June 2, 2021:

Our first shipment of vines from Viticulture A&M arrived on June 2, 2021. Receiving a few dozen boxes containing three thousand potted and two thousand self-rooted vines (L’Acadie Blanc and Marquette) was both exciting and overwhelming. The boxes filled up our little 10×12 shed and the race started for us to get the vines planted in the next few days.

When choosing the grape varietal for our first four acres we went through a bit of a decision making process. L’Acadie Blanc became an obvious choice as a hardy hybrid grape that grows really well in cool Atlantic Canada climate. L’Acadie is a versatile grape that makes a crisp citrus wine, is used for blending and is quickly becoming a local favorite for making sparkling wines.

Marquette is a very recent variety that was crossed in 1989 and introduced in 2006 by the University of Minnesota in the United States. It is also well suited for the cool Atlantic Canadian climate and makes a beautiful medium bodied fruity red wine with aromas of cherries, blackcurrants and blackberries.

We have naturally gravitated towards initially growing French hybrid grapes and will progress towards growing vitis vinifera once our initial vineyard is established.

While we were sorting things out to start planting the vines we had to constantly pull all the potted vines out of the shed, water them, let them air out in the day before packing them back into the shed for the night. In order to activate the dormant self rooted Marquette we used liquid seaweed extracts as biostimulants. We diluted a liter of the extract in a large tub and soaked the vines for 48 hours.

With all the preparations completed, that included: ripping soil for marked rows with a single-tooth two-foot deep ripper and marking each vine position, we were ready to plant.

We started early in the morning on June 5th. It started as a foggy morning that quickly turned into one of the hottest days of the season along with the next five days that it took for us, a crew of four to five people and with some help from our neighbors to plant the four acres.

The approach was simple. We brought in an excavator to drill the holes while people followed behind planting vines. The days were so hot and the soil got so dry that we soon realized that we had to have someone additionally follow behind to water the vines right after they were planted.

Although this approach of planting both potted and self rooted vines was not optimal, our planted rows turned out to be quite straight down the across the rows with quite prominent visual diagonal alignment.

Planting of the first four acres was quite a learning experience for us. This was both from the perspective what worked for us to adopt again and what did not work and will need a different approach.

Both during planting and then putting laborious hours watering our vines after planting, we have definitely developed a new appreciation for the back breaking work and a respect for everyone who chooses to take this work on as a full-time vocation.

After a bit of a rough start, mother nature became kind to us and our vines with a more than generous amount rain this summer. This kept our vines nicely hydrated and establish a strong root system. Now taking a step back and looking at how nicely our vines have established in the last four months is quite rewarding and makes us more confident in our journey and the decisions we have made thus far.