KyMar Farm Winery and Distillery

Today, we visited Jones Winery which is part of Jones Family Farm ( http://www.jonesfamilyfarms.com/content_winery.htm ) and one other winery that we did not really like (setup, tasting or wine).

Both Lori and I are visiting farm wineries whenever we get a few free minutes and will do a quick write up of the ones we like. I’m not going to mention the ones we don’t like as everyone should give all of these guys a chance and we all have different tastes.

What I can tell you is that Lori and I enjoy the Wineries where the person who is doing the pouring knows something about the products, the grower, the grapes or other fruit in the wine, etc. I like to know what grapes are in the wine or if the wine was aged in oak in SS. Jones Winery did not disappoint. In fact, they were charming, knowledgeable and spoke of the Jones family with obvious admiration. I was also impressed to discover that the winemaker is in fact a Jones rather than an outsider brought into one of the oldest and best know farms in the area.

The big surprise was what wine I liked. While I enjoy trying all kinds of wines, I tend to prefer the dry reds or dry whites. Other than the Apple Wine at Hopkins (also CT), I normally don’t like anyone’s fruit wines better than what we have made. Then along comes something I was sure I would not like…. Black Currant Bouquet. I never like these wines as they are almost always too sweet and in general not well balanced. This was different – First, the bouquet is amazing. I would describe this as sweet, but with enough acid and alcohol content to balance it out. It actually has just a touch of a bite on the tongue and none of the medicinal character that I normally perceive with elderberry, blueberry or black currant.

We also liked and bought the following:

Woodlands White – is an excellent Cayuga, very nice.
Harvest Time which is an apple/pear. I don’t like this as much as our apple, but it is good.
Ripton Red – one of the first Reds Lori has ever liked as she is a white wine only girl.

We will return in the fall when they move into their restored barn.

The second winery we visited didn’t have a friendly feel to it, I felt a bit rushed even though know one else was there and we didn’t really like any of the wines. Not much else to say about it really.

Things are looking pretty good for the apples planted last year and this spring. the trees we top worked on the roadside field last year are looking real good as well. The bt took care of our uninvited guests and we are continuing with our low on an as needed basis only spray program. The only downside to this weekend is the rain and hail and grape vines…. over 3.5 inches of rain in the last few days and a heck of a hail storm. About 20% of the trees that were planted this spring need a bit of work as well. They are now a bit deep and if left alone will rake root above the graft. We can take care of this over the fourth of July weekend.

The vines on the other hand are not happy at all. First we had the late may frost which devastated the Swenson red and the GR7 as I had cut them back to a few buds 6 inches above the ground. Then, just when they start pushing secondary buds as everything close to the ground was taken out by the frost, the hail comes along and literally knocks the new growth off. These grape vines are proving a bit more difficult than the apples I know and love. The Frontenac, Valiant, Edelweiss, and Marquette look well and should all make the wire this year.

We are going to try to get the trellis in around August.

New Barn for production in September.

Should hear from planning department for Summit if there are any issues in the next two weeks.

The wild flowers are awesome. Proof that cutting everything to look like a golf course is not the best policy. Dave and Stan still disagree!

It was too hot and I am still a bit too sore from my tractor play time to get a full day/weekend work in. I only sprayed the top field trees and did not get to the bottom or road side trees. I was able to get one row of the Marquette weeded down an entire row. The GR7 still look bad.

The Caterpillar infestation and the black flies they bring are still putting heavy pressure on the plants. Light deer damage and a half inch of rain for the week with heavy storms this afternoon. With the storm coming, It didnt seem like a great idea to keep sprayng as the rain was expected to be heavy enough to wash it all off.

Dave is going to monitor the caterpillar pressure midweek and perhaps spray again.

Dave, Mary, Ian and Denise were in the field working potatoes when I pulled in with Zuco. Not sure they did any work. I think they decided to have an afternoon chat instead.

If you open the image, to the left of the group is where the corn has been planted. It is only about 6 inches high so can not be seen in this pic.

Before we loocked up and came back for Fathers Day, Zuco went for a swim in he pond and I ran the brush hog down the drive and opened things up a bit. The yard needs to be cut and I have fallen way behind on the house maint.

It might be a few weeks before I get back up, so I’m not going to be catching up just yet!

Amazing weather we are having. Frost for two days week before last, and now we are over 90F. Another 1.5 inches in the rain gauge. This makes us 3.5 on the month which is about where we should be though it doesnt make up for the 2 or 3 inches deficit from March/April.

The frost did some damage to the vines. The two rows that did not make enough growth last year to make the wire with a good cane this year were pruned to two buds pretty close to the ground. All buds closer than 6 inches to the ground were lost to the frost. The Swenson Red are pushing new growth from the roots, but the Geneva Red do not look good. As it stands, The Frontenac, Valiant, Edelweiss, and Marquette all look pretty good (aside for the half dozen Daver and I damaged mowing and tilling). The Geneva Red appear to have lost 12 out of 50. Perhaps they will push growth from the roots… we shall see.

The Apples all look fantastic. Everything is leafed out nicely. Heavy Caterpillar infestation, but went through all 200 trees and killed what I could see and sprayed all trees and vines with Captan. So much for being organic! We did loose one of the Cortland trees over the winter. I’ll dig it up at some point this summer to see if we can identify any obvious problems with the tree.

Dave and I spent a considerable amount of time mowing and weeding. I’ve also decided that this level of effort to keep the rows clean is not sustainable so I used Roundup for the first time on the first two rows of grape vines and on all of last years apples.

Sunday, I had some clean up work to do…. I was in the main field at 6:30 am and the view was amazing. Only the hill tops above 1500 feet were visible. Everything else was wrapped in a dense fog. Picture you ask?? Of course, I grabbed the camera and snapped off some great shots. On review, I found that my daughter removed the memory card so, No, there are no pictures. Thanks Marissa!

Dave and I staked out where we want the barn to go. Lori to approve design.

Have a nice week!

So why don’t we just pick up where we are instead of where we have been. Spring planting is done. It has been a cold and somewhat dry spring and I managed to get myself run over by my own tractor. Hence, it should be no great surprise that we are now a few weeks behind the schedule laid out in the business plan.

I did speak with John Meaney at the Summit Planning and Zoning committee and things look good for the town to not require any approvals as this is an agricultural endeavor.

I should hear within the next few weeks if there is an issue.

We need to build a barn for production facilities. We can’t file our federal permits without permanent production space. I’m going to try to get out this weekend to discuss with Dave and Mary and make sure we have it staked out the way we want.

Dave says that the Apples are all doing well. Gypsy Moth traps have been put out and we sprayed deer guard over Memorial Day weekend. The Swenson Red and Geneva Red are not doing well according to Dave. I cut the entire vineyard back to the ground, everything else looks good.

I will need to spray for tent caterpillars and leaf rollers this weekend. Also will give a shot of sulfur to the road side trees to combat scab.

Will update next week.

Ken