I had the pleasure of touring the BeckenRidge Vineyard with Ken Jacroux. He saw me photographing some of their older Pinot Noir vines and made the mistake of joining me! I immediately started asking questions about their unique trellising system. Most I've seen have the main vine growing about 18 inches tall with a cane growing off of that and the rest of the fruiting canes growing straight up. Ken explained to me that these 30 year old vines were originally done that way, but somewhere along the line they decided to have the main trunk of the vine go up to about five feet, with the smaller vines growing down from there. It gives these old vines a twisting, gnarled look that I love. They are just now in the process of training the vines down. Ken explained that if they do it any sooner the vine might break.
We also talk a bit about theology. Ken is a man of faith and has spent a lot of time considering how the vineyard and his faith influence one another. He tells me about the roots of the vines. They will only grow out until they meet the roots of another vine, but no further. Then they start to grow down. The main root can go very deep. Ken says his are down at least 18 feet in the ground. "We have no watering system in place" he pointed out. The roots are deep enough to find water. They do have to water any new, or replacement vines that they plant, until their roots are deep enough not to need it, which takes about three years.
Ken and his wife, Becky, will be going through the Pinot Noir section of the vineyard in the next few weeks to hand prune the fruit. In the photo above, Ken is holding the smaller cluster that must be removed. Imagine doing that for every vine on every plant of the vineyard! In the Bible, when Jesus wants to tell a story about work, he often begins with the words, "There was a man who owned a vineyard . . . " Ken also points out the the clusters have some grapes that are larger and some that are smaller. They will all mature to the same size before harvest. Ken was silly enough to give me his phone number and tell me to call if I have any questions. He may regret that decision!
