Anagrus Epos
Your best friend in the vineyard
4/5/2025
If you come across this beautiful little wasp, about 8mm long, looking like a Monet painting in the vineyard, don’t freakout thinking that it will sting you! In the contrary, it is hard at work feeding on leafhopper eggs that can be devastating to a grape crop, hence, this beautiful little critter should be encouraged to proliferate instead of irradicated with pesticides.
However, to proliferate this beneficial little wasp for biological control of leafhopper in the vineyard, some steps must to be taken:
First you need to have some brambles/blackberries growing around the vineyard, as in the Autum, it lays the larvae on the underside of blackberry leaves for overwintering.
In Spring, the nymphs emerge from larva and start feeding on leafhopper eggs to become adults and repeat the life cycle in the fall of the year.
Their favorite habitat is plum and prune trees where they love to overnight and rest to begin feeding again the next morning, - so, some plum trees will help to keep them in proximity of potential feeding spots on the vineyard. The long antennae on their heads can detect their prey at quite a distance and zoom straight into the pesty leafhopper egg clusters wherever laid on the vine.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Science Direct Topics
22/1/2025
THE ALLURE OF CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Cabernet Sauvignon, the most planted grape variety in the world, when grown in the right soil and climate (Terroir), can produce the most amazing red wine on the planet, but when grown outside the absolute perfect terroir, will produce as mediocre wines as any less than noble grape variety. The absolute perfect spots for the variety are few and rare, and as a result, the huge out of place plantings around the world, have turned consumers to other varietals.
Having been a vineyard consultant in the North Coast wine district of California, It became apparent to me that Napa in California, and the Medoc in Bordeaux were two proven locations where the noble grape variety fully expressed the phenotype resulting in world renown prestigious wines sought by collectors, but plantings outside Napa and the Medoc can be a deterrent to the allure of Cabernet Sauvignon.
When I planted a small four hectares vineyard in Central Coast Portugal, I knew I had conditions emulating the Napa climate and the Medoc sandy clay soils, but not fully convinced of suitability for fine Cabernet Sauvignon, I planted mostly Merlot, Cabernet Franc, some Roussanne, and one block of Cabernet Sauvignon for blending with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. That have been said, I have been making small trial batches of Cabernet Sauvignon blended with some Malbec and Petit Verdot, and the results, have convinced me to begin production of about 100 cases (1200 bottles), of Cabernet Sauvignon beginning with the 2025 vintage.
Louis Horta
25/9 2024: Our Roussanne and Grenache Blanc recent planting is coming along really well. - We did a micro trial blend with 70% Roussanne in co-fermentation with 30% Grenache Blanc to test the blend. - Will share the results when conclusive in early 2025.
We project a Roussanne production of ~500-600 bottles in 2025, and a gradual increase to 2000 bottles annually by 2028.