With the freeze damage and hail damage this year, most of the grape crop is from non-count buds. Historically (2014 – 2019 newer vineyards having less harvest data) our average cluster weights are as follows:
Cultivar/Vineyard | Avg Cluster Weight lbs |
Cayuga White- NF | 0.44 |
Seval Blanc – Res | 0.53 |
Vidal Blanc – NF | 0.41 |
Chardonel – NWV | 0.42 |
Chardonel – NF | 0.44 |
Traminette – NF | 0.30 |
Catawba – Res | 0.34 |
Chambourcin – MVEC | 0.39 |
Chambourcin – NF | 0.48 |
Chambourcin – NWV | 0.35 |
Norton – NF | 0.16 |
Norton – Res | 0.19 |
Norton – NN | 0.17 |
Norton – NS | 0.15 |
Catawba – West | 0.25 |
Vignoles – NF | 0.20 |
In addition to general canopy management, the plan going forward is to remove clusters from cultivars with very little crop (Catawba, Chardonel, Norton Research and Foundation) and thin clusters on all other cultivars to promote even ripening. It will be interesting to compare the average cluster weight this year to our averages based on primary shoots.