John Farmer, left, and Luke Ransom check bud development of Barbera grapes, one of the earliest varieties to break at Alder Ridge Vineyards near Paterson, Washington. An undervine microsprinkler used for cooling the sun-sensitive grapes can be seen at left. For years, tree fruit growers in hot climates have used overhead cooling to improve the quality of apples and protect the fruit from sunburn. With wine grapes, few have used water for sunburn protection because of concerns of adding too much moisture to what is often a very controlled irrigation regime. But two Washington State vineyardists are using water’s cooling […]