Naming of the Vines

I made a decision yesterday regarding the silly little vines I have growing.  I think some refer to classification as Taxonomy.   Either way, this is what I came up with (I'll do my best to refer to all vines as such from here on out):

Cabernet Sauvignon vines

Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2008 (St. Louis, Missouri vine)
Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2010 (Chicago, IL vine) - planted as a cutting in a pot this late winter/early spring 2010.
Cabernet Sauvignon 02-2010 (Chicago, IL vine) - same
Cabernet Sauvignon 03-2010 (Chicago, IL vine) - same
Cabernet Sauvignon 04-2010 (Chicago, IL vine) - same

Syrah vines

Syrah 01-2009 (Chicago, IL vine) - planted in September 2009
Syrah 02-2009 (Chicago, IL vine) - planted in September 2009
Syrah 03-2009 (St. Louis, MO vine) - located at family home in St. Louis, Missouri

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I hope to be able to do the same for the Cabernet Franc, La Crescent, and Frontenac vines, but time will tell if I have success in getting them to grow.  Also, I have been quite remiss by misspelling the La Crescent grape vines (been wrongly spelling it as 'Le Crescent').  I am embarrassed I didn't catch that earlier, I need a Copy Editor, I guess.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to report the following:

Cabernet Franc 01-2010 (Chicago, IL vine)
Cabernet Franc 02-2010
Cabernet Franc 03-2010
Cabernet Franc 04-2010

Frontenac 01-2010 (Glen Ellyn, IL vine)
Frontenac 02-2010

La Crescent 01-2010 (Glen Ellyn, IL vine)
La Crescent 02-2010
La Crescent 03-2010 (Grayslake, IL vine)

Last night I had occasion to look at Syrah 01-2009 and it came up with another 3 leaves or so.  I meant to take a yardstick out to measure how tall it is at the current.  Best guess would put the young vine at nearly 14 inches tall already.  As I walked away and went back into the apartment I couldn't help but be grateful that I have been documenting this with the lens because I immediately go back to that photo nearly 2 months ago in early April 2010 when I noticed bud break.  

And, on another incredible update, a friend offered to play host to the final La Crescent grape vine that was purchased from Double A Vineyards in Fredonia, NY.  This last La Crescent is already in the soil and resides in Grayslake, Illinois (Lake County Illinois).  It will receive plenty of southern facing sunlight and I hear the drainage will be exceptional.  It might turn out to be the best grower of the batch.  I am thrilled, this will be La Crescent 03-2010, if it gets established.



60 degrees this morning.  Yesterday, actually, nearing 7:15PM, it was just like a typical autumn day in the Midwest.   The sunlight was pristine, as were the skies.  Shame I wasn't out enough.  Bloody current job!!!!

Since we are doing maps, here is one of Glen Ellyn, IL, as well.



That's all for now!  Have a grand weekend.

May 27 2010 update - Thursday

Southeast Logan Square has seen a series of 80-degree days this week. The lows did not even get into the 50's. The urban/residential garden is progressing very well and impressively. I don't have any photo updates because my camera battery charger is at a friend's house, actually in Glen Ellyn, IL.

Listening to the Dwight Yoakam channel on www.Pandora.com right now.

Rudy McClain created the documentary 'Merlove' and he recently sat down with Gary Vaynerchuk from WineLibrary TV last autumn 2009 to talk about his film, which was a response to the movie 'Sideways' featuring Paul Giamatti. Here is a link to the conversation with Gary V:

http://tv.winelibrary.com/2009/11/25/merlove-episode-775/


Here's a link to one of the more popular scenes from the movie 'Sideways', the one referred to above:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiOuroHPxRQ

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Rudy McClain also sat down with a fella from the website, www.winecast.net.   A link to that podcast is here:

http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/7374386

The author of www.winecast.net is Tim Elliott, a bit of information about him can be found at:

http://winecast.net/about/


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Side Note:  I determined a few days back that Louie, the black dog in St. Louis isn't capable of eating the grapes.  I have zero acquaintance with Louie's personality, but I thought I would mention another great vineyard dog, from Canada - Mr. Bones (Newmicon's dog):

http://www.youtube.com/user/Newmicon#p/u/23/m9IYMTRnlY4

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The impulse to mention the doc 'Merlove' was realizing that there are a good many wonderful podcasts available for FREE on iTunes, and I don't even own an iPod.  It is great.  Check the iTunes download location the next time you think of wine podcasts.  That is where I originally came upon the interview between Tim Elliot and Rudy McClain from WineCast.

Also, in re-listening to the podcasts from www.winemakingradio.com, I listened more closely to one rascal from North Dakota, named Gary Cook, he runs The Valley Vine - an online newsletter featuring updates from the Red River Valley in northwestern Minnesota/eastern North Dakota.  I enjoyed his insight into many matters involving wine making and wine tasting.  A link to that conversation, again, is:

http://www.winemakingradio.com/wmr/Episode22.asx


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As far as growth goes, it appears that new leaves are arriving at a rate of two new leaves every four days, from what can be observed thus far.  Perhaps there will be an increase for the next 40 days and then a plateau.  Great progress moving forward despite the worst of locations for plantings.

One final mention is that I now have a fourth Cabernet Sauvignon cutting that has experienced bud break in the past 56 hours or so, this is the batch cut from my parents' vine in St. Louis MO.  This one will be called Cabernet #4.  It was great news to hear from my roommate as she informed me the old way - by us having a conversation through the window as I was in the garden.

Happy growing!