Are you ready for the next vintage?

“You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing onto you”

 Heraclitus 540-480BC

Getting ready for the new vintage is always a bustle. With this Winter’s ground cover slowing things down slightly for the year it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day tasks which occupy our mind much of the time. However, if there were one thing I could teach anyone who must work with nature as closely as we do in farming, it would be, “Do not fight the last War”.

Whether your last vintage was a success or not; none of that matters now, there is a new vintage at hand.

I know the last statement may seem a little ominous, but our greatest asset as winemakers and viticulturists is in our ability to deal with uncertainty. We learn to operate effectively in environments where we do not have control, our predictions are just that and the reality is we do not know what may be coming next. Under these circumstances it is important to understand the importance of developing a strong mind for being able to deal in uncertainty with fluidity. The answer yesterday is not the answer tomorrow. Our victory last season will most likely be our downfall this season if we try to fight the same war. It is under this pretense that I have compiled my thoughts for each of you as we head into the coming season. 

The quote from Heraclitus at the beginning is the perfect illustration of what it means to be farmers and how we should look at our education whether self prescribed or official. In that one short statement we understand that things are constantly moving and they are never the same. We can also see that some things are the same. We can’t be sure of the depth, we can’t touch the same water as before and the currents will be stronger or weaker yet never the same. What we do know is that water is wet, there will be currents, water flows downhill and there is a bottom. The things we do know are the square corners. Those are the things we can sleep on. Those are the things we should spend our time studying. The top three most important things we deal with in the vineyard relating to quality and production is the Sun, Nitrogen and Water. Breaking that down further we can see that we have no control over the Sun, little control over Nitrogen and our greatest advantage in Washington is nearly full control of the water. Nitrogen we know moves with water and does not without. This is why water is the number one most important factor in grape growing from a management perspective. We know that we can put water in, but we can’t take it out. Only the Sun can do that, little on it’s own and a lot with the aid of plants through transpiration. When nature gives you a chance to remove the water by way of the Sun, take it. Then put back what you know is there at the beginning of each season. Last year’s example of early heat at the end of May is excellent. It was hot, but we also had plenty of water to get rid from our Winter soil moisture. Those that didn’t and fell into irrigation at this point over watered when El Nino broke and we had an unprecedented 6 weeks of cool weather. Nature will pay you no heed; neither should you it. 

You may have noticed I used an example from the last vintage. Now, I am going to tell you that it looks like we are in the same position as the last vintage from a similar amount of soil moisture this Winter. The answers to the season will not be the same I can assure you, we don’t know what type of heat or wind or weather this Spring will yet bring. We do know that plenty is there at this point and we should be focused on using the environment to our advantage in removing it. Deeper soils will need to stressed harder than thin soils, an advantage of terroir. Another aspect that I have not heard, but from one other grower is the amount of nitrogen availability. How far do your roots go down? If there is an additional foot of soil with plenty of water, what comes with it…. It was this reason that we decided to forego half the nitrogen we normally add last year. We also decided to do a foliar nitrogen spray for our second addition on the deeper soils because we didn’t want to add even the six hours of irrigation that we would need to put it in through the drip. These are answers to questions that we asked last season. Entering this year, I am remembering them, but prescribing to none. It is in this way we enter each season with a man’s mind and a child’s eyes. 

"The mind of someone who has reached the ultimate state does not stay with anything, even for a second. It is like an empty gourd on the water that is pushed around" 

Takuan 1573-1645

Author’s note: Developing the mind is one of the most important tasks that can be undertaken by a viticulturist or winemaker. Winter for me is when I have the opportunity to sit down over the course of two months and read heavily. During this time I study the vine, and the varieties I grow. With each research paper I try to understand the environment that was subjected on to the plant and how it reacted. These are your tools in the vineyard when the uncontrollable happens. I also study myself through philosophy. Philosophy on it’s own is just theory as you'll see in the last quote in action; it is your resolve. Have a great season.

"Theory cannot equip the mind with formulas for solving problems, nor can it mark the narrow path on which the sole solution is supposed to lie by planting a hedge of principles on either side. But it can give the mind insight into the great mass of phenomena and of their relationships, then leave it free to rise into the higher realms of action. There the mind can use its innate talents to capacity, combining them all so as to seize on what is right and true as though this were a single idea formed by their concentrated pressure— as though it were a single response to the immediate challenge rather than a product of thought." 

Carl Von Clausewitz 1780-1831