Farm Practices

Grapes are cultivated consistent with or above the standard viticultural practice in Sonoma County.

Weather conditions and many other factors play significant roles in the eventual grape quality and tonnage. The experienced staff of Windsor Oaks Vineyards is in the best position make decisions on farm practices to achieve the desired results. Nevertheless, we are prepared to adopt specified farm practices requested by Buyers, provided in our judgment the vine health and grape quality are maintained.

Visual observations are a necessary and frequent action for determining vine health throughout the growing season. We monitor vigor uniformity by NDVI annually for comparison to prior years. Irrigation and fertigation adjustments within blocks are made to achieve balance, uniformity, and consistency. During the growing season, grape leaf Stem Water Potential is tested regularly with pressure chamber. The vineyard’s growing and weather conditions dictate the frequency and amounts of our irrigation program.

Buyers are responsible for sampling their designated portion of the variety block. Blocks and rows are marked for the individual Buyers for easy identification. The staff of Windsor Oaks Vineyards samples blocks for maturity, starting with a baseline readings that are maintain through harvest. All Buyers will receive our BRIX sampling data promptly. If Buyer wishes more complete lab analyses, we can have tests run and billed to the Buyer at our preferred rates. Beyond monitoring BRIX, we also employ and report a numeric (1-5) scale for rachis color, skin turgor, pulp detachment, pigment, seed color, maturity, and seed tannin as further indicators of maturity.

The goal of Windsor Oaks Vineyards is produce very high quality grapes. We do not believe in allowing the desiccation of grapes to achieve very high Brix levels.  

Vine balance is confirmed by measuring post-harvest pruning weight to harvested crop weight for each block. Adjustments in fertilizers, micronutrients, and irrigation will follow as appropriate.

Our vineyard practices including spray programs and using an experienced vineyard and harvest crews that contribute to very clean fruit for the Buyer.

We are prepared to share details of our irrigation, pest use reporting (PUR), and fertigation programs with Buyers.