Tudor Ranch updating trellis system for better production and quality
Tudor Ranch updating trellis system for better production and quality
Longtime Coachella Valley grape operation Tudor Ranch of Mecca, CA, is about 90 percent through the updating of the trellis system on its grapes.
Company Vice President George Tudor said many of the Coachella Valley grape growers have been transitioning their vineyards from the standard T-shaped trellis system to a Y-shaped system that features steel poles. The system allows the fruit to grow unobstructed and without interference from the plant canopy or vines. “The bunches hang loose, which gives them better air flow and more indirect light,” he said.
Ultimately that results in better production and better quality. The grape bunches are also easier to pick.
“They are more easily accessible for the workers,” he said. “Instead of hiding under an umbrella of leaves, the bunches are right there, like they are sitting on a countertop.”
Mr. Tudor said the firm has been retrofitting its established acreage for the past few years. “We should finish it up next year,” he said.
He added that it is a cumbersome process to remove the old system and replace it with new infrastructure on existing vines, “but we’ve now done it a few times and we pretty much have it down. It’s all a matter of timing. You have to take out the old and come right behind it and replace it with the new.”
As they have for 20 years, Tudor Ranch has contracted with Unifrutti of America in Philadelphia to sell the company’s Coachella Valley grape deal. Mr. Tudor said it is a good partnership that has worked well for the past two decades.
This year, the company expects to have the same mix of varieties with a bit more Scarlet Royals coming into production.
