Drake Enterprises vision is to work closely with our growers to create premium quality wine grapes. Established in 1973, we are a full service company that handles all facets of your vineyard needs throughout the year. We have a full line of modern equipment from mowers, sprayers, pre-pruners, harvest equipment, lighting systems and irrigation monitoring systems. Our relationships with local wineries and vintners throughout the state have aided in our marketing position. Drake Enterprises has been a large contributor of CAWG to keep informed on State and Federal issues and to constantly stay up to date with the grape growing industry in California and throughout the Country. We follow the principals outlined in the Code of Sustainable Farming Practices.. Drake Enterprises techniques are recognized by the wineries and we are prideful of our reputation within the industry for the production of high quality fruit through the best practices.

Our Services Include:

• Pruning: Pruning for a balanced vine.
• Erosion Control: Erosion control plans/design and drainline systems
• Brix samples: Measure sugar percentage of grapes to schedule harvest of grapes.
• Suckering (shoots growing on the trunk region): Remove shoots growing from trunk region of vine.
• Trellis System Repairs: Replace end posts, stakes, wire and connections.
• Irrigation Management: Develop an irrigation management plan with the use of soil moisture monitoring devices to properly irrigate vines and use deficit irrigation practices when necessary.
• Weed control, discing, mowing, and herbicides
• Rodent Control: control rodent populations with the use of poison, bait traps and sustainably through the installation of barn owl boxes. Mildew Control: monitor mildew pressures with the use of the Adcon Weather Station and apply fungicides to vines as needed per the intervals required.
• Mildew Control
• Monitor pressures for mildew with Adcon Weather Station
• Harvesting Grapes: we have all necessary equipment to coordinate the harvest and delivery of winegrapes.
• Fertilizer and Compost Programs : Develop fertilizer and compost programs based on tissue analysis and plant needs.
• Grape vine training: Train young vines on wire
• Canopy Management: shoot removal and training to provide vine with good sun exposure, air movement, balance and fruit uniformity.
• Pierce’s disease control measures: Imidaclopid applications to prevent the spread of Pierce’s Disease.
• Backflow testing and repairs: Yearly backflow inspection to insure chemicals or particles from entering into District system.
• Re-plant Vines: Removing dead or diseased vines and re-planting new vines on certified rootstock and clonal selections.

Drake Enterprises provides a full range of vineyard consulting services to our clients. These services include the following:

• Vineyard Nutrition: Leaf samples and soil samples to determine deficiencies and nutrient needs to provide a compost or fertilizer program that will benefit the quality and production of the vines.
• Irrigation Analysis & Scheduling: Monitor irrigation systems, provide irrigation scheduling based on ET’s and tools we use to determine soil moisture and set templates to schedule appropriate timings and amounts of water needed.
• Disease Identification: Work closely with PCA’s to identify diseases, threats and solutions to control or eradicate the pressure that is present.
• Sustainable Farming Practices: Follow the guidelines established in the Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices self assessment workbook to implement practices to be good stewards to the land, community and environment.
• Financial Decisions: Develop financial strategies to optimize the economic impact and success of your project keeping in mind that a sustainable vineyard needs to be economically sustainable.
• Wine grape brokering: We have the proper licenses needed to market grape crops throughout the U.S.