So it was time to check on more California research. This time in wine grapes. Wine grapes are grown in almost every state. But California maintains the premium wine grape reputation. AgroLiquid is already applied to wine grapes there. But we wanted more. So we have been working with a contract researcher on wine grape fertility on a large field of Chardonnay grapes. This is the second year of this experiment, and the effects of the fertilizer treatment should be expressed now. Here we see Dylan and the researchers looking at a plot. The grapes were actually harvested a couple weeks prior to this visit.
Grape fertility is pretty much multiple applications through the growing season. The method of fertilizer application to the plots is pretty ingenious. Each plot is six vines, or individual grape plants. Liquid fertilizers are commonly applied through the drip irrigation line. So they have a cone tank that applies the plot fertilizer to those six vines of a plot only. There are four replications, so they move around the site to make the applications. I also notice that the West facing side of the vines are larger than the East facing side. You can see that in the picture below. But it's nice that the research is placed in a real vineyard.
The rows next to the plot rows had not yet been picked by the vineyard crew. But you can see what the mature bunches look like. They harvest the grape bunches from the middle four vines of each plot. I was surprised that they were picking over 400 bunches from the four vines. Wow. That's almost as hard as picking strawberries. They took weights and also a Juice Panel which tested the juice for various parameters. Well I recently received the results, and the AgroLiquid had the highest yield. There is plenty of data to review, so I'll get right on that. Look for these results in the Research Report.
Well that's pretty much it for my most recent California visit. I always leave anxious to return. And I will.
