Spring in Michigan Wine Country

“The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.” -Galileo 

Spring in wine country is a busy time for both the vineyard owner and the grape. Both are waking up from the long winter’s nap.

At Mahan Family Wines, we’re waiting on hand and foot for the sign from the universe that the new vintage is beginning - bud break! 

Depending on vine variety and vineyard location, bud break can take place over a two month period. In the midwest, bud break tends to begin mid-April when the winter is finally past us and the warmer weather is upon us.

You know it’s bud break season when all of a sudden small buds push through the bark of the vine.  Leaves tend to appear around 4 weeks later.

There are a few different phases of bud break season that the vineyard owner and winemaker (we call them Vinemakers) get excited about. There is also a lot of anxiety for the Vinemaker during this season. 

We’re going to break that all down for you here.  

What we’re looking forward to!

Phase 1: Early bud break. This is when buds push and start to unfold, a transformation of the energy source, all the energy that was dormant throughout the winter finally comes to the surface and you get to see tiny buds pushing through and lifting their faces to the sun.

Phase 2: Rapid shoot development. With the cold of the winter gone and the longer sunnier days of the spring, the buds convert all that delicious energy from the sun through photosynthesis into what ultimately becomes the grapes which are used to make wines and leafy goodness which will protect the precious grapes from the antagonists of nature - rain, wind, too much sun, pests, etc.

Phase 3: Flowering. Before turning to grape berry clusters, the shoots begin to flower, each flower has the potential to be a grape berry. There are thousands of flowers on each vine. The Vinemakers sole responsibility to the flowers at this time is to protect them.  The Vineyard is full of possibilities at this key moment in the early development of the vintage and so it’s important to protect these flowers until they grow heartier and can defend themselves.

Phase 4: Suckering. As the flowers turn to grape berries, the Vinemaker can now turn their attention to bringing to life the best of the best grape clusters on the vine.  Since each vine only has so much opportunity to take in energy from the sun and convert it into grapes, each vine needs to be cared for individually to give it the best possible lifestyle during this growing season. The Vinemaker spends time looking at the vines and taking off anything that is not intended to be growing.  This is important because you want to get a specific yield out of each vine. When you limit the total amount of fruit per vine you maximize the quality of juice that ultimately ends up in your glass.

What we’re not looking forward to!

Unpredictable high & low temps. There is not a more vulnerable time on the vineyard than early spring for Vinemakers. It’s been said that the harvest is a mirror of the Spring. If you’ve lived in the midwest for any amount of time, you know that Spring here can be a bit unpredictable with some day time temperatures sometimes climbing into the high seventies and other daytime highs in the mid-thirties. 

As mentioned before, buds are not particularly hearty and so big swings in temperature, especially overnight are one of the Vinemaker’s biggest concerns during this season. Once the buds turn to shoots, we pray to mother nature for mild temperatures.  Since prayers to mother nature are not always answered favorably, there are a few different ways we support the vulnerable buds, shoots & young grape berries: 

• We can put fans on the vineyard to stir up the air so cooler air cannot settle at the base of the vines as it would naturally if the fan weren’t stirring it up. 

• We can leverage our irrigation system to keep the grapes wet during a cold spring night, essentially creating a thin layer of ice around the buds, shoots, berries and leaves to protect from a damaging cold temperatures (we know it sounds kind of crazy to say “we ice the vines to prevent the vines from freezing” but this is indeed a real thing)

• We can leverage cover crops between the rows to create a boundary for the cooler air to settle into that is not the base of the vines, letting the cover crops grow and/or mowing them down to create the best possible growing conditions for the young, vulnerable buds. 

Other big concerns during this season is heavy rains & winds. While we do want a wet winter and a wet spring, we don’t want it to be too wet. Too wet can lead to issues like mildew and if you don’t have the right runoff or cover crops systems in place can overwhelm the vines with water leading to diluted flavor in the grape berries come harvest. 

The Conclusion of Spring means the beginning to Summer

At the end of the day, spring is truly one of the most exciting times on the vineyard, from week to week the vines are coming to life before your very eyes. The ultimate goal of the spring season is to try to get a uniform bud break, followed by even growing of the clusters and uniform berry size (when they’re not uniform we call that hens & chickens and becomes more problematic later in the season because we want all our berries to mature at the same rate).

We busily tend to the grapes trying to give them the best chance at life and the best chance to live out their purpose of making it into your glass to be enjoyed in good company.

Make sure you subscribe to our newsletter to follow the journey from Spring to Summer, Summer to Fall, Fall to Winter and back to Spring: mahanfamilywines.com/subscribe.