It’s been quite a while since I last posted but I can assure that plenty of wine has been sampled in my absence. No excuses other than I’ve been busy with work and other projects. But this post is not about my hiatus from Second Leaf. Instead I’d like to introduce you to one of my latest projects.

Hidden Acres is a 1/2 acre vineyard that I, along with some friends (whom you’ll be hearing more from in future posts), have recently adopted. Our task is to rehabilitate an 18year old (or at least that’s how old we think it is) collection of vines that is in desperate need of some TLC.

Let me back up a bit. Some other friends who knew we had a small vineyard on our property and that I was involved in winemaking, let me know that they had 1/2 acres of wine grapes on their property and that it had been essentially abandoned for as long as they could remember. They asked if I would be interested in taking a look at the vineyard. You see, they didn’t want to lose the vineyard but knew nothing about how to care for grapes. I asked a couple friends from the wine making club that I belong to if they would want to get involved and that’s how it all started.

The vineyard was planted by a previous owner who clearly put a lot of work into this small plot. Also, there was a small at-one-time refrigerated room that was part of detached garage on the property. Inside the room we found some old dusty wine bottles, a few wine barrels, a wine press, a corker, and some old carboys. All evidence seemed to indicate that at some point in the past there was a small, but thriving, wine operation on the property. Since some of the bottles said “Hidden Acres” on the label, we figured that was the name they were using to name their wine.

No one really knows what’s planted in the vineyard but the plants are clearly well established. Disease also has quite a foothold too. Several plants are completely dead, many have dead arm disease, evidence of rampant powdery mildew was obvious, and drastic pruning and retraining was needed.

We started looking at the vineyard last month and have been trying to catch up on pruning ever since. There are 9 1/2 rows that are about 200 feet long. Vines are planted about 6 feet apart and rows are from 8 to 10 feet apart. The vineyard is situated on a hillside that is facing West (at least as near as we could tell).

This new project is sure to be a lot of work but should also be a great learning experience. We are excited about the opportunity and look forward to making and sharing wine from the vineyard. The vineyard crew will post from time to time about our progress. In the mean time, be sure to check out more photographs at the following link.

Hidden Acres Photos - March 2007