Vintners: Mild Winter OK, But Sudden Freeze a Worry
Local winemakers say that the spring-like weather probably won’t disrupt the 2012 growing season — but a sudden deep freeze could damage the vines.
With recent temperatures in the 50s in the middle of January, grapevines, like the rest of us, think it feels like spring. That means the sap in the vines, instead of spending most of its time underground, is still flowing through the upper portion of the vine, which could mean an early bud break, according to local vintners like Ann Marie Borghese of Castello di Borghese in Cutchogue. Borghese said that in her 13 years of winemaking on the North Fork, she’s never experienced a January as warm as this. But with the warmth comes with a major danger: If sudden deep freeze hits, the sap will expand and the vines might break. “If they freeze and crack, that would be a problem,” she said. “That happened at a vineyard up the island a few years …
In this Article:
