Our vineyard was established on Bainbridge Island in 2004. In December 2003, we purchased a 3.6 acre property that has a wonderful south-facing slope, with a small cleared area and a few hundred small Noble Fir trees in mediocre condition. The previous owners had sold Christmas trees from the property for about 15 years as the Page/Almouela farm.

In Spring 2004, we planted 4 rows of 25 plants each, all of Melon de Bourgogne (UCD Clone #2), purchased from Inland Desert Nursery in Prosser, WA. Humorously, this was actually more MdB plants than in all of WA state combined at that time. [Note: still true today, Spring 2008]

In November 2004, we invited friends to come and take a Christmas tree, and accepted payment as donations for several local charities. The following Spring (2005), we then cleared the remaining Christmas trees, and planted this newly cleared area to a variety of different grapes; another 250 MdB, plus Siegerrebe, Zweigelt, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Castor (a Muscat), and Reislaner.

Spring 2008, we have cleared and are in the process of planting the hillside immediately below our vineyard, on city-owned property known as the "Morales" parcel. This property was bought in open-space bond and is reserved for agricultural use. We will be working about a half acre, expecting about 400 new plants. These will all be MdB.

Also in Spring 2008, we are planting approx. 1/2 acre of Siegerrebe on the BIVW property.

(Images are in reverse chronological order -- newest first for ease of returning visitors.)
(Click on image for 400x300, click on text for 1600x1200)

Zwiegelt plant leafing out. This is the furthest advanced plant in the vineyard at this time. This has been a very cold Spring -- in a normal year, we would expect to see 6 inches of shoot growth by now, yet here you can see we're just past the "mouse ear" stage. There is one MdB at about the same stage, but the majority of the other 349 are still at "mouse ear". (full size image 390Kb) (Taken, 13-May-2008, MikeL)
This is the newly cleared area on the Morales parcel. The photo was taken standing on the Morales property, overlooking John Chang's CSA planting. The new area is below, our existing vineyard can be discerned by the post above the driveway. (full size image 416Kb) (Taken 13-May-2008, MikeL)
Closer view of the Morales slope we'll be planting in the next few weeks. This is quite steep; it was scary running the tractor on it to do the clearing, subsoiling and rototilling. (full size image 432Kb) (Taken 10-May-2008, MikeL)
This cleared are in the foreground was in raspberries last last Autumn at the Suyematsu/Bentryn farm. Akio pulled them out, and we'll be planting Siegerrebe here in the next few weeks. In the background you can see one of Brian McWhorter's Butler Farms CSA plantings. (full size image 395Kb) (cellphone camera, 05-May-2008, MikeL)
Here's a lovely shot of the Melon vineyard with mist rising as the sun came out after a rain. This was a very brief sun appearance this April. (full size image 395Kb) (cellphone camera, 18-Apr-2008, MikeL)	As mentioned in previous (below) -- this has been a very weird winter -- here's that same cherry branch 3 weeks later, still in full bloom. Normally this would have been past weeks ago. (full size image 269Kb) (Taken 10-May-2008, MikeL)
This has been a very weird winter -- very dry in Jan-Feb, now it's snowing in mid-Apr! (Note the white cherry blossoms on the branch.) (full size image 395Kb) (Taken 18-Apr-2008, MikeL)
Ellis weeding under the vineyard -- Nigel kitty is helping out (he's a Maine Coon cat) (full size image 316Kb) (Taken 10-Apr-2008, MikeL cellphone camera)	Our neighbor Gerard Bentryn with his Kubota helping out with a serious stump removal project. (full size image 264Kb) (Taken 13-Apr-2008, MikeL cellphone camera)
New irrigation system being installed for the Müller Thurgau (full size image 307Kb) (Taken 21-Feb-2008, MikeL cellphone camera)
Continuous panorama of pruning Madeleine Angevine on a very nice January day (1000x700 4.5Mb) (You'll need Apple's QuickTime to view it.) (Taken ?-Jan-2008, Garret Veley)
Continuous panorama of pruning Müller Thurgau, same Januaary day (1000x700 3.3Mb) (You'll need Apple's QuickTime to view it.) (Taken ?-Jan-2008, Garret Veley)
Continuous panorama of our own vineyard, same Januaary day (1000x700 3.2Mb) (You'll need Apple's QuickTime to view it.) (Taken ?-Jan-2008, Garret Veley)

(full size image 389Kb) We had a brief snow that turned into a mass of rain which completely flooded our driveway. (I was too busy digging trenches to take pictures of the flood.) Looking due South from the top of the vineyard just after sunset -- a car is visible just pulling into the driveway. (Taken 01-Dec-2007, MikeL)
(full size image 442Kb) We had a lovely Fall afternoon a few weeks back where I walked around and took a few pictures of the vineyard. Looking due South from the top middle, standing in the lawn. (Taken 30-Nov-2007, MikeL)	(full size image 448Kb) Looking ESE across the upper vineyard headland from the top NW corner. (Taken 30-Nov-2007, MikeL)
(full size image 459Kb) Looking ESE through the vines from the middle west edge. (Taken 30-Nov-2007, MikeL)	(full size image 407Kb) Fantastic sunset with the last corner of the vineyard illuminated and bright orange clouds. (Taken 30-Nov-2007, MikeL)
(full size image 431Kb) Nice view of the vineyard. You can see where I've done some manual clearing on the slope below the vineyard in hopes of my expanding into that area next Spring. You can also tell the 4 rows in the center that are the original planting. Photo taken from the farm property below us (COBI "Morales" parcel). (Taken 16-Nov-2007, MikeL)	(full size image 470Kb) Looking sideways through the Melon de Bourgogne. (Taken 16-Nov-2007, MikeL)
(full size image 445Kb) Closeup of young plants. These were 1 year old plants from the nursery, put into the ground in 2006. You can see we've pruned back most of the extra wood so as to train up a single strong trunk. This closeup lets you see our irrigation system (T-Tape -- the black stripe), and a line of dolomite lime (white powder) applied after harvest. You can also see that we've established a lush green Winter cover crop of annual rye. We are very careful when spreading the seeds to keep them in the aisles, so as to make it easier to weed under the plants next Spring when we till in this cover crop. (Taken 16-Nov-2007, MikeL)	(full size image 459Kb) Looking upwards across the Melon de Bourgogne. Our house is visible at the top center. (Taken 16-Nov-2007, MikeL)
(full size image 432Kb) Looking NW across the vineyard. This area is the "experimental" block with several different varieties planted. The immediate first row is mostly rootstock plants so that we can do our own rootstock propogation in the future. You can see one particular plant is still holding onto it's leaves, event though the others have all dropped -- I think that's the Schwartzman rootstock. (Taken 16-Nov-2007, MikeL)
Continuous panorama of Madeleine Angevine harvest (800x500 1.5Mb) (1200x800 12.1Mb) (You'll need Apple's QuickTime to view it.) (Taken 28-Sep-2007, Garret Veley)

(full size image 399Kb) Note clean cultivation -- the bare dirt keeps vineyard temperatures much warmer than would a grass or weed vineyard floor. Photo taken from Lovgren Rd. just downhill from the vineyard. (Taken 12-Sep-2007, MikeL)	(full size image 433Kb) Leaf pulling -- we remove most of the leaves immediately around the grape clusters which helps the grapes to warm in the sun, which dries them out helping prevent molding, and allowing sprays to penetrate better. (Taken 16-Aug-2007, MikeL)
(full size image 425Kb) Our new "Pesticide Free Zone" sign! This is a voluntary self-policing endorsement. (Taken 02-Aug-2007, MikeL)	(full size image 448Kb) Catchwires with vertical shoots tucked in between them. Red clip visible that holds wires together. (Taken 10-Jul-2007, MikeL)

Continuous panoramic view of Müller Thurgau vineyard (600x375 880Kb) (1200x800 5.4Mb) Mike and crew are shoot thinning on a nice day in June. (This thing is so cool! Use mouse on image to swivel view 360 degrees; you can look up and down too!) (You'll need Apple's QuickTime to view it.) (Taken 03-Jun-2007, Garret Velley)

Melon de Bourgogne plant pre-shoot thinning (full size image 462Kb) (Taken 18-May-2007, MikeL)	after shoot thinning (full size image 460Kb) (Taken 18-May-2007, MikeL)	Betsey Wittick on tractor applying Spring emergent spray -- all organic (full size image 462Kb) (Taken 29-May-2007, MikeL)
Beth in distance, shoot thinning Melon (full size image 448Kb) (Taken 18-May-2007, MikeL)	Beth in row, shoot thinning Melon (full size image 458Kb) (Taken 18-May-2007, MikeL)	Flower clusters coming out (full size image 396Kb) (Taken 18-May-2007, MikeL)

Ellis planting cuttings into nursery block (full size image 435Kb) (Taken 01-Apr-2007, MikeL)

Mike weeding Melon through trees (full size image 466Kb) (Taken 01-Apr-2007, Ellis)

Making cuttings of Melon de Bourgogne (full size image 681Kb) I spent many hours sitting on that milk crate in Feb-Mar. The winery floor is covered with sticks which I'm cutting into 4-5 node sections to make new plants. Note uncut sticks in foreground, cut sticks around the milk crate, and many buckets of cut&bundled sticks to the rear. These sticks are now in a nursery block (see above Apr), and will be transfered to final place in 2008, first crop 2010. (Taken 28-Feb-2007, MikeL, cellphone)

Ellis doing winter pruning (full size image 263Kb) Ellis in the vineyard pruning and training last years Melon plants. (Taken 20-Feb-2007, MikeL, cellphone)

The first 4 rows planted (see below) of Melon de Bourgogne They're in full bush, taken 23-Aug. Note that the topmost plants are somewhat smaller due to insufficient irrigation pressure -- 2006 was a dry year!

(full size image 421Kb) Vineyard in the snow from Lovgreen Rd. Beth, our son Ellis, and our deer protection dog Rough. We walked down the driveway to get the mail and the paper since our driveway was impassible...

Again this year, we've leased one-half acre of Müller Thurgau grapevines from our neighbor, Bainbridge Island Vineyard and Winery. We harvested about 2 tons, yielding about 170 gallons.

(full size image 424Kb) This is our block seen in the snow from across the Suyimatsu farm pumpkin patch.

(full size image 429Kb) Looking through our block in the snow.

Beth driving our new tractor

Vineyard seen from SR-305 & Lovgren Rd. intersection

This is the intersection at Lovgren Road & SR-305..

The house came with an existing vineyard. We don't know it's exact history, but we can state unequivocably that it has been ignored for about 20 years as there are trees growing through of that age. We believe the plants are Muller Thurgau. At this writing we have no plans to work this area as there are a lot of trees that would have to be removed. Perhaps we'll be looking into it in 2006.
Bottom of vineyard, before clearing	Top of vineyard, after some clearing

Another portion of the property was previously a Christmas tree farm. This was left by the previous owner with a large cleared area in the middle, just big enough for 100 grapevines on 7' rows. Beth and I both adore the French Muscadet wine from the Melon de Bourgogne winegrape. We had made wine from this grape before, from a very small plot in Sunnyside (eastern WA), and loved the wine. A little research showed that the area in France (near Nantes) where this wine comes from, is a similar maritime climate to our Puget Sound basin. We felt that in the more appropriate cooler-climate Puget Sound AVA we could make an even better wine! So I asked around the wine community about getting some plants, and found that Inland Desert Nursery in Prosser, WA had 102 plants they'd love to sell me!
Ellis with the Melon plants right out of the shipping box	Plants stuffed into the ground after arrival until vineyard prepped	Ellis standing in bare area before vineyard
Our neighbor Akio helping pull down a few trees with his tractor before "subsoiling"	Ellis and I putting in the first plant (Beth taking picture)	All plants in (no posts or deer fence yet)

Our Christmas trees, soon to be vineyard. This was taken from the top of the hill looking down. (Update May-2005: The cluster of overgrown Christmas trees in the upper center and 8 of the tall trees to the left have been removed to bring in full-day sunlight.)