Estate Vineyard Construction!

We've begun the earth works for the new estate vineyard!

There are several steps taken to put the vineyard in, including several which happen before we ever plant a vine.

Before we begin, we layout the vineyard blocks and agree on the orientation of the rows and the placement of the irrigation pipes.  Generally, we want the rows to run north / south so as to get the best sunlight as the sun moves from east to west.  Irrigation lines need to account for elevation shanges to ensure each vine gets the same amount of water - we don't want only the vines at the bottom of the rise to get water!

We start the land preparation by eliminating whatever is currently growing on the site.  For the last ~20 years, the estate pasture was cultivated for coastal hay production.  Coastal is a durable and resiliant grass and it handles period of drought by going dormant and then waking up once rains come.  This means the roots are strong and well developed.  

Once the coastal is eliminated, we rip the soil to fragment it and provide air for the to-be-planted vines.  This involves running a large dozer over the ground and pushing long ripping blades into the earth to "rip up" the soil.  We captured a short segment of this ripping in action in the video below!

The next steps include installing the trellising, running the irrigation lines and planting cover crops.  All of this has to take place prior to the vines planting in the late spring.

Stay tuned and come visit to watch as we progress through the establishment phase in preparation for planting the first vineyard blocks next spring.