Emotions of a newbie vine farmer

Damages of hail on a future grape...

Dear wine lovers,

What a week !

After all the rain that we already got, we had another two big storms last week and the last one included hail ! I was working in the vines at the time and just had time to take shelter inside my car to watch the ice bullets fall from the sky. Of course, this will have no consequence on the quality of our wine since the berries are still green and it actually will cut the yield and increase the quality but when you see this hail fall, loudly hammering the car, the sensations are just indiscrible. This time, we were actually very lucky since hail also touched surunding araes provoqiing 30% damages, which compared to the 3% we had, is nothing.

While that hail was hiting so hard, I was thinking about all the work already done and all the posible damages. I prayed...and the hail stopped.

Well, after these two storms, it was necesary to go fight the mildiou fungus but the problem was that there is no way yoy can go inside the vines when they are so wet. Once again, the "newbie" vine grower that I am can't explain the feelings and frustrations but what I can tell you is that it does hurt to consider the extra potentail damages of this fungus. Hopefuly, I has sprayed copper the week before and most of all, our ground is very rocky which is a great block to prevent this bad desease since the draining is quick and which also permits to reduce the time before you can venture back to the back once muddy ground  and use the heavy tractor. And, finally, I have been able to spray copper earliest in order to prevent posible contamination, even if I almost flipped over with my tractor.

Today, after this memorable week, I felt much better. Even if I am a newbie vine grower, I have already experienced those feelings and will hopefully consider the next events with more wisdom.

In France, we call the ladybug "la Bête à Bon Dieu" referring to her "sagesse". Keeping on seeing them everyday all around me, especially in those difficult times, always makes me feel grateful to have the chance to live my dream.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu