Notaviva Vineyards Blog

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August 20, 2009

Thirteenth Spray

Pristine 10.5 oz per acre

I prefer holding off on the expensive strobulurins (like Pristine) until the very end of the season. That way I can rely on the sulfur-based compounds until about a month out from harvest, then stop using them to ensure there are no sulfur residues on the fruit going into the winemaking process. Prevailing theory is that any additional sulfur can cause excess off-aromas and undesirable compound formation during the fermentation. So now that we're just under a month out from harvest I can plan two Pristine sprays and we're picking nice clean fruit.

Also, because I knew we were supposed to be getting lots of rain the next two days it was critical to get a spray down, so I ended up having to spray at night. Creepy stuff - check out this pic taken from the cab of the tractor (sorry so blurry, will turn off the engine next time...)

Checked the brix on the Viognier yesterday, we're at 15.6 so looking like harvest somewhere in the Sept 10-15th range. Fruit is looking great!!!

Posted by Stephen at August 20, 2009 9:12 PM