During the spring, it’s a perfect time to stop and smell the roses, in particular at Sierra Vista Winery. We have many different kinds of roses all blooming at once right in front of our tasting room. While the aesthetics of having roses growing near the winery are beautiful and picturesque at the end of our vineyard rows, they actually hold a historical and practical purpose. Historically speaking, roses were used to mark where different varietals were planted. They also served as thorny obstacles for horse drawn plows that needed to pull further out of the row and past the thorny rose bush to make the turn into the next row, so as not to hit the last vine at the end of the row. Another historical use for roses was a living fence preventing animals from getting into the vineyards. The practical aspects that continue on to this day are that roses are an early indicator for pests and disease. Grape vines are susceptible to powdery mildew and often the roses are the first plants to show signs of this problem. Sierra Vista has continued the time-honored practice of planting roses alongside our vineyards for both the aesthetic and practical reasons. Come up this time of year, enjoy a glass of wine, and see our many different colored roses in bloom!