Former farm worker to speak about grape growing at the Toyota Center
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - The grape pruning crews are about halfway through the season at Sagemoor Vineyards.
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Tractor driver Hermilo Suarez plants pasture grass between the rows of a new planting.
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Sagemoor Vineyards Manager Miguel Rodriguez enjoys being in the vineyards any time of the year.
MATTAWA — Miguel Rodriguez was just another farm worker when he started with Sagemoor Farms in Pasco in 1979. He is now one of the most respected grape growers in the state.
Rodriguez will be one of the presenters when grape growers get together at the Toyota Center in Kennewick in early June. He has been asked to share his thoughts about how to treat challenges to the crop late in the growing season.
Among other things, Rodriguez will deal with bunch rot, shriveling and pink clusters. He will also deal with irrigation practices as the time arrives for finishing the crop with the qualities the wine makers seek.
Rodriguez may have been just a farm worker in 1979, but he did things in a way that caught the attention of the Sagemoor owners. He moved fast, worked hard and put in all of the extra hours that were asked of him, and he learned the art of growing grapes.
In 1986, Sagemoor offered Rodriguez the position of manager of the 275-acre vineyard at the east end of Road 24 Southwest on the Wahluke Slope. He was taken aback by the offer, even asking the owners if they were sure. They were.
Rodriguez moved to the Wahluke slope in 1986 and went to work. The operation totals 465 acres now. With re-plantings through the years, most of the acreage has now been planted by him. In 2005, the Washington Grape Growers named him Grower of the Year.
Rodriguez will concede he knows a lot about grape growing, but grudgingly. Last week he said he never stops learning.
Rodriguez said the big breakthrough year in terms of knowledge came around 2000. A French wine maker from Walla Walla came looking for grapes.
“I knew he knew a lot about grapes, and I just listened,” he said.
According to the department of agriculture, the state had a larger than usual grape crop last year. Rodriguez did not – on purpose.
Grape quality is the concern at Sagemoor. All of the grapes are contracted to wineries before the growing season starts. Each block of grapes is tagged with the identity of the customer.
One of the factors in grape quality is the number of bunches grown per grape plant. Each winery gives Rodriguez the specifications for each variety they are going to buy.
“For some grapes, the quality the wine maker wants may require 40 bunches to the plant. For other varieties it can be 30 bunches or 20 bunches,” Rodriguez said. “We have one grape that we grow at 14 bunches to the plant.”
Sagemoor is about halfway through the pruning season. It starts in January with the varieties that are the hardiest or will be part of the early harvest in August. Last to be pruned are the varieties that will be harvested in late October or early November.
Most years the weather on the slope is the same. This year was different with snow covering the ground for a couple of months. Rodriguez doesn’t see any challenges.
“The ground has more moisture than usual this year, Rodriguez said “The plants will have plenty of water when the sun starts to warm things up.”
Rodriguez took out some varieties for which the market is waning. In their place, he has planted nine acres of a Merlot family member and three acres of a Cabernet Sauvignon variety.
Rodriguez will tell you he’s not perfect, but he has a good track record. All of the contracts have been filled ever year. He reviews crop progress with wine makers who visit during the season.
He doesn’t just grow grapes. He grows them to the specifications of the customers.