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What is Grapevine Pruning

Growing grapes and making wine out of them, has been in practice since the beginnings of farming custom. In order to maintain a healthy grapevine, it takes work and dedication. Since it can take up to three years for a vine to give fruit, this time allows the grower to tame the plant’s growth -and production- thru pruning. .

Pruning is simply getting the plant growth to encourage more growth

Pruning is the action of clipping back shoots and cutting excess foliage to control the plants growth and to ensure that no energy is being spent feeding dry or unnecessary plant sections. Grapevines are trained to maintain a consistent plant shape, size and productivity; a process that takes about the time it takes to grow your first harvest.

How to Prune: The Standard Pruning Method

The way that the grapevine is pruned is based a lot on the type of grapes that are grown on it. Hybrid varieties were developed to be hardier during the winter and more resistant to diseases. They tend to produce less foliage then the traditional types of grapevines. The annual pruning removes the previous years fruiting canes or spurs. Because fruit is only produced on shoots growing from one-year-old canes, healthy new canes must be produced by the vine every year

Why Prune: Benefits and Applications of the Pruning Process

The way in which you will prune your grapes once they have taken shape, depends entirely on the type of grape that you choose to grow. If youve chosen a hybrid grape, you know these varieties are suitable for the winter since they endure both cold weathers, and many diseases. As they generally produce less foliage, they will generally require less work than a regular European variety of grapes.

If you clip more shoots, your vine will grow smaller, while if you clip less the vine will be bigger. Some trial and error will be needed to find the balance for your growing needs, but it will be effective to maximize production. This will also prevent your grapevine from growing a shady canopy that, if not addressed, can seriously jeopardize grape ripening and resulting quality of the wine you make.

Tool for Pruning

There are various hand tools that will assist you in your grapevine pruning: loppers, handsaws and hand-pruners are some of the most common. As a grower, you must be very careful not to injure or damage your grapevines during pruning, so as not to jeopardize their future productivity. When removing canes that are one year of age, a hand pruner is effective; while older branches of thick wood are better pruned using a handsaw or lopper.

Pruning is a fairly simple process that grape growers consistently rely on to obtain plentiful, healthy crops. Even though it will take some time and effort to tame your grapevine, it will be very well worth the effort once you collect your first harvest of perfect wine-making grapes.

Pierre Duponte is a grape growing expert. He spends his time teaching others how to make fine wines. For more great tips on pruning grapes and how to make wine visit http://www.grapegrowingwinemakingtips.com/. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.

Tutorial For Wine Glasses

The most important part of wine tasting is the shape of the wine glasses. Wine glasses create the balance of flavor needed to fully appreciate the tasting experience. A wine glass was made with the shape they have for very specific reasons.

The red wine glass incorporates a base, stem and large bowl and mouth to bring about the perfect glass for drinking red wine. The large round bowl helps to establish the unique bouquet belonging to each individual wine. The mouth is large to allow a person to sip their wine because red wine is made to be sipped.

The surface area of the red wine glass is large to allow the wine to evaporate, allowing for a bold aroma. What is red wine without its bold characteristics and taste? The bowl was created large to also encourage holding the glass by the bowl, warming the red wine so it can be consumed at the temperature it is meant to be drank at.

White wine glasses are encompassed of the same components as the red wine glasses with a few differences in size and shape. White wine is a much more delicate wine and the white wine glass has a tall and narrow bowl in order to focus the bouquet directly. The stem of the white wine glass is also taller, allowing for the consumer to hold the glass by the stem which allows the white wine to stay at the preferred cooler temperatures.

The narrow mouth of the white wine glass also allows for the wine to be tossed back onto the palette, where it is designed to be tasted at. The area in which you taste your wine is imperative to the overall tasting experience.

Champagne is also another type of wine requiring its own specially designed glass. This special glass is called the champagne flute. Flutes are tall and narrow which allows for the bubbles and effervescence of the champagne to last longer.

Wine glasses are very important on more than one level and are not just for holding your wine but for perfecting the taste of the wine as well. Wine should always be paired with its perfect wine glass in order to experience wine tasting to the fullest. Something else you can do with wine is to pair it with the perfect food.

White wine goes beautifully with all types of seafood. Red wine can be paired wonderfully with red meat and even chocolate! Experiment with wine to find your perfect combination, but just remember to use the right wine glasses!

Jerez Your Sherry Wine

Did you know that there are several types of Sherry available? Sherry is a fortified wine of the Jerez region of Spain. Being fortified means grape spirits are added to the wine either during the fermentation process to stop all the sugars from being converted to alcohol or after fermentation is complete. With Sherry, the spirits are added during fermentation. After fermentation Sherry is divided into two groups and from those two groups it is divided into even more types of Sherry.

The wine grapes used in the production of Sherry are: the Palomino grape which is the base wine for all Sherry, the Pedro Ximenez, which is used as a sweetening agent and the Moscatel grape which provides color. Sherries are classified into two groups depending on the quality of the juice after fermentation. The higher quality juice is put into the Fino category. Everything else is put into the Oloroso category.

The finest types of Sherry are the Fino Sherries. Fino Sherry is made solely from the Palomino grape. It gets its flavor and aromas from the yeast it is fermented in along with controlled oxidation, or controlled exposure to oxygen. Fino Sherry is the least acidic of the Sherries with a pleasant taste of roasted almonds.

Not quite a Fino as it is aged differently, Manzanilla Sherry still falls into the Fino category. It sees direct but limited exposure to oxygen and because the area where it is produced lies near the ocean, Manzanilla has a bit of a salty character along with its traditional almond flavor.

The final Fino types of Sherry are the Amontillado Sherries. Almost in a category by itself Amontillado Sherry sees direct exposure to the air and sun for extended periods of time. This darkens the juice and concentrates flavors to the maderized character of roasted hazelnuts. Sun-dried Palomino grapes are sometimes used as a sweetening agent while pure sugar can be used in other instances.

Oloroso Sherries are types of Sherry made from juice deemed of lesser quality than those made into Fino Sherry. There is nothing wrong with the juice that goes into making Oloroso, it is typically made from pressed juice, whereas Fino Sherry is more free-run juice.

Olorosos are directly exposed to oxygen to mature. The open exposure in turn ages the Oloroso faster making it a bit rougher on the palate than a smooth Fino. The dark brown coloring it achieves from being baked in the sun imparts a higher alcohol level, fuller body and more intense aromas with flavors of toasted pecans.

Palo-Cortado is the last of the types of Sherry. Its characteristics are all over the board in terms of classification. In aroma one is reminded of Amontillado, but its color and taste has all the resemblance to an Oloroso. Its production puts it somewhere in betweeen Fino and Oloroso but as it is an unstable process the juice usually degrades into the Oloroso style.

How To Grow Grapes Step By Step

Growing grapes dates back to the beginnings of the development of human civilization. The process has been perfected over centuries of trial and error and if known, today it enables us not only to find, but also to make ourselves, high quality wines that delight our palates.

The Growing Process

Before you can enjoy that first glass of wine, you will have to grow the grapes. There are two different grape varieties groups to choose from when you are first beginning to plant your grapevine; the European grape varieties and the hybrids.

Picking the Right Grape Cultivar

The first step to growing your grapes is picking the type to plant. While you will pick from the general red or white grapes, you will also have to select from European grape varieties and Hybrid grape Varieties. European grape varieties are used in warm climates, with long growing seasons and in grapevines where traditional wining methods are employed, such as in California. Hybrid grape varieties, on the other hand, have evolved to become highly resistant to cool weather and common plant diseases, making them the most popular variety amongst harvesters in areas of cold weather and short-lived growing seasons.

what kinds of grapes to grow

The most significant thing to remember about growing grapes is they are evergreen plants, and therefore, it will be about 3 years before you are able to crop your first crop. But, some good news is the quality doesn’t think about the winemaker but on the grapevines.

Establish Optimum Growing Conditions

Giving your grapevine lots of sunlight and a nutrient deficient soil is vital for the harvesting of a healthy grapevine with fruit suitable for wine making. While sunlight will aid in the grapes sweetness, a nutrient-poor soil will stress out the vine. This will force the grapes to grow smaller and maximize the amount of skin; the key to the color and flavor of the wine. Large grapes, on the contrary, are more suitable to eat since they offer more juice and less skin ” a friendlier scheme for our palate.

Determine the Prime Harvesting Time

In order to determine if its time to harvest your grapevine, you will need to measure the acidity of the fruit in each vine. When harvesting, it is essential that you stabilize acidity levels before adding the yeast to ensure proper fermentation. You can find acidity measurers and acidity stabilizing chemicals at your local wine making supply store, as well as bottles, corks and wine fermenting yeast.

Fermentation, Clarification & Bottling

After stabilizing acidity levels, its time to add the yeast in order to ferment the wine. Different types of yeast will offer different results in wine taste and character. A little trial and error might be necessary to find the best yeast for your taste. Once you add the yeast, fermentation should take about a week, followed by the first ageing of the wine that enables sediments to settle for later separation during bottling. Ageing can vary from months to years, depending on the type of grape and the resulting wine you are trying to achieve. After bottling your wine, a second ageing is to be done to enhance and deepen its flavors. Even though there are no set schedules for wines ageing process, the rule of thumb is the earlier the harvest, the better the wine.

Following your time and efforts to grow a healthy harvest and make a great wine, opening the first bottle of the harvest is as rewarding as the satisfaction of making it just like you like it. Preserve your efforts during ageing and be patient! When it comes to growing grapes and making wine, a little patience goes a long way. Trust me, when time comes to savor it, you will taste the difference.

Pierre Duponte is a grape growing expert. He spends his time teaching others how to make fine wines. For more great tips on How To Grow Grapes or you can get his free 10 part mini course on grape growing and how to make wine visit http://www.grapegrowingwinemakingtips.com/.

Grape Planting – How Too, When Too

If you are looking to achieve a great tasting wine (which Im sure you are), you must first select a quality grape to grow in your grapevine. Good grape planting is the first step on the road to great wine making.

Exactly like in real estate, grape quality principally abides by one factor : Location, location, location!

Location, Location, Location!

In order to achieve a sweet, small fruit that is suitable for wine making and fermentation, its vital to find the best spot possible in your growing area to plant your first grapevines. The prime spot needs to receive high sunlight exposure in order to develop the sugars in the fruit that will later lead the fermentation process. In addition, not only should sunlight be plentiful, but it should also be exposed evenly on each side of the vine.

Soil Quality

Apart from daylight levels, the kind of soil your plants will sit in is another important factor to take in consideration when picking the destination of your grapevines during planting. Grapevines flourish in nutrient-poor soils, since the lack on vitamins and minerals forces the fruit to grow smaller. A smaller fruit not only implies more flavor-providing skin, but also higher sugar concentration aspects that are optimum for wine making.

If the soil were fertilized with nutrients, the resulting fruit in your vine would be bigger, tangier and juicier. This type of fruit is unsuitable for the wine process since the bonus juice would add too much liquid into the fermentation mixture, weakening the already frail process that is slowed down due to low sugar concentrations.

Drainage

Drainage is another critical aspect to consider before planting your grape vines. The area where you will plant must be dry, in sharp relief to wet and puddly. Spacing your vines 6ft apart when you plant them will ensure drainage is maximised, with a standard yield of one gallon of wine per grapevine.

Vines are characterized for their climbing, which is why grapes are planted with the use of a trellis that assists the vines mounting. The use of a trellis also aids the drainage of the crop, loosening the soil beneath the vine.

There are always probabilities of losing some of your crops to pests like plant illnesses, insects and other larger animals like birds and deer. Its crucial to make up for these loses ahead by planting additional vines which will make up for the lost plants.

The Planting Method

During the first year of expansion, you’ll tie the strongest shoot in each vine to the trellis using string, and clipping off any additional shoots growing on the roots. In the vines dormant season, another pruning will be necessary.

In the spring, once the buds grow again, you may again pick from the strongest shoots, and tie them together loosely as they grow. Overtime, these will be the extremities were the fruits will grow.

In order to determine the ripeness of your fruits and know when to harvest, the use of a hydrometer is essential. Hydrometers measure the gravity of individual liquids, calculating the sugar concentrations in your grapes. Once you begin using a hydrometer, you will find that optimum gravity levels for a perfectly ripe fruit that is ready to harvest varies between 1.095 and 1.105.

Growing grapes does take a mean of 3 years before your first harvest, but simple details in the grape planting and growing process will make a rewarding difference in the flavor of the wine you will be making them.

Pierre Duponte is a wine making enthusiast. He spends his time teaching others how to make fine wines. For more great tips on Grape Planting or you can get his free 10 part mini course on grape growing and how to make wine visit http://www.grapegrowingwinemakingtips.com/.

Wine Making – Tips To Help You Start Wine Making At Home

For most individuals and families it is a major decision deciding you want to make your own wine. There is so much wine now available in speciality and grocery stores that you can decide your own price point and taste almost all standard varieties. For the commoner, understanding how to make wine may not be the overture to actually making ones own wine. The information you garner when learning how to make wine will enable you to make an informed decision on whether you will do a home brew or not. For the prospective wine taster or vineyard owner learning how to make wine is considered the very first step in a long and arduous path to success.

Millions of men and women are today employed by the wine industries around the world. Though it’s not necessary for all these to learn how to make wine, lots of these learn over time or need to grasp the elemental s before starting their careers. For the remainder of the human universe learning a way to make wine is one of those fun things that are done in free time.

Wine makers today can even study ways to make wine in universities. It is indeed such a big scale industry that it is a component of plenty of rural programs. The scholar not only learns the easiest way to make wine but also the easiest way to sustain the necessary agronomy and support their industry. With this broad of a background the way forward for the industry is being handed over to informed people who recognize that care should be taken of the land if it is to continue to provide them a livelihood. Potential growers understand the usages of manure, pesticides and other synthetic products that will basically harm us all if used inappropriately.

Making wine at home is a costly offer. Not only do you need the right materials and infrastructure such as brewing jars and fermentation traps, bottling equipment and cleaners, you need the time to do it properly. And eventually as you learned, learning a way to make good wine can take plenty of effort and time over a lengthy period of time.

Good wines need top quality grapes or high quality fruits if you are to achieve success. You’ll need to discover how these materials can be procured in the latest form. Over time you may find out how to make wine that one can recognize the kinds of fruit used and maybe even the soils that that they were grown in. But for the newbie, your investment into learning the way to make wine customarily ends in jug wine at best.