Hello Dear
Readers!
I hope you
had a good week and enjoyed the long weekend. Last two Thursdays, Kevin, Lisa
and I visited sites around the Valley and Bear River to check in on growers to see
the seasonal progression. Saying we are very pleased is an understatement. With a good crop load and by all accounts, the season is early by about a week.
Thank you
for attending the GGANS Summer Tour. I appreciate seeing you again and learning
alongside with you. Thank you also to those who attended the Best Practice
session at Luckett Vineyards. For reference, I will post the berry/ cluster
sampling protocol in the Fact Sheet Section of the Perennia Website.
As
previously mentioned, I began sampling and recording the maturity progression (sugar
accumulation) from several cultivars. The information is vital to the concept of
precision viticulture and will be used to inform and optimize many decisions
including pruning time, pesticide spray time, fertilization, harvest... Data and knowledge improves efficiency and efficacy, so I hope that you would help me by recording the growth
stages from your own site starting next spring if you haven’t been doing it
already.
In
preparation for harvest, for the follow-up blog post, I will send along some
information about using a refractometer for brix measurements and a quick
overview of the cluster sampling protocol.
Below are
the Brix and Total Acidity results I collected from sites in the Valley. I will
be posting this information in the weekly blog until harvest.
Please keep
in mind that these values are site specific, so your numbers may vary somewhat.
These are a guidelines only.
Method of collection: randomized cluster sampling; chemical analysis provided by Acadia ALab.
As you can
see, Marquette is quite far along in terms of sugar accumulation while Chardonnay
is just starting to go through veraison.
Below are precipitation, GDD, Phenology, Sugar and Total Acidity (TA) results from the Kentville Research Station
Table
1. Precipitation totals for the Kentville
Research and Development Centre by month.
|
Month |
25-Year Average (mm) |
Current Year (mm) |
|
April |
81.5 |
54.0 |
|
May |
74.0 |
29.8 |
|
June |
95.5 |
83.0 |
|
July |
81.3 |
201.7 |
|
August |
94.5 |
30.1** |
|
September |
104.1 |
|
|
October |
115.8 |
|
**Up to August 29, 2024
Table 2. Growing Degree Days
|
Single
sine degree days, base of 0 °C starting on April 1 |
Growing
degree days, base of 10 °C starting on April 1 |
||
|
Current
Year |
10-Year
Average |
Current
Year |
10-Year
Average |
|
2349.9 |
2246.4 |
1000.2 |
894.6 |
Table 3. Phenological stages of three varieties
of grape by date for the KRDC Research Vineyard. Bud break for all three
varieties was between May 18 and May 20, 2024.
|
Date of Assessment |
Marquette |
L’Acadie blanc |
New York Muscat |
|
29-August |
Berries with
intermediate sugar values |
Berries with
intermediate sugar values |
Berries with
intermediate sugar values |
Table 4. Post-veraison brix and acid values
of three varieties of grape, by date, for the KRDC Research Vineyard. TA is the
total acidity expressed in grams per litre and measured by titration using a
Hanna (model# HI 84502) titrator. Brix is total soluble solids expressed as %
and measured with an Atago Digital Hand-Held Pocket Refractometer.
|
Date
of Assessment |
Marquette |
L’Acadie
blanc |
New
York Muscat |
|||
|
Brix (%) |
TA (g/L) |
Brix (%) |
TA (g/L) |
Brix (%) |
TA (g/L) |
|
|
29-August |
17.6 |
23.0 |
11.5 |
21.1 |
13.0 |
15.1 |
Follow up
posts will also focus on Botrytis. We have been lucky with the weather lately,
so I hope you have been vigilant about your sprays and following the pre-harvest
intervals according to your contractor’s wishes.
Thank you
all for your time, and I hope you enjoy your week.
Cheers!
Katarina
Katarina Vucic MSc DipWSET
Viticulture Specialist
Perennia Food and Agriculture
Email kvucic@perennia.ca
Office 902-678-7722
Cell 902-599-1390
