Payoff at the end of a good year.  Salut!
10/23/09  Nebbiolo ready for harvest.  Considering the weather this year, the healthy grapes are a victory.
8/17/09  Syrah vines are neatly hedged and have bird netting installed for protection.  We use both nets and Bird-Gard noisemakers to keep the birds at bay.  With luck, harvest is 6-8 weeks away
Nearly ripe Dolcetto is clearly acceptable to our official taste-tester

8/17/07  Villa Dei Fiore Vineyard
8/08.  Nebbiolo has a very long internode length and tends to produce fruitful buds only after the 3rd or 4th bud on a cane.  For this difficult variety, we cane prune, and train 4 canes from a very low head.  This gives us just the right vine balance and crop yield.
Moscato Bianco tends to push buds only at the beginning and end of canes. The Pendlebogen training system forces Muscato to be productive along the entire cane length by arching the canes upwards. 
View from vineyard during installation of bird netting 8/26/06
Pinot Noir vines after final hedging, ready for installation of bird netting 8/26/06.  These vines are now in their 6th leaf, and they are maturing nicely.
9/10/05  Everybody gets put to work during harvest time.  Phoebe is hauling nice, ripe Pinot Noir out of the vineyard.
8/28/05  Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris) nearing harvest.  It looks like it will be an early harvest this year, with good yield and ripeness.
July 2005.  Cabernet Sauvignon trained to a modified Smart-Dyson split canopy trellis system.  This system keeps the fruit exposed in the middle of the trellis, with canes extending both upwards and downwards.  The system takes advantage of Cabernet's vigor to improve both crop yield and quality by using a taller trellis to maximize the leaf surface area exposed to the sun.
July 2005.  A single Pinot Noir vine showing classic vertical shoot positioning.  The permanent arms are tied to the fruit wire at the bottom, and each of the current season's canes are trained vertically up to the top wire, where they get hedged as necessary.  The goal is to get maximum sun exposure to every leaf.
July 2005.  Pinot Noir vines after training and hedging.  The very narrow vertical trellises allow for maximum sun exposure on both sides, and good airflow through the canopy to minimize moisture and mildew issues.
Roses at end of vineyard rows 5/1/05  Most of our new vineyard rows also get roses planted at the row ends.  Roses act as sentinel species for diseases, and they're attractive, too.
grafted grape vines just planted All of our grapevines are grafted onto rootstocks selected for properties appropriate to our region.  This is a Sangiovese vine just planted
Vines budding out in second year Second year Syrah Vine just budding out at Villa Dei Fiore
Vineyard planting at Villa Dei Fiore 5/1/05  Expanding Villa Dei Fiore Vineyard in Middletown.   This area is getting Sangiovese and Granache Grapes
Pete Engle harveting Pinot Noir for champagne Harvesting Pinot Noir for Champagne September 2004.  See our U-Pick page for last year's varieties and harvest analysis.  We will update the U-Pick page mid-season with the varieties and harvest quantities expected this year.
Chambourcin Nearing Harvest 9/3/04 The grapes are ripening nicely, and the vines are still healthy.  It's shaping up to be a good harvest.
vineyard management gaurantees healthy grape vines 6/24/04  Traminette on the right, Cabernet Franc on the left.
pinot noir nearly ready for champagne 8/16/2003

Pinot Noir Grapes Starting to color up nicely.

A tough year for botrytis and other molds, but it looks like a good harvest anyhow.
Elves keep watch in the Vineyard 9/1/2003

Elves watch over the grapes while we are away.
traminette ready for wine Traminette Ready for Harvest 10/3/03
grapes will be wine soon Pinot Noir grapes headed for the winery 10/20/03