Cruel Months

Winter is tough on the plants and the vineyard and the past week of low temperatures in the early 20's seems to have taken a toll on the irrigation. When Joan and I checked in this past weekend, there was dry riverbed in one of the Cabernet Sauvignon rows. The water was long gone but the evidence of a serious flow was unmistakeable. It seems the freeze-thaw cycle had cracked one of the irrigation submains and a gusher ran for a few hours during the irrigation cycle. The pipe was more than cracked really, the whole thing was splintered to smithereens. Fortunately a little PVC pipe glue and a few parts did the fix and thankfully the day had warmed up to the upper 60's. Irrigate in the winter? you might ask. Well yes. The plants though dormant need some moisture to prevent them from completely drying up and the el Niña that was supposed to bring a wet winter has not materialized. Ordinarily the winter rains will supply most if not all of the water the plants need this time of year.