Considerations for starting an organic vinyard

Considerations for Starting an Organic Vineyard -‐ACORN Conference 2015 workshop

The Beginning Stages… • Decisions-‐ organic vs. conventional.

•  skill • physical labour • Ability-‐mentoring, hiring consultants.

• Financial-‐ between $25,000.00-‐$35,000.00 per acre planted. (-‐land)

Site Selection

-‐Numerous different grape varieties to suit available land. -‐Growing degree days. -‐Slopes-‐ south slope best but not critical. Slope promotes cold air drainage. -‐Frost free days. -‐Coldest average winter temperature. -‐Innovation. Ideally near a large body of water.

The Terroir Factor

Cool climate -‐> higher acidity -‐> crisp whites, light reds, sparkling wines, and ice wine are all styles we can make in our maritime climate.

Future Wine Styles •  Future – focus on Quality

•  Champagne vs. Nova Scotia • What wine styles can we consistently produce here at a high quality level that will put us on the world wine map?

Land Prep and Tile Drainage

• Soil tests/ adjust PH and micro nutrients. One year in advance of planting. • Drainage-‐ grapes hate wet feet. Install 4” perforated drain pipes every other row. Roughly 18’-‐20’ at approx. 36” deep. Hire a professional company.

• Rip(sub-‐soil)-‐ across the rows before planting to fracture and aerate root zone.

The Vines

• Plant only certibied clean vines from a professional grapevine nursery. • Professional vines save time and money and promote the health of the vineyard. • Order vines well in advance, 2 year wait times are typical for most vines. • Vine Tech Canada, Mori Vines in Ontario, or A&M Viticulture in Quebec are all reputable options for the East Coast.

Vineyard Layout • Row orientation north –south is the best. • Lay out blocks keep neat and organized. • For larger plantings hire a laser planter as this picture shows. • We typically plant vines 4.5 feet within the row and 9 -‐10 feet between rows. This equates to roughly 1000 vines per acre. • If you don’t plan on specialized equipment go with 10 feet.

Vineyard Block Layout

Trellis System Many factors inbluence your trellis system: • Type of vine-‐intended use or wine style. • climate • Organic / conventional • Skill levels of employees for pruning. • Mechanization. • Materials-‐ Galvanized posts, wood posts not treated (organic) • Buy the best you can afford. This can last the life of your vineyard.

Organic Vineyard Inputs -‐ Start of season before bud break we use spray oil 13e , kills overwintering spore and insects , erineum mite. -‐ Throughout growing season comba?ng powdery mildew with the use of horsetail tea 150 g per ha when disease pressure is high we will also use kumulus which is a sulphur based product. -‐ Mid summer to mid fall we use copper 53w to combat both downy and powder mildew. We start with super low applica?on rates like 400 grams per ha. If disease pressure is high, rates as high as 2 kg per ha. We are always looking to reduce copper usage in vineyard . -‐AHer flower we use serenade max it is a beneficial fungus which colonizes clusters and prevents botry?s from taking hold, we also apply a second applica?on at bunch closure, this is a fruit zone spray only. -‐We are applying 4 sprays a year of prep 500 similar to compost tea. future plans are to increase compost tea. -‐We use sea weed extract up to 5 ?mes a year, full of nutrients, relives plant stress, elongates clusters and improves plant health. -‐S?nging neMle is used for stressed plants this is made into a tea then applied. -‐We apply solubor (boron) very important for fruit set and it’s basically non existent in our soils . Our methods are, soil drenches and foliage sprays. -‐The best input of all is your footsteps.

Biodynamics ~ •  Prep 500 Horn Manure, cow manure in cow horn and buried during equinox dug up at sols?ce, about a golf ball amount /ha s?rred with water (dynamized) like a compost tea, s?mulates root growth .

•  Prep 501 Horn Silica, crushed quartz crystal mixed with water to make paste, put in cow horn at sols?ce, buried and dug up at equinox, mixed with water and sprayed to s?mulate photosynthesis and structural strength in plants.

•  Prep 502-‐507 are put into compost pile once a year. They help in the compos?ng process and makes certain elements more readily available for the plants. We spread the compost once a year in a fine skiff under the plants. Also making a compost tea out of it.

•  502 Yarrow-‐ helps with the plans ability to absorb potassium in balanced manner, helps aid the forma?on of plant proteins.

•  503 Chamomile-‐ stabilizes nitrogen content of compost. •  504 S3nging Ne6le-‐ Enhances plants ability to absorb Iron. Can also be used as a tea and sprayed as a foliar applica?on.

•  505 Oak Bark-‐ Enhances plants ability to absorb calcium •  506 Dandelion-‐ Balances the plants rela?onship with calcium •  507 Valerian-‐ Enhances the plants ability to absorb Phosphorus •  Horsetail tea

Winegrowing

Resources: • General Vi;culture by AJ Winkler •  Agriculture Course: The Birth of the Biodynamic Method (Classic Transla;on) By Ruldoph Steiner • Vines Grapes and Wines by Jancis Robinson • Oregon Wine Grape Growers Guide-‐ Oregon Wine Growers Associa?on • Winework: Growing Grapes and Making Wine in Cold Climates by Thomas A. Plocher & Robert J. Parke • Sunlight Into Wine; A Handbook for Wine Grape Canopy Arrangement. by Richard Smart & Mike Robinson

Speaker: Micheal Ligh`oot email: mike@ligh`ootandwolfvillewines.com lwwines

Considerations for starting an organic vinyard

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