February.”
For Sheldrake Point Vineyards, January is when we start to plan the potential dates to harvest Ice Wine grapes, noted Tauck.
“Many of the Finger Lakes vineyards have even discussed pulling out the more delicate Vinifera vines including Pinot Grigio, Grunier, and Gewurtramminer along with red varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which require longer growing seasons to develop preferred characteristics,” mentioned Chris Stamp – owner / winemaker Lakewood Vineyards, “the yields from the past two seasons have created these discussions.”
Riesling vines are expected to be primary choice for replanting, unfortunately the availability of 1 year old vines would have been based on decisions made a year in advance. Plus, not all vineyard parcels have been equally affected by the recent substantially colder winters. But, even in the “Banana Belt” of Seneca Lake the overall tonnage per acre have seen significantly lower crop yields among certain wine grape varieties.
Elizabeth Leidenfrost , Winemaker at Leidenfrost Vineyards, voiced her concerns that the frost line depth into the soil might not achieve a high mortality rate for insects, therefore requiring higher expenses associated with pesticide spraying. Leidenfrost continued, “The past two colder winters allowed for less frequent controlled pesticide management in season.”
“Hopefully, the transition to more seasonal temperature will begin very soon,” indicated Stamp, “with nature providing for a cool wet spring, warm summer and dry hot fall.” When asked about the 2015 Harvest, the consensus was significantly lower yields that the bumper crop yields of 2013, and less than the average crop yields of 2014.
“With less fruit on the vines and the slow natural decline of the leaves, the amount of sugar produced would have been divided among a smaller crop providing for grapes more flavorful characteristic,” explained Shaw. Based on the increasing point rating and by the increasing amount of the most prestigious Wine Competition award categories, the expectations will be set even higher for 2015 vintage Finger Lakes Rieslings.
