Santa Ynez Vineyard

What Happens in the Vineyard After the Harvest?

Vineyard maintenance after the harvest is very important. Harvest time in a vineyard is both an end and a beginning. The grapes have been picked, signaling the end of the growing season, but not the end of the work in the vineyard. The grapevines have begun to go dormant and now we are preparing for the next year.

Four Vineyard Maintenance Tasks After the Harvest

1.  Removing the bird netting: this is the first task. This is time consuming, but has to be done in order for other important tasks that must be completed.

2. Soil Analysis: After harvest, we like to conduct a soil analysis from soil samples. This will give us a battle plan for the next growing season. The soil samples with give us information on the health of the vineyard’s soil.  Nutrients are very vital to healthy soil. Nutrients that we are speaking of are the following:Calcium

• Potassium
• Phosphorous
• Nitrogen

During the soil samples if any of these nutrients are depleted, late fall is the best time to add them back so that the vines can absorb them prior to going dormant. The nutrients can be delivered through “fertigation”,  the irrigation system or spread across the soil.

3. Planting a Cover Crop: In late fall, we also start the process of planting a cover crop. Cover crops are planted between the vine rows which helps to build organic matter, controls erosion, suppress weeds, improves soil structure and reduces nutrient loss. The timing for this is very important. Without proper rain, the new seed won’t germinate.

4. Trellis and Equipment Maintenance: Other post harvest activities include basic maintenance such as adjusting or replacing wire trellises and metal stakes. Equipment maintenance is also done at this time. This would include tractor service and cleaning any spray equipment.

In the end, vineyard maintenance after the harvest season is all about getting ready for the next vintage. “The most important thing a grower can do once the grapes have been harvested, is to look at the overall health of the vines and soil. The cyclical nature of wine grape growing means there’s never really any down time.

Vineyard Design & Management Services

Advice for Buying a Vineyard

Americans have overtaken the French and Italians as the world’s foremost wine consumers. As we’ve gained a taste for the fruits of the vine, grapes and wine, we have also developed an appreciation for the places where those fruits are cultivated and harvested. Vineyards, sun dappled and surrounded by ordered, green rows of vines, have grown in popularity as a business and a hobby. Now, buying a vineyard as a business venture is not for everyone, however, building a backyard vineyard and wine making has become cool as a hobby.

Vineyard Market Trends

The United States was once home to just a few hundred vineyards. In the 1970s, before American wine had gained the respect it now enjoys, there were just 400 wineries in the Unites States. Now, there are 7,000.

Many of these new vineyards are in California, nestled in the celebrated wine-producing regions of Napa and Sonoma in the north and in Santa Barbara County and the Central coast. These vineyards have seen a remarkable appreciation in value in the last few decades. Property prices in California’s wine country climbed between 100 percent and 300 percent in each of the decades between 1950 and 2008. Admittedly, these heady prices cooled somewhat during the first years of America’s current economic malaise.

During the recent recession, American consumers turned towards more economical wines, and many vineyards suffered because of this collective move away from the more expensive wines. But the wine industry is quickly rebounding. In fact, in the last year, California’s North Coast has seen its treasured vineyards surge in production and value. Since 2012, a number of wineries – collectively worth more than $300 million – have been sold to new owners.

Is Buying a Vineyard a Good Investment?

Santa Ynez Vineyard

Buying a vineyard, in aggregate, can make excellent investments. They are the indispensable nuclei of the expanding industry. But vineyards are not within the means of every individual. John C. Bergman, the founder of a real estate firm in California’s wine country, told Forbes that “The purchase of a vineyard estate is half emotion and half logic.” Bergman’s advice is intended for the majority of wanna-be vintners. Few among us have the resources to grow and produce wine purely for recreational purposes. Those who wish to own a vineyard must have a large amount of available capital if they are going to prosper.

A prospective vintner must, before making his/her purchase, assess his/her financial situation carefully. In all likelihood, if you are looking to buy a vineyard in the United States, you will be purchasing an established vineyard in California. 90 percent of American wine is produced in the state, much of it in the north: in Napa and Sonoma. Prices vary enormously, but typically it costs between $150,000 and $200,000 an acre for a vineyard planted with red varietals. For an acre planted with white grapes, you will need to spend a comparatively modest $115,000 an acre.

If you are not deterred by these sums, it’s important to remember that a vineyard, if it is to be successful, demands constant investment. It must be managed and tended to by an experienced team of grape-growing professionals.

Buying a vineyard, though the treasured aspiration of many a wine enthusiast, is feasible for only a select few. Vineyards in established wine-growing regions are costly and capital intensive. There is a reason for the popularity of the following saying in the wine business: “Do you know how to make a small fortune in the vineyard business? Start with a large one.” That said, if you have the capital and knowledge resources available, buying a vineyard can be a rewarding step into a growing, healthy market: one which can bring financial and emotional rewards.

Buying and owning a vineyard is rewarding, but one needs to remember that this business is agriculture. Agriculture results can be risky. Your harvest and profits depends on many factors such as weather, pests, fungi diseases, and many more. Good luck!

We have years of experience designing, installing and managing vineyards in Santa Barbara County.  Contact us with any questions and we’ll be happy to help you.