Vineyards

We believe that quality wine is first and foremost shaped in the vineyard. And we are grateful to have the ability to cultivate quality grapes. Here are the stories on how we establish and maintain our vineyards.

The above picture captured the planting progress in 2016. We planted about 3600 vines by hand. This was the second phase of our planting. The first vineyard was planted in 2014. Prior to any planting, we installed about 13,000 feet drain tiles in 2011 and fenced in the entire 20 acre property in 2014.

Soil conditions - Shalestone bedrock. Honeoye silt loam.

The picture above captures one of the key steps of building of a strong foundation to produce complexity and longevity in the bottle

First Planting in 2014

1.0 Acre Riesling, Clone 198, 239
1.0 Acre Pinot Noir, Clones 115, 667, 777
0.5 Acre Pinot Blanc, Clone 55

Second Planting in 2016

1.0 Acre Riesling, Clone 90
1.0 Acre Riesling, Clone 110
1.0 Acre Pinot Noir Clones 667, 777
0.5 Acre Gewuerztraminer, Clone 48

February and March

The task of pruning is one of the most important duties of the entire season. It is setting the framework for the vine to perform according to its ability. This work is one of my favorite things to do. It is a very peaceful and calm time of the growing season.

April

Once pruning is finished we will tie two canes per vine onto the wire system. The count of buds on those canes will provide the canopy and fruit as the foundation for the upcoming growing season.

Early May

The wood resulting from pruning will be chopped and cultivated back into the soil.

Early June until mid August

The greatest amount of time spent in the vineyard is to position the new shoot growth and to remove leaves and unnecessary shoots. This work is to improve airflow and is very crucial in helping to keep the fruit and canopy healthy as well as allowing the sunlight to benefit the fruit ripeness.

Late July to early August

Crop thinning is one of the most critical duties we dedicate ourselves to put into action. Every vine will be evaluated and relieved of excessive fruit. This way the plant can ripen the remaining crop better and the wine resulting of that will offer more substance, balance and longevity.

Early August

We want to make sure that we can harvest what we worked so hard for. The netting will keep birds from “harvesting” the fruits before we do.

Mid September Until Mid October

The entire growing season is coming to a finale at this time a year. We don’t know if our work invested all year long bears reward until we are able to bring the fruit into the winery. Then we will finally know what potential “talent” our grapes contain. Harvesting the fruit by hand is the final step of quality control in the vineyard.

The goal of every season is…

….to cultivate and harvest fruit that is healthy and provides the best possible foundation for our wines. That fruit will help us to keep our hands “off” in the cellar and to get our wines into the bottle as authentic as possible.

Down to the knees...

Planting a vineyard is a true privilege. If done and cared for well it might bring good fruit for more than a generation. Every detail matters and so we plant all vineyards by hand in order to take care of every aspect in giving the new plants the best possible start. It is like taking care of a child, if it experiences love and care it will most likely rather thrive than struggle.

An answered prayer

It is never easy to find a person that is humble, hard working, honest and willing to walk the extra mile(s) to contribute to the vision of the employer. Thank you Sean! You are even more than I hoped to find in a right hand.

Kemmeter Wines