It has been a really busy time around here and it seems like we have packed in quite a few mini-adventures in the recent weeks. I wanted to update you on our last Wine Exploration adventure.
The last of our Wine Exploration series was kind of a let down. We were suppose to go to an actual vineyard, learn about pruning and graphing, practice our new learned art, and sip some wine.
So on a rainy Sunday afternoon, we set off for our final Wine Exploration adventure. We had gloves, pruners, and mud boots ready to go. (In fact, we stopped at Target to get me a new stylish pair.)
We were dressed as one would dress for a rainy-day pruning adventure in a vineyard—the aforementioned rubber boots, jeans, sweaters, wind breakers, hair in pony tail.
We drove to the palatial (and I mean palatial) estate where the class would be held. We were a bit early and the gate was not opened yet. Just for fun, I decided I would check my email. Doh! Because of the rain, they had moved it!
The good news: It would be at Girouard Vines (which we love).
The bad news: We were about twenty miles away and now instead of being early, we would be late.
More bad news: Apparently everyone else had gotten this email early and was dressed to the nines (definitely not in gardening and pruning gear)!
There would be no use of our pruning garb this day, my friend. (We did spot a couple of other people in jeans, but I felt a bit out of sorts in my well-broken-in gardening sweater. I just kept my windbreaker on.)
Thanks to Girouard Vines for being the rain cancellation venue. It is always a pleasure to visit this urban winery.
But really, what a bummer.
The wines we had weren’t even Tulsa Deco.
The pruning expert, Steve Gerkin, did the best he could with a power point presentation (versus being out in the field). Steve is a retired dentist, recovering grape grower, and is currently an adjunct professor and wine educator at OSU. He and his wife still make wine; they just have given up on trying to grow the grapes. About four years ago he kicked the habit and donated all his farm equipment to OSU. They now buy their grapes.
Steve wanted to show us this video (from the other OSU—Oregon State), but the wifi was spotty at best. It is very informative and we watched it when we got home.
Spur pruning is what we need to do in Oklahoma and it is also done in Napa. One of the most interesting things from Steve’s presentation was the different types of unusual pruning that is done around the world.
Chris Girouard then took over for the grafting portion. He is hilarious. Chris definitely made the best out of a bad situation. He stated his credentials for giving this lecture at the start—he has unsuccessfully grafted the most vines!
Chris has been around grafting a long time as his father has worked tirelessly to create a good wine grape that would grow in Oklahoma. Chris said that with the late freeze of 2007 and the drought and heat last year that people are coming around to developing a native grape that can be used for wine.
Here is an easy way, according to Chris, to remember why grafting is necessary. You can’t just take a seed from a grafted grape and plant it hoping to get the same variety:
So, cudos to Steve and Chris for Plan B. I really wish we could have visited the vineyard that was on tap for the seminar:
Maybe some day, our vineyard will look like that!
So, after our frou-frou wine event, where did we go in our gardening attire?
A beer bar for burgers and brews! 🙂
(Really, the staff did the best they could, but I really want a do-over.)