Rick Dunst, Viticulturist, Double A Vineyards, Inc.  It is the time of year when our office starts receiving calls about “bumps” forming on grape leaves. While pest identification is usually quite difficult when based solely on a rough description of the symptoms, “bumps” on grapevine leaves are almost always associated with the aerial, or leaf form, of phylloxera. Phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vi...

Rick Dunst, Viticulturist, Double A Vineyards, Inc. After nearly twelve months of taking care of your vineyards, the last decision you make can be the most agonizing and difficult– when is it time to harvest the fruit?  As grapes mature, they develop aromas and flavors, and the chemical composition of the fruit changes.  Knowing when those factors have reached optimum levels is both an art and ...

Rick Dunst, Viticulturist, Double A Vineyards, Inc. Selecting the proper rootstock for your vineyard is just as important as variety selection. Rootstocks are used to induce or reduce scion vigor or to overcome specific soil limitations caused by physical factors such as soil pH and high salt content, or biological factors such as phylloxera, nematodes, and cotton root rot. While some cultivars...

Rick Dunst, Viticulturist, Double A Vineyards, Inc. Chemical pest management options for growers with only a few vines are limited. While non-restricted use pesticides can be purchased and used by anyone (meaning, anyone who reads and understands the pesticide label prior to application and applies it legally), they usually come in package sizes intended for commercial growers with at least sev...

  Marketing Specialist, Danielle Huber It’s a constant battle in the wine industry to please the consumer. We’re always trying to evolve the pallet, improve the vessel, and advance the process. As consumers, we want to pay less and get more. That’s why we have boxed wine! We want convenience. Hence, wine bottles with screw tops, stemless glassware, and the popular new cans of wine that can be t...

Rick Dunst, Viticulturist, Double A Vineyards, Inc. Double A Vineyards offers a full line of crop protection products available to our customers. There are several grape diseases that can cause crop loss directly, through infection of fruit, or indirectly, through loss of leaf area. Various insects feed on grape flowers, fruit, leaves, and roots, resulting in decreased productivity. Weeds can c...

Rick Dunst, Viticulturist, Double A Vineyards, Inc. Powdery mildew (PM) is an important vineyard disease worldwide.  As pointed out by Cornell University grape plant pathologist Wayne Wilcox, Eastern North America is the origin of powdery mildew, and we cannot grow grapes here without controlling it.  Sulfur is a traditional material used to control powdery mildew, but grape cultivars differ wi...

Rick Dunst, Viticulturist, Double A Vineyards, Inc. Cover crop management is an important consideration in viticulture. Most vineyards are managed with some kind of ground cover in the row middles, while minimizing weed competition near the vines. There are many benefits from growing cover crops in row middles. These include reduced risk of soil erosion and improved soil fertility, as well as h...

Rick Dunst, Viticulturist, Double A Vineyards, Inc. Spring has sprung (albeit 3-4 weeks early in Western New York) and Double A Vineyards has begun shipping vines to our customers in warmer climates.  This month’s article will cover the basics of pre-plant land preparation, how to handle vines once you receive them, methods of planting, and early care of the vineyard. Pre-plant Land Preparation...