wine

Can you afford a consultant? How I saved 60,000 dollars in chemicals over two vintages. Part 1 of 2

Can you afford a consultant? How I saved 60,000 dollars in chemicals over two vintages. Part 1 of 2

Is that real? Absolutely, and the comparison is perfect. If I were talking about one of the last three; hot, hotter and hottest vintages alone someone might think that I was just lucky. What about this year? Not an easy year for mildew and botrytis in the vineyards. Conditions were perfect for infections. But, what if I told you I sprayed less this year in the vineyard than last year? What if I told you that we stopped spraying the vineyards in the first week of June? 

Too much irrigation... In a hot season?

Too much irrigation... In a hot season?

In much of Washington's growing area we have more control than most of the growing areas in the world. Our soils are naturally barren, and we have essentially no rainfall, or very little rainfall in the main part of the growing season. In a sense, we have a more empty canvas than many vineyards around the world; with that, we can choose to paint the picture we wish to paint.