Spring/Summer Update

Hello Wine Lovers! I wanted to give a quick update about what were up to and how the growing season is going so far. We certainly received the rain I was hoping for. While we entered the 2025 growing season in a drought from 2024, we have certainly made up for the lack of rain.

This update is a little heavy in charts and data but really helps show what a science it is growing a healthy and productive vineyard.

Lets dive right in,

We have a few weather stations located in the Vineyard. We have had over 7 inches during the last 30 days.

We installed soil moisture probes at multiple depths this year. This chart is great for tracking how much water is reaching the roots and how quickly the soil is drying out. We have a sensor at 20 inches and 8 inches of soil depth.

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This chart is generated by Satellite data. We partnered with Deep Planet and their Vine Signal management system. We get fresh data provided by Satellites every few days and through a combination of sensors they give us almost real time information about our vines. Its amazing technology and can almost pinpoint individual vines. This rainfall chart shows how this year is shaping up compared to previous years. After a dry April, the rain really picked up.

This chart shows our growing degree days. This is a measure of temperature over time. So far we are right on track as far as temperature averages go.

This chart shows our Normalized Difference Vegetation Index , or NDVI. The Satellites collect light in many different wavelengths. Infrared, ultraviolet and visible. NDVI helps monitor crop health, detect stress (e.g., disease, water deficiency), and guide management (pruning).

After a slow start we are looking really good.

This is the map view of our NDVI. The blue shading depicts healthy growth.

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This chart shows our NDWI or Normalized Difference Water Index. This is a remote sensing index used to measure water content in vegetation. It uses reflectance of specific light wavelengths to assess moisture levels. We use it to monitor plant hydration and for assessing drought stress. The start of the season was making me nervous but grapevines are very resilient and have recovered nicely.

This map shows the NDWI. We are seeing healthy, water supplied vines.

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We can also use the data to show soil health. This is really neat. We can measure and track soil nutrient levels. This map shows our Nitrogen levels. Our philosophy is to reduce or avoid large chemical inputs and instead rebuild the soil naturally. We do this with the usage of cover crops and plow them into the soil twice a year. This heat map is showing a Nitrogen deficiency. One strategy to improve our Nitrogen levels is though a foliar feeding program. We can spray the vines with a natural source of micronutirents and slowly dial in how much to feed the vines. We have a little ways to go yet. The data also includes Phosphorus and Potassium measurements.

These are some pictures I took of our baby grape clusters. They are just about done flowering. Each individual grape is the result of a flower getting fertilized. Soon we will see small green grapes form and slowly enlarge over the summer.

We also planted wildflowers in between the vine rows. They are just about to bloom and I cant wait!

I hope you made it this far and enjoyed a peak behind the curtain on how we monitor and make decisions in our vineyard. The tools available are very exciting and I look forward to using them to grow exceptional grapes.

Be on the look out for another update on the release of our 2024 Vintage very soon!

Thank you,

Matthew Knox