I’m passionate about engaging people in agriculture and horticulture.  LEGO® Grower is my fun and quirky way of connecting people with the practices and artistry of growing wine.  In these blogs, LEGO® Grower takes you on a seasonal winegrowing journey in Marlborough. 

Thanks to Aimee Snowden for my LEGO®  Grower fella.

Frost

LEGO® Grower’s worried. There was an early season frost last night and he’s not sure whether the delicate chardonnay buds are OK.  

The early buds and shoots are very sensitive to frost damage.  A damaged bud might not grow into a shoot or produce fruit, but do you know what’s even worse? A damaged bud means less fruit this year but also less fruit for the next 2 or 3 years. And on top of that, fruit quality is also reduced.  Spring frost is a real worry.  Spring frost season is stress season.

For those weeks when the buds and shoots are very delicate,

LEGO® Grower’s on frost fighting duty.  It’s constant. If there’s a frost threat, it means hourly weather checks, getting up at all hours of the night to check the wind machines are running, and sometimes, organising and supervising helicopters.  It’s a tiring and stressful time, and in Marlborough, that’s for about 3 months until the shoots are tough enough to cope.  

Good news to report – no damage to the buds!  Onto the next frost event and another sleepless night.

Irrigation check

LEGO® Grower’s busy with pre-season irrigation checks.   Water is precious and LEGO® Grower’s focused on the right amount of water, in the right place, at the right time.  

LEGO® Grower often calls irrigation - irritation – when there’s an irrigation problem, it’s a real pain in the butt.  That’s why these pre-season checks are so important.  It’s all about timeliness: checking the irrigation works BEFORE you need to use it, or, incase you need to make repairs.  Basically, he runs the system, checks pumps, flushes the lines, checks every row in every block, makes sure there are no blockages in the emitters, fixes leaks.  It can be a long and at times wet job (!), but very satisfying when the irrigation hums smoothly and sweetly.   Better to have irrigation – not irritation!

All part of making sure the right amount of water, is applied in the right place, at the right time.

Diversity

LEGO® Grower’s feeling pretty pleased with himself. His mid-row and under -vine planting trials have been a huge success, and now vineyard biodiversity has increased. Great for the soil, great for the vines, and great for the environment. Win-win for all!

Increasing vineyard biodiversity is important to LEGO® Grower. A few years ago, he started sowing a wider range of permanent plants in the mid-rows (strips between the vines); things like clovers, plantain, cocksfoot, buckwheat and wildflowers. Increased biodiversity means healthier soil and provides a home for the beneficial insects that predate on vineyard pests.  On warm days, the mid-rows are buzzing with bees and other busy insects.  And that is incredibly satisfying.  Plus, he thinks the wildflowers look pretty when they flower.  

LEGO® Grower also want to spray less, and this season, trialled sowing a permanent sward under the vines. Not spraying under-vine, means healthier soils, time saved and money saved: less spray and less tractor passes. Altering the seeder tubes to drop seed under-vine instead of mid-row was a challenge for LEGO® Grower: nothing like a bit of Kiwi ingenuity and baling twine to fix the problem!

Increased biodiversity really is a win-win: a win for LEGO® Grower and a win for the vineyard environment.

Wire lifting

The season’s cranking up, everything’s growing and LEGO® Grower’s getting busy.  Working with the contractors this week doing the first wire lift and shoot tuck for the season. 

It’s getting windy here in Marlborough and the new shoots are getting blown around.  If the shoots break off the canes, then we lose the fruit attached to the shoot.  Let me describe a bit more.  The shoots grow off the canes that are wrapped around the wires that are permanently fixed to the post.  Above this are two movable wires, running along each row of vines, on either side of the post.  They sit in a series of clips up the post and the wires are moved up as the shoots grow up – “wire lifting”.  As the wires are lifted, the shoots are tucked up and under the wires – “tucking”.  The wires stop the shoots from being broken and tucking encourages the shoots to grow up - which means increased air flow and sunlight into the canopy.  Just like that!

Really satisfying to see the shoots tucked in, supported and growing like mad.

Spraying

LEGO® Grower’s flat out.  Early starts to beat the wind and long days.  Everything is growing like mad!

A couple of new grapevine leaves every 3 or 4 days, leaves that are the engine room of the plant.  The season is motoring!  LEGO® Grower feels like he’s living in the tractor: mowing, mowing, mowing grass and spraying, spraying, spraying vines.  Timely spraying is crucial at this rapid growth stage because these early leaves are vulnerable to disease.  LEGO® Grower is very proactive.  He has a protectant spraying programme that aims to prevent disease later in the season.  The weather has been a real headache this season - windy and regular rain showers.  You can’t spray when it’s windy, the rain washes off your spray, and you need to take every spraying window you can to protect your young leaves.

Add on top: the daily irrigation checks, weekly pest and disease monitoring and managing contractors for the second wire lift and shoot thinning.  No wonder LEGO® Grower’s flat out.  

Bud rubbing

LEGO® Grower’s just finished bud rubbing with the contractors. It’s been windy and showery, one of the tractors was in the workshop, so he had a couple of days break from spraying and mowing. 

Let me describe a bit more. Latent buds burst from the older parts of the trunk, and if left, grow into shoots. These shoots grow up, get tangled in the carefully managed canopy, and it ends up a bit of a jungle. These shoots don’t produce bunches, so LEGO® Grower needs to remove these buds when they first burst. He puts on leather gloves, runs his hand quickly down the trunk, and the buds break off.  Simple and quick, but try this: crouch down, stand up, walk two paces, crouch down, stand up, walk two, crouch down, stand up, walk two….. thousands of times. LEGO® Grower’s back gets sore, his knees ache and his thighs burn. But bud rubbing means he’s up close and personal with every vine, can do a quick health check, and also spot any irrigation leaks.  He also loves working with the Thai contractors, talking and sharing meals.

Bud rubbing’s finished for the season, the tractor’s finally repaired and flowering is around the corner.  

Flowering

LEGO® Grower’s holding his breath.  The vines are flowering and he’s at the mercy of mother nature.  Nothing he can do, just wait and see.

Conditions were good for Chardonnay and Pinot flowering last week, but Sauvignon is flowering this week and it’s predicted to be drizzly, cool and a bit windy.  Cool, wet and windy means poor flowering, poor fruit set, which means less berries, lower bunch weights, potentially less income for growers and less fruit for the winery.  

LEGO® Grower’s been counting inflorescences over the past few days - one of his ways to predict vineyard yield.  And predicting yield means the winery can plan ahead: do we need extra fruit and where might we source this from?  During flowering LEGO® Grower’s also been petiole sampling, or, taking random samples of the stalks that attach the leaves to the stem.  Petioles are a good indicator of vine health and nutrition, and LEGO® Grower uses this data to design his targeted nutrition programme for next year.

So we’re into crunch time.  What happens in these next couple of weeks will influence what LEGO® Grower does for the rest of the season.  No wonder he’s holding his breath.

Technology

LEGO® Grower loves being techy.  Loves using technology to know exactly what’s happening at any point in any day AND to use the data to help him grow amazing wine.

LEGO® grower thinks water is precious and he hates wasting water.  It’s all about the right amount of water, in the right place, at the right time.  This week he’s updating his soil moisture loggers from a manual download to a blue-tooth phone based system.  The buried sensors send him hourly data on soil moisture levels and how irrigation and rain are affecting soil moisture.  He uses the data to fine tune his irrigation system, which is his way of manging vegetative growth: the vines need different amounts of water at different growth stages.  He also measures leaf-water potential to monitor plant water status.  He wants the plant to work to suck up water, but not work too hard and be stressed.  Add in unpredictable weather - a very fine daily balance indeed. 

Flowering and fruit set are over and LEGO® Grower’s been counting bunches to estimate yield.  While Chardonnay, Pinot and Albariño flowering was good, Sauvignon was average to poor.  He’s expecting a below average Sauvignon yield this year.  What else is going on? Last wire lift this week for the Chardonnay, juggling spraying around rain and wind, thinking about leaf plucking and mowing, mowing, mowing: the headlands look like a hay paddock!  Lots going on at the moment. 

Being techy helps him know exactly what’s happening and helps him grow amazing wine.

Sunlight into wine

LEGO® Grower’s been living in the tractor.  Spraying, leaf plucking, trimming, mowing, trimming, plucking, spraying… but he’s also boots on the ground, walking the rows, looking, monitoring, checking irrigation….and working with the contractors. LEGO® Grower’s a technical expert but he’s also an artist with a feel for the vines.  He’s turning sunlight into wine.

Turning sunlight into wine is about canopy management. Leaf plucking - removing a few leaves around the bunches to improve air circulation, spray penetration (prevent disease), berry composition and flavour (wine quality). LEGO® Grower chugs along about 4kph, the rear mounted mechanical plucker fan blows air onto the leaves, the leaves shatter. Trimming – foliage wires are at the top of the post, but the canes keep growing. The front mounted trimmer trims the sides and top of the vines, prevents canes falling over, prevents shading of the berries and leaves. And – LEGO® Grower’s keeping up to date with the protectant spraying programme to prevent disease later in the season. Plus a bit of strategic mowing to make it easier for the contractors.

It’s been tricky managing the weather, but LEGO Grower’s really happy: no pest and diseases found and the vineyard looks amazing. He’s turning sunlight into wine.

Bunch thinning

LEGO® Grower’s been bunch counting.  Vintage is around the corner, and now it’s time for fine tuning, for the artistry of wine growing. 

LEGO® Grower’s nearing the end of his sunlight into wine journey.  He knows the flavours and the sugar/pH balance he wants in the berries to produce each desired wine style.  He also knows how many bunches each vine can ripen in the time available to produce these flavours and qualities.  It will be a fine balance over the next month or two: managing weather, irrigation – not too much and not too little – while producing premium quality fruit with the desired flavours AND in sufficient quantity for the winery.  Over the next few weeks, LEGO® Grower will work with the contractors and selectively hand-thin the Chardonnay and Pinot.  Basically, that means cutting off extra bunches with snips.

What’s coming up?  Berry ripening – veraison – nets out, and regular berry sampling.  But more about that next time.  Vintage is around the corner!

Nets On

It’s business time in the vineyard.  The grapes are ripening, the birds are keen, so it’s all hands on deck to get nets on.  As usual, LEGO® Grower and the contractors are flat out.

Veraison (ripening) is a key stage in a grapevine’s life.  The vine transforms from creating energy (photsynthesis) to using this energy to ripen the berries. During veraison, sugar increases, acid decreases and the colour changes: red varieties change from green to red and white varieties change from a dark green to a lighter green/yellow.  Basically, the berries transition from little, hard, acidic nuggets, to larger, soft, luscious bundles of deliciousness!    

Once veraison starts, nets go on to stop the birds eating the grapes. LEGO® Grower uses over the row nets (one large net goes over 4 rows – like a big canopy) and side nets (bands of net, along each side of the row, covering the fruit zone).  Picture this: LEGO®  Grower, on the tractor, slowly chugging down the row, rear-mounted net winder slowly unwinds the large reels of net (around 100kg each), a contractor on each side walking behind the tractor guiding the net over the rows to the ground.  Once nets are on, the contractors mend any holes and clip nets around the posts and each vine – using plastic clips like the ones supermarkets use to close their bread bags - to stop the nets blowing off and the birds sneaking in. 

Add to the mix: it’s very hot and dry so daily irrigation and pump checks in every block. Lots of walking.  Any water issues in these conditions would be a disaster.  

It’s business time - harvest is just around the corner.

It’s Harvest Time!

It’s harvest time!  LEGO® Grower organised a hand-pick of pinot for the bubbles base this morning. Laying out empty picking bins last night, contractors swiftly and efficiently picking bunches, then picking up full bins of fruit, onto the truck, transporting to the winery.  Done!

LEGO® Grower’s main focus these days is to work out when to pick.  He's looking for the sweet spot: a balance of berry flavour, mouth feel, physiological ripeness and berry chemistry.  Every day, LEGO® Grower walks the rows of each variety he thinks is nearing ripeness. He tastes berries (flavour and mouth feel), squashes berries to look at pip colour – brown, not green - and the pulp consistency (physiological ripeness) and collects bunch samples randomly across each variety to assess acid and sugar levels (berry chemistry). Each bunch sample is crushed, juice extracted, and measured for brix (sugar) and pH (acid).  LEGO® Grower and the winemakers also taste the juice, thinking about flavours and mouth feel.

Lots of walking for LEGO® Grower at the moment, lots of coordinating with contractors for picking, lots of discussions with the winemakers around ripeness and picking dates.  Lots going on.  It’s harvest time!

Just think, one day you might be drinking the wine that LEGO® grower grew.

Picking chardonnay

LEGO® Grower finished the Chardonnay hand pick this week. Fruit is clean and flavours are amazing – like burst of intense sunshine in your mouth. It’s good to know that in these rapidly changing times, some things stay the same: the sun keeps shining, grapes keep ripening and wine keeps getting made.

Hand picks are finishing and machine harvesting is in full swing around Marlborough.  The rumble of trucks, tractors, and the steady hum of the harvesters is a reassuring background noise - especially at night - that life goes on. 

You might be thinking – why hand pick and why machine harvest?  LEGO® Grower hand picks his premium fruit: it takes a bit longer, but the berries are treated more gently and bunches give more options for the winemaking team. Basically, the contractors cut off bunches into small bins and they are transported to the winery.  Machine harvesting means big areas can be harvested more quickly – harvesters run all day and all night.  An over the row harvester goes up and down the rows; the berries are shaken off the vine into a big collection bin, then tipped into the truck, then to the winery.  Also, some varieties, like premium pinot and chardonnay are a bit more ‘delicate’, need some care, but sauvignon blanc doesn’t care if it’s bashed around a bit during harvest.   

We’re bracing for the sauv-alanche in Marlborough: the avalanche of Sauvignon blanc grapes!.