The climate and conditions in the Finger Lakes can be punishing. By "punishing," we mean that a season of persistent cool temperature can keep fruit from becoming fully ripe; or, that excessive moisture in September can cause mold to form on the grapes before they are ready to be picked.

In the world of wine, winemakers normally get all the attention. Here in the cool climate of the Finger Lakes, we like to shower the attention on the team that manages the vineyard.

In either case, the result can be a harvest of under-ripe fruit. When fruit is under-ripe, its juice can be overly acidic and lack flavor (think of biting into an under-ripe peach.) Here at Boundary Breaks, when we aim for “ripeness,” we are aiming for more than “sweetness;” we are also aiming for “flavor.”

We want our fruit to get ripe every single year—no matter what kind of weather the season gives us. To give ourselves the best chance of success, we began the development of the vineyard even before we planted any vines. We started with bare ground and asked ourselves, “How do we do this in a way that it will benefit the people growing grapes here 100 years from now?”

Our soils have a high clay content, which means they retain moisture. Grapevines do better in drier soils, so to ensure our soils stay dry, we installed drainage pipes called “tile” underneath the entire vineyard.

We installed this tile four feet underground, so that the vines roots would need to reach at least that far to find the moisture they need. Deeper roots mean healthier, drought-tolerant vines. Vines with deeper roots also fare better in the winter when temperatures fall below zero and the upper layers of the soil (including the roots) freeze.

The other benefit of a well-drained vineyard is that the ground stays dry in the fall, when excessive moisture on hot days creates an ideal environment for mold to form on leaves and berries. A dry vineyard floor keeps the mold in check, and allows us to leave our fruit out longer to get as ripe as possible.

Once you have planted vines, you need to choose a “trellis system” which supports the vine and all the fruit that it carries. There are many options for trellis systems. We chose one called “Scott Henry”, invented by an innovative grape grower in Oregon. The trellis system is designed to provide maximum yield at a maximum level of ripeness. It works just that way for us.