This summer is turning out to be quite exciting in terms of progress in the vineyard. Three years ago, we moved all of our grapevines (close to 100, but now we probably have twice that many) to some terraces that I had put in about a decade ago. Over the last 14 years (at that point), I had come to realize that grapes need four things: Heat, heat, more heat, and water. The air needs to be consistently warm, the soil needs to be consistently warm, and they do enjoy heat waves. Their previous location in a field on a 30 degree slope provided warm air, but cold soil. I had one vine that did pretty well (far from perfect, though) out in the field. When I "dug a little deeper" into this 'miracle,' I found a column of rocks in the ground next to the vine that was conducting heat downward. It wasn't very efficient, but it kind of worked. I knew I couldn't do that for the other vines - and it turns out the ground still was not warm enough to trigger flower bud formation. So, i looked around and found the terraces were substantially warmer. That triggered the idea to move them.
We pulled out the peonies that had been planted there and popped in 40 grapevines of different varieties. The following year, they struggled a lot. I thought I was watering them enough, but they still didn't grow. That was the "sleep" year for perennials. Last summer, as most of you know, was a tough one. We didn't arrive back in town until early July. I knew that I would not be able to water them then, because that would encourage growth well into the fall. That can kill a vine here (and it has, that's how I know). So, in most respects, last year saw no new development in the vineyard.
Enter 2025 - the year things would turn around. The summer has started out (as it usually does) quite dry. We've been literally pouring water (6 gallons (22 l) per week) on them (now at abut 68 vines, because we tightened up the spacing from 6 ft (~2m) to 3 ft (~1m). No sense in wasting valuable terrace space. The vines got off to a late start following a rather cool spring. Finally, in mid-June several started to grow at a pace of about 1-1.5 inches (2.5-4 cm) per day. And this wasn't in just a single "unique" vine, but rather several different varieties. So, now we have two vines (Arthur and Skujins-675) that are about 30 inches (about 75 cm) tall. Both of these vines have shown the ability to harden off a little before cold sets in. However, we have a theory that the rains that come in August actually delay hardening off, so we are developing a plan to keep their roots a bit drier this August and see if they will harden off better. And...looking at the shoot thickness right now (and we still have 2 months of growing season to go), we could see a flower cluster or two next spring. That would be exciting! Then we can start worrying about actually ripening grapes. It has taken 17 years to get to the point we are at now and it may take a couple more to figure out how to get grapes to ripen. After that, it is onto winemaking. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
But, you may be asking "17 years is a long time to put effort into something that doesn't appear to be working. Why do that?" Good question. First (and foremost), I like (certain) challenges and one of those is doing things (mostly in the agricultural sector - like overwintering Zone 7 blackberries in Zone 3b) that others say is "impossible." I prefer "improbable, but not impossible." There is a larger picture here, though. I have dreamed for years of having an estate winery (that means you make wine only from grapes grown on your property - no California or Washington state juice). Not very difficult in most regions of the world. A different story here. Second, about a decade ago, I got the idea for a bed and breakfast. So, why not a vineyard/winery-themed bed and breakfast. Hence the idea for the "Alaskan Vineyard Retreat." And, throw in the possibility of it being the northernmost outdoor vineyard in the world and now it's as unique as you can get. I have never spoken about the AVR on social media before, so you are the first to know. To my far-northern grape grower followers, it has been a long time in the making, but I think you can agree that all the effort is worth it when you succeed.
Here's the link to our recent (short) video we posted about the vineyard:
Stay tuned for a full farm update soon. Lots of other fruit and flowers to accompany a stroll through the vineyard this time of year.
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