Bud break is upon us and thus another growing season begins here on the slopes of Lomond. A slightly more temperate winter has the vines coming back to life right on schedule as compared to the delay we experienced in 2021.
Here we have our two vines we will be following throughout the vineyard cycle: Sugar and Spice. (If you haven’t yet, check out part 1 of this series for more details).
As discussed in Pt 1, Syrah is an early-budding cultivar, where as Sauvignon Blanc is quite late. The above photos illustrate this well as one can see only a few tiny leaves on Sugar whereas Spice already have short 3-4cm shoots developing.
What exactly is bud break and what causes it?
The increase in sunshine and warmer temps causes water and stored nutrients to begin flowing up the vines trunk towards dormant buds. The buds begin to swell creating small, hard nodules on the vine. Until finally, they burst.
Small green grape leaves find their way to the sunshine and the growing season is officially underway. In just a few weeks, these tiny leaves will be long shoots, filled with full size leaves.
During this time, shoots can grow as much as 2.5cm per day.
Terroir, cultivar, and microclimates can all affect the timing of these different stages across the farm. But still, one of the biggest factors is the cultivar itself.
At this very moment, the vineyards are still sparse. However, in just 10 more days they will be exploding with long, energy-producing shoots. When you look across each block of vineyard you will not see any wood. Instead, it will be a sea of green as they prepare for the next step: flowering.
We’ll check back in with Sugar and Spice soon.
