As some may know, Kathryn and I have struggled to organically control mildew in our vineyard, in large part because neighboring vineyards are not mildew controlled. This year we had great success (finally) with mildew control using the following organic tank mix. It combines anti-mildew bacteria with sulfur or stylet oil for improved performance, and is relatively inexpensive as well:

Sulfur, Cease or Sonata, spreader/sticker (I added a bit of Regalia as well but that probably isn’t necessary)

Stylet oil can be substituted for sulfur, just remember to allow 2 weeks interval between oil and sulfur

Here is more info on this tank mix. It apparently is as effective as chemical based mildew products.

https://defeattheresistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Sonata-Sulfur-DF-Res-Mgmt-flyer-v3.pdf

Hello Fellow LWGA Members:

On Sunday, July 25, 2021 LWGA held it’s first General Meeting in person since the arrival of the Covid 19 restrictions. It’s been a very long time and seeing everyone was a real treat! There were 29 people present that day over at Mel & Diane Haas’ home in Lafayette. There was ample wine and food donated by the membership.

We began the meeting with a longer than usual social time, but well received.

I introduced our host, Mel Haas. Mel gave us a warm and interesting introduction to the history of the property and vineyard

David Hicks set up a demonstration of a netting system and gave us a talk about it’s use and set up. I have made a video of the presentation for those who could not make the meeting but the recording was too long for me to present here. Sorry. I am sure David would be happy to review this with you personally.

I spoke after Dave to announce the 2022 AVA celebration planed for Sunday, April 24, 2022. This will be an open event to the membership and the public as a fundraiser for our little LWGA. It will be located on the parking grounds between the Wine Thieves and Larry Thal’s new tasting/production facility next door. I suggested the name of “Lamorinda Wine Hub” but it’s Larry’s call on the name. There will be food trucks, wine tasting and sales from our bonded wine makers, music and loads of fun for all spread out between the two venus! I mentioned that there will be a need for volunteers and that we will be reaching out to our membership for help for this event. We’re all excited to be there

I then invited Larry Thal to give us an update of his much anticipated tasting room and production facility in Lafayette. Larry said that he anticipated that the facility could be ready by March of 2022, just in time to be used for the 2022 AVA celebration being planned right now.

Once all the formalities were completed, we were invited to tour the Haas Vineyard in veraison. Mel mentioned, that halfway through the tour, there was a gazebo where wine could be found to top off your glass as needed. It didn’t take much to get people moving through the vineyard. It also turned out to be a great spot to sit and talk to your fellow members on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Some of us stayed well until 7 PM. Hopefully Mel didn’t mind.

Respectfully submitted:

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

Hello fellow LWGA Socially Deprived Members:

We’ll, this is it. We’re finally going to meet on Sunday in person for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic! It will certainly be great to see you all again!

When:        Our next LWGA meeting will be held on Sunday,

July 25, 2021 from 3-6 PM

Where:     Mel & Diane Haas have generously offered to host our meeting at their beautiful home. 

                        960 Stow Lane;  Lafayette, CA 94549;    Outdoor setting.

Parking:    Parking is very limited and so we please ask you to car pool as much as possible to avoid any  problems with the neighbors.  Stow lane is narrow. 

Please remember to bring something to share and your wine glasses.

See you then.

Daniel Howsepian

President, LWGA

Hello Fellow LWGA Members:

I hope you are enjoying this summer, although it might be a bit hotter than usual. 

Well, the moment we have all been waiting for is arriving!  We will be having our first in person general meeting in a very long time, for those that have been vaccinated! 

When:        Our next LWGA meeting will be held on Sunday,

July 25, 2021 from 3-6 PM

Where:     Mel & Diane Haas have generously offered to host our meeting at their beautiful home. 

                        960 Stow Lane;  Lafayette, CA 94549;    Outdoor setting.

Parking:    Parking is very limited and so we please ask you to car pool as much as possible to avoid any  problems with the neighbors.  Stow lane is narrow. 

Because we have not seen each other in person for such a long time, we would like to emphasize  the social aspect of this meeting.  We encourage everyone to join us in this event and do some catching up! 

We will have a brief presentation by Dave Hicks demonstrating a netting application you might find useful.  We also have a lot of interesting news for you regarding the LWGA!  Don’t miss this one!

We have many new members who have joined us recently, and wish to welcome them at this meeting. 

For our new members, and because it has been so long since our last meeting,  I would like to review the following:

–    Please bring a bottle or two of your favorite wine to share with everyone;

–    Please bring an appetizer, entree  or desert, buffet style,  that you would be proud to share;

–    Please bring your wine glass so you can enjoy the wines your fellow members have brought for you;

–    Please bring your stories, adventures or other experiences you had in the last year to share.

I know everyone is anxious to see each other again, and share all those stories we have all experienced recently. 

See you on the 25th!

Sincerely:

Daniel Howsepian

President LWGA

Hello LWGA Members:

Last Sunday @ 4 PM we had what we all hope to be our last LWGA general meeting by Zoom! We will have our next meeting for members who have been vaccinated on Sunday, July 25, 2021 at a location TBD. Most likely at an exterior location. I know we are all anxious to see each other again!

We had a good turn out for our meeting. After a short social conversation, I mentioned that I was having a problem with ground squirrels and that I had found an effective trap for that problem. The trap is called “The Squirrelinator”. You can find it at www.ruggedranch.net; look for traps and get the one with the basin. Use birdseed for the bait. It really works!

We also had a short conversation about the heavy rainfall some of us experienced three weeks ago which occurred right at flowering. Not the best timing for that to happen! I experienced some damage as a result in shattered flower set. The life of a farmer….

The next topic was about watering and nutrition of the vines in these drought times. Gerard made a wonderful power point presentation which he narrated masterfully! There was a very lively interaction with the participants and a lot of useful information was exchanged. The power point will be posted on our website for reference. A note of appreciation went out to Bill Scanlin for managing our website and for making it possible to access useful information on the platform.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have joined us in all of the recent Zoom meetings throughout the trying times we have all lived through recently with the Covid pandemic. I hope that we have kept you engaged with useful information and connection with other members. We will do our best to resume a more normal activity within our group beginning in July!

Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

Hello LWGA Members:

This is a reminder of our scheduled meeting on Sunday, June 6 @ 4 PM. This will be our last meeting by Zoom! Hurray!!! Our next meeting will be in person on July 25, location TBD. So stand by for that one. You can join this Sunday’s meeting through the link below:

https://warriortrading.zoom.us/j/9252007676

The timely topic of this meeting will be about testing your vines to be sure they have the proper nutrients and water they need to produce the best grapes possible.  Gerard VS will be our knowledgeable moderator and will have a very informative presentation and question and answer session.  Also, with the drought this year, it will be very important to know if your vines have enough water  to propagate properly.  They’re tough, but they do need some help.  Without sufficient water, vines would have a tougher time migrating those essential minerals up from the ground.  So be sure to tune in! Also, see interesting post on watering by Ted Rieger in the Viticulture Forum on our website.

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian LWGA President

Hello LWGA members

We need your help. The board is considering having our first in person gathering on July 26 for vaccinated members only and we are looking to hear from our members whether you feel you would be willing to join us.  We know everyone is anxious to get together again, but we want everyone to be comfortable with our plans.

We sent out a very short survey of three questions recently and have had very few responses. We really need to hear from you on this.  

Won’t you please response to our survey link below so that we can all feel confident we are doing the right thing in July. Please respond by June 1, 2021

https://lamorindawinegrowers.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b8dd87c54491d6eb5bb74082a&id=a729e719a1&e=178a8b5efc

Thank you for your assistance!

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

Hello Fellow LWGA Members:

I hope everyone is doing well and that everyone is getting vaccinated.

We had a scheduled general meeting for May 30, 2021, @ 4 PM, but we realized that this fell on Memorial Day weekend and may not be very convenient.  As a result, the Board decided to reschedule this meeting for Sunday June 6, 2021, at 4 PM.  In an abundance of caution,  this meeting will be again by Zoom. You can join the meeting at the following link:   

https://warriortrading.zoom.us/j/9252007676

The timely topic of this meeting will be about testing your vines to be sure they have the proper nutrients and water they need to produce the best grapes possible.  Gerard VS will be our knowledgeable moderator and will have a very informative presentation and question and answer session.  With the drought this year, it will be very important to know if your vines have enough water  to propagate properly.  They’re tough, but they do need some help.  Without sufficient water, vines would have a tougher time migrating those essential minerals up from the ground.  So be sure to tune in! Also, see interesting post on watering by Ted Rieger in the Viticulture Forum.

So, with the new updated CDC guidelines having been recently published, we are all feeling a little bit better about getting together if vaccinated.  It’s what we have all been waiting for.  However,  for larger group gatherings, there still are some questions that some members might have.  With that in mind, we have put together a very short, three question survey which we ask you to please complete so that we can decide whether enough of you would like to have our July 26 meeting in person,  something I know we are all anxious to resume as soon as it is safe to do so.  See link below for survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScY8CC0vygDMj7EyVixkDHISR1K7mRyPY-lWCfpewxujPcIRw/viewform?usp=sf_link

We look forward to your responses and to seeing everyone as soon as possible! 

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

President LWGA

If your vines have poor fruit set or low volume harvests, its often due to either soil nutritional deficiencies (or inadequate irrigation). A leaf/petiole tissue analysis is the best way to determine if your soils are low on nitrogen, or macronutrients (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium) or micronutrients (zinc, manganese, boron, copper, iron, sodium). Vines need at least sufficient quantities of all of these nutrients to produce properly. Plus, the next LWGA meeting on Sunday, June 6, will include an overview of leaf/petiole tissue results and how to resolve soil nutritional deficiencies, so if you get your samples in asap, you may have the results in time for this meeting.

Now, at bloom, is the best time of year to do a tissue nutrient analysis. Here are general instructions for Fruit Growers Labs, the company I have used and just sent in this year’s samples for testing. There are other labs that do this testing as well, such as www.al-labs-west.com/ (which appears to be lower priced)

For FGL, request the comprehensive petiole group. Make sure to collect your samples in the morning, and cut
the stems (petioles) of the leaves right away otherwise nutrients can
flow from petiole to leaf, and brown bag them in separate bags instead
of using ziplocks.  I send them in one usps priority mail box instead
of overnight because overnight is so expensive. If you use priority
mail, get them to the post office before noon on either monday or
tuesday so they get to the lab before the weekend, and send them to
the Santa Paula address. Instructions and forms are on their website, or see links below.

http://www.fglinc.com/documents/SamplingProcedures-AG/Grape_Leaf_and_Soil.pdfhttps://www.fglinc.com/documents/FGLAgChain.pdf

https://www.fglinc.com/frmSamples.php?sample=%3Cb%3EComprehensive+Petiole+Group%3A%3C%2Fb%3E+Nitrate-Nitrogen%2C+Phosphate-phosphorus%2C+Potassium%2C+Calcium%2C+Magnesium%2C+Zinc%2C+Manganese%2C+Iron%2C+Copper%2C+Boron%2C+Sodium&division=Ag&sub_division=Comprehensive+Petiole+Group&ID=164

This email today got me to check my soil moisture meters. I wasn’t thinking that the vineyard could need water this early, but sure enough, at least for our vineyard, the soils are already getting dry down at least the 18 inch soil depth, which is where our moisture meters are.. So, we are now turning on our vineyard irrigation early this year. See below for UCD Agricultural Advisor email 3-30-31:

While the soil still has some moisture, it is drying fast with the warmer temperatures and the windy days. I know historically that many of you have not irrigated until May or June. You may want to reconsider that this year. Start monitoring your soil moisture now. The vines need plenty of water starting at budbreak for the best growth. For a sandier soil 12” is a good depth for monitoring, for clay soil 24” or less if wherever the soil changes texture.

Here’s an article about vineyard irrigation that might be of interest to you.  https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=243206

Cindy

Cindy Fake

University of California Cooperative Extension

Placer & Nevada Counties

Horticulture and Small Farms Advisor

11477 E Avenue, Auburn, CA 95603