We use the phrase “Wine and Roses” to demonstrate a point about the landscaping at many wineries in California. The year-round gardens at most wineries are an extension of the pride of wine making. If you miss flowers in the winter, you must visit California in the winter to see the on-going floral parade at the wineries.

Many people ask, “what gives with the roses in the vineyards?” Well, they have several values. One, they are very pretty. Two, they follow an old European tradition. In Europe, most vineyards do not have fences or walls around the perimeter of their property.  Each landowner chooses a rose of color and style to identify his or her vineyard property. You can travel through the vineyards of Europe and perhaps you will notice several rows of yellow, then suddenly several rows of pink, and so on. This custom has been carried to California, even though we do have fences and walls around our vineyards.

The third reason for the roses is that a rosebush will show powdery mildew about three days before a grapevine will show this disease. This is sort of an early warning system for the vineyard. It works well if you have a very small vineyard that you can treat within three days. If you have several hundred acres of vineyard, it is best that you constantly investigate the vineyard plants and be your own early warning system in order to correct any disease or insect problems before they get out of control.

 Now, with all this information, open a fine bottle of wine and drink a few glasses, smell the roses and enjoy life.