Mid Season Report - Whites

As promised in an earlier post, presented below is the mid-season report on the white varieties.  Overall for year 2, I would say that the whites have been more consistent in their growth then the reds but a bit more vigorous and difficult to control.  In most cases we should be able to lay off very nice canes on many of the varieties this year.

Nice consistent growth on 48-05-49 and Epicure

48-05-49/Epicure:  Achieved 100% bud burst sometime after May 11 (48-05-49 was at 30%, Epicure was at 80%).  These varieties are quite vigorous, and quite consistent throughout the row; however, both are performing better at the south end compared to the north end.  The internode is about 3 to 4 " for 48.05.49 so pretty good.  Epicure has very poor internodes - closer to 5 to 6".  Even with all the vigor, it is difficult to slow it down.  Both these varieties need a bit more maintenance to control the foliage.

Madeleine Angevine/Petit Milo/Auxerrois:  Achieved 100% bud burst shortly after May 11 (MA at 75%, PM at 65%, Aux at 90%).  These varieties are low vigor for the most part; however there are some sporadic vines in each row that are quite vigorous, particularly at the south end.  Smaller leaves on these varieties, which may be better for fruit ripening and mildew control as they will produce less shade.  The internode is very nice, ranging from 2 to 4". So far this is a very manageable vine with low maintenance to date.

Good internodes on Mad Angie

Large node spacing on the Osceola Muscat.

Madeleine Sylvaner/ Osceola Muscat: Achieved 100 bud burst shortly after May 11 (MS at 75%, OM at 80%).  These vines have proved to be very vigorous and difficult to control.  Osceola Muscat is close to extreme vigor.  Similar to the Red variety "LaBelle", some of the canes we laid down for Osceola Muscat died, while the rest of the shoots remained alive.  Due to the excessive vigor, controlling the internodes have been difficult, with some  shoots have spacing close to 8".   The north end has marginally slower vigor but still higher than average  These are high maintenance vines.  Mildew could be a concern with all the foliage.  Top Cordon Trellis may be a better option for this variety.

Chardonnay (Cl 76): Was quite slow to start having achieved only 50% bud burst by May 11.  While still slow, the growth has been very consistent over the row, with decent node spacing (3 to 4").  Very low maintenance in the vineyard; however, we did experience some winter death, so it will be interesting to see how it overwinters again.

Ortega/Siegerrebe/L'acadia Blanc: By May 11, both Ortega and L'acadia Blanc had achieved 90% bud burst.  Siegerrebe was very slow to start at only about 10%.  All varieties are pretty consistent throughout the rows, but as with other varieties, slightly slower at the north end.  Ortega and Siegerrebe have very nice internodes, L'acadia node spacing is average ~4 to 5".  These appear to be fairly easier to control in the vineyard with low maintenance to date.

Partial view of the whites in general