DORMANCY TO NEW LIFE
The depth of winter is a critical time in the vineyard, though nothing appears to be happening. While the vines hibernate, topsoil is replaced and sown with compost and natural fertilizers, and the painstaking work of pruning back old growth readies cane spurs for new buds.
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On the western slope of Mount Lebanon, on a plateau where the mountain meets the Bekaa Valley, winter snows are absorbed into underground water tables, poised to support Chateau Musar’s cabernet sauvignon, carignan and cinsault vines through the intense heat of the summer months.
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BUDBURST
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In early spring, vine leaves cocooned in dormant buds experience a spurt of cellular expansion known as bud swell. As the leaves grow and unfurl, budburst occurs and photosynthesis resumes, replenishing the vine’s energy reserves.
Air temperature is the predominant influence on the moment the leaves develop, but the soil also plays a significant role. Well-drained, gravelly and calcareous soils retain more heat than wet clay soil. Heat warms the root system, coaxing nutrients and energy up the vines and into the branches.
Grape variety also plays a role in the timing of budburst. Each variety has its own cadence within the vegetive cycle. Chardonnay, chenin blanc, pinot noir and grenache tend to have an early budburst; while riesling, sauvignon blanc, syrah and cabernet sauvignon tend to grow and expand later in the season.
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ONE HUNDRED SUMMER NIGHTS
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Flowering is the moment in the vine’s cycle when the glossy green petals that form protective sheathes atop each slender pedicel unfurl and release pollen, inaugurating fertilization.
Within days, nascent berries begin to take shape, commencing the countdown of 100 summer nights – the average amount of time between flowering and the harvest.
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Butterflies are evidence of biodiversity.
If you have lots of different butterflies in your vineyard, it means you have all sorts of blossoms for butterflies to feed upon. And if every flower attracts approximately 10 distinct insect species, and you have 100 different flowers, your vineyard will have thousands of different insects – as well as butterflies, bees, wasps and birds, explains Hans-Peter Schmidt, the founder and winemaker of Mytophia, a winery in the foothills of the Alps surrounded by forests in Valais, Switzerland.
More than half the species of butterflies found in Switzerland inhabit in our vineyard, says Schmidt. The butterflies congregate in late spring and early summer, when there is plenty of water in the soil, the fruit trees and flowers are blooming and the chasselas and pinot noir berries are experiencing rapid growth.
While butterflies and birds create a vineyard that is vibrant and colorful, it is the diverse plantings that generate a robust nutrient cycle and support healthy grape growth.
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