This past March I got to visit my vineyard in Argentina and what a change in just one year. The vines, which a year ago were sticks in the ground with a few leaves, were now 1 meter high plants, some with grapes hanging from them. Usually young plants take 3 years to produce fruit, but I was lucky to have my plants produce fruit during the second year. Although yield was extremely low, this is a good sign that the vines are thriving in the vineyard.
Chaiken Vineyards and its several neighbors decided at the last minute to harvest our fruit as a local winery was very interested in purchasing our premium grapes. This generated enough money to pay for the grape picking. We then kept back enough grapes for us to produce a few cases for ourselves. I expect my 5 cases of wine late in 2010.
Reports from the vineyard indicate that all is going as planned. The first planting had a success rate of over 92%. Replanting of vines that did not take root brought the vineyard vine success rate to over 99%, an exellent numebr for a new vineyard. Very encouraging.
During my visit I used my pocket still camera to video a walk through the vineyard. Just click on the image below to see video.
Cheers.
Barry P. Chaiken, Proprietor
Chaiken Vineyards