Maturity Control: Week of 15 September 2025

 Hello Dear Growers!

Harvest is almost here! Some of the early varieties (like Osceola) are already coming in, but most of you will likely start early next week.

With damp weather in the forecast, please keep an eye out for downy on young leaves. Because of pre-harvest intervals, spraying may not be an option, so keep scouting and stay in touch with your winery.

We may also see temperatures dip to 2–4 °C on Friday and Saturday nights, depending on your location, so it’s worth keeping an eye on local forecasts.

Attached are this week’s Brix and TA results, along with low and high potential alcohol estimates for your reference. These samples were taken in the valley, so results may vary slightly by site.

The Precipitation and GDD was made available to us by Jeff Franklin at KRDC.

Table 1.  Precipitation totals for the Kentville Research and Development Centre by month.

Month	25-Year Average (mm)	Current Year (mm)
April	81.9	93.7
May	74.0	88.6
June	98.7	50.5
July	85.9	33.0
August	91.1	13.2
September	98.8	16.3**
October	115.8

**Up to September 17, 2025

Table 2. Growing degree days and Sine degree days up to September 17, 2025.  All temperature data were recorded at the Kentville Research and Development Centre.

Single sine degree days, base of 0 °C starting on April 1		Growing degree days, base of 10 °C starting on April 1
Current Year	10-Year Average	Current Year	10-Year Average
2617.9	2577.3	1054.1	1040.7

I will be out in sampling again next week. If you would like a visit, please get in touch with me. This harvest is looking fantastic, so I am very optimistic as I look at some very healthy vines and clusters.

Thank you all for your time this week, and again, keep in touch and see you out in the field.

Cheers!

Katarina

Katarina Vucic P.Ag; MSc; DipWSET

Viticulture Specialist
Perennia Food and Agriculture
Email kvucic@perennia.ca
Office 902-678-7722

Cell 902-599-1390

 

www.perennia.ca