Hello fellow wine lovers!

Here we are in the middle of July, and I have to say, my vineyard has never looked so good!  I have heard this from many of our members. 

We had a scheduled regular LWGA meeting for July 26, which was to be held at my home @ Raisin d’Etre Vineyards in Lafayette and I was looking forward to seeing everyone and to showing everyone the vineyard this year.  We were to have a short educational session about Composting, led by our resident Certified Composter, Gerard VS, and then to our usual social time together.

Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic is showing no sign of abating! In fact, as you surely know, it’s getting much worse!  We must double down on our united effort to shut this thing down. 

 
So, once again, regrettably, we must cancel our planned July  26 regular meeting in Lafayette.

 
In our efforts to stay engaged, we will be holding instead a Zoom meeting on July 26 @ 4 PM. 

We will be having as our special speaker, Bill Scanlin, walking us through how to navigate through our LWGA website.  There is a great deal of information posted on our website and we want you to know how to find what you need.  The link to the meeting will be:
https://warriortrading.zoom.us/j/9252007676

At our last Zoom meeting, we had a great turnout and we at the board hope to see you sign in and join us at this meeting.

 
Sincerely:
Daniel Howsepian

President 

Here is an interesting and detailed short to long range weather forecast. It forecasts a record hot summer, and, unfortunately, high fire danger:

With flowering underway, or even completed, this would be a good time to know how the vines are doing. One of the best ways to do this is to take random samples of your pedioles from your vineyard and send them to the lab for analysis. If there are deficiencies, you will have the time to make adjustments to ensure you get the best possible harvest. For those with vineyard managers, this would be a good time to ask if the managers have performed a pediole test and how did the results look.

If anyone has any questions, or would like references to laboratories, please contact Daniel Howsepian at 5Powderhounds@gmail.com or Gerard Van Steyn at gerardvs@gmail.com and we would be glad to help!

Hello, vine and wine people! Attached to this post is an update to the vineyard irrigation guide that was originally created for a meeting last year. This update includes some general guidance on typical irrigation rates per vine per week, and suggestions for extra irrigation before hot days. But, please note, as with any such general suggestions, some vineyards will require much less or more water.

So far, the weather is starting out interesting.. abnormally hot days for this early in the season, followed by cold and even rainy days. If the extreme weather swings continue, we all will need to watch our vines for signs of under or over watering even more – and powdery mildew, as always.

Hi Wine Folks,

In case you did not know, hot weather is forecast for Monday thru Thursday. In order for your vines to best “weather” the heat, a good long extra drink of irrigation prior to the heat is recommended. Since most vines are now in the critical bloom to fruit set stage, you don’t want them to suffer from lack of water!

(also watering while its hot out is not recommended, so its best to run your irrigation during the night or early morning)

LWGA Virtual Zoom Meeting

5/17/20: Recap

LWGA held its first virtual meeting on Zoom on Sunday, May 17, 2020.  This was required since we are unable to  meet in person due to the COVID-19 precautions.

The meeting began with a short social discussion by each participant about the status of their vineyards and their general conditions under the stay at home mandate.  There were 17 participants and it was good to see everyone after such a long absence! 

Then, Gerard van Steyn took the lead in presenting a very well prepared power point about powdery mildew and watering:

LWGA Powdery Mildew Power Point

There were many questions and discussions during the meeting and in the end, there was a good sense of better understanding of the challenges and solutions posed by Powdery Mildew which we all must deal with in grape growing.  We encourage anyone who has a question to please post your question on the forum on our website, and you will get a response.

At our next Zoom meeting, date TBD, we would like to invite all the members to join us in a social cocktail hour virtual gathering to stay in touch and discuss any topic desired. 

Stay healthy and safe! 

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

Reminder of our Zoom Meeting:

Sunday May 17, @ 4 PM

We feel that it is important to provide timely informational sessions for the membership. We cannot yet meet together, but,

We will be holding a Zoom Meeting for anyone who wishes to participate in a live discussion about Mildew Control and Watering.  This will be held on Sunday, May 17, 2020 @ 4 PM. We will have some of our scholarly members there to discuss these subjects.  The link for you to join in on the conversation is

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

Just click on this link and follow the instructions. Make sure to turn on your video and audio.

This is your reminder, so please join us at the website.  We hope to see many of you there!

Wine is allowed at this meeting!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA Board President

The  State mandated “Stay at home Order”  is a constantly evolving situation. As we review our plans, we are looking for options in the best interests of our membership. 

The board had made extensive plans for our LWGA AVA celebration, to have been held on May 31, 2020.  This event was to be held in the back yard of the Wine Thieves, with food trucks; live music and much wine to share with members and guests.  It promised to be a wonderful time.  It saddens us all that we must cancel the AVA event due to the COVID19 Pandemic. 

We have also been canceling our regular meetings and we feel that it is important to provide timely informational sessions for the membership. We cannot yet meet together, but, we will be holding a Zoom Meeting for anyone who wishes to participate in a live discussion about Mildew Control and Watering.  This will be held on Sunday, May 17, 2020 @ 4 PM. We will have some of our scholarly members there to discuss these subjects.  The link for you to join in on the conversation is https://warriortrading.zoom.us/j/9252007676 .   Shortly before the session we will send a reminder, so please stand by and watch the website.  We hope to see many of you there!

Speaking of watering, you probably know that we did not get much rain this winter.  In fact, according to our sources, we received in Lafayette only 10.6″ YTD total of rain as compared to 29.2″  last year!  That’s a significant difference.  Depending on your vineyard’s location, you might notice that the vines might look a little stressed.  The tendrils might be sagging a little and the very tips might be a little brown.  If that’s the case, you should speak to your vineyard manager, or if you’re it, it might be time to give those little  fella’s a drink, especially since we’re getting some hot weather.  We wouldn’t want to dry out the vines before flowering.  So heads up!

In closing, I hope that you are all doing well and filling your time with activities that are satisfying,  keep you fit and in good health.   We will continue to find ways to keep the membership engaged  and active with our group.  If you have any ideas for activities, please let us know and we’ll do what we can.

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA Board President

Due to Corvid-19, the Sacramento State Fair and the Orange County Fair have been cancelled for this year, including their wine competitions. If you are interested in having your wine judged this year, one option for amateur winemakers is the Winemaker Magazine International Amateur Wine Competition, which is accepting wine entries until June 1, 2020.

https://winemakermag.com/competition/competition-overview

For commercial winemakers, the SF Chronicle Wine Competition is evidently still scheduled and entries are due by November 15, 2020. https://winejudging.com/

Following is information about a new vineyard manager who is interested in obtaining clients in the Lamorinda area:

Meredith White grew up in Lamorinda and graduated from Middlebury College, Magna Cum Laude in 2015 with a degree in comparative literature. Since graduation, she has worked in as a vineyard technician, a vineyard field worker and has had other jobs in viticulture. She is now starting out on her own, as a one-person vineyard manager. Meredith’s contact information is:   meredith.white91@gmail.com   (925) 360-0034

It should be noted that Meredith currently does not have her applicator’s license and has somewhat limited experience. But she is young and motivated. If you are seeking a vineyard manager, or if your current vineyard manager has not been performing satisfactorily, Meredith is a new option to consider.