Good day from the von Stiehl, Stony Creek Vineyard. Door County’s oldest commercial vineyard and source of von Stiehl Winery’s Estate grown wines.
Spring was cold and the vines remained sleepy following a rather mild winter. Vines were pruned during one of the harshest April’s that the vineyard has seen in its 23 years. The vineyard
crew battled rain, sleet, snow and harsh winds. One morning the crew was greeted by icicles formed by flowing sap from the freshly pruned vines!
In recent weeks things suddenly burst to life at the vineyard. With much excitement, late May ushered in temperatures in the 80s even approaching 90F! However, the weather has been on a real roller coaster from unseasonably high temps to unseasonably cold and back again. Frost has struck a number of Northern Wisconsin areas though as we approach another unseasonably cold weekend the vineyard has been spared.
The vines emerged from dormancy with bud break occurring in late May. From there it didn’t take long for shoots to form. Bill and the vineyard crew have been scrambling now to do their work at an accelerated pace removing double shoots, trunk buds and suckers from the vines. And just this week they have moved on to shoot thinning in preparation for bloom and subsequent fruit set.
Check back with us soon. Things are happening fast and we’ll continue to update you with the progress of the 2020 vintage!
~PJ, Wine and Cider Maker
