| Introduction to Wine Grape Growing |
Introduction to Wine Grape Growing
While wine can certainly be made from a variety of different vegetable matters, most wines are produced from grapes. Ironically, grapes commonly grow in areas where it is difficult if not impossible to grow other crops. Bordeaux, France is known for producing some of the best grapes, and wines, in the world; however, at first glance the unfertile, stony ground in that region would seem an unlikely growing region. In order to completely understand the process of making excellent wine, it is important to understand how grapes are grown and harvested. This is especially important if you wish to grow your own grapes for the purpose of winemaking.
There are actually more than five thousand different varieties of wine grapes. There are only two broad families; however. They are Vitis Vinifera and Vitis Labrusca. Vitis Vinifera is a European type of grape and include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Riesling. Vitis Labrusca includes American grapes such as Concord, Catawba, Delaware and Niagara.
The process of growing grapes is known as viticulture. Factors such as soil, color, chemicals, geology, topography and climate are all important to that process. In most cases, grapes begin to bud during the spring and then grow and develop fruit during the summer.
During the growth period, it is extremely important to minimize the growth of the leaves, so as to allow more sunlight to reach the grape cluster. Attentive growers must also take care to be on the watch for indications of disease, pests and of course, drought.
By early fall the grapes are reading for harvesting. The exact time at which grapes need to be harvested can depend somewhat on the local climate as well as your own personal judgment.
The phase during which grapes begin to change color is known as v�raison. This is an especially important phase for red or black grapes. Regardless of what color they will eventually become, all grapes begin as dark green and hard. It is only during the ripening phase in the sun that they begin to take on their true color. It is during this time that white varieties of grapes will begin to achieve their golden hue and red varieties of grapes will begin to take on their deep purple hue.
The natural sugar content as well as the ripeness of grapes determine the appropriate time for harvesting. When grapes are typically ready to harvest, the leaves on the grapevines of white varieties will begin to turn yellow while the leaves of red varieties will take on a red hue.
You may have wondered what accounts for the different price of wines when you purchase them in a wine store. The most expensive wines are produced from the first pressing of the grapes. This is frequently referred to as free run wine. Second and third pressings of the grape juice results in wine that referred to as press wine. Press wine is less expensive than free run wine because it is typically not of the same quality. Most press wine lacks the smoothness of free run wine. This is the great advantage of being able to grow your own grapes and then press them for your personal wine. You can have the advantage of enjoying first press wine and the smoothness that is associated with it.
Word Count 550
|
A Look at the Steps of Making Wine If you are a true wine connoisseur, the next step in appreciating ...
read more
An Introduction to Making Sparkling Wines While many people who make their own wine prefer to make wine that is ...
read more
Guide to Blending Blending has become a highly respected part of the process of winemaking. Many winemakers in fact view ...
read more
Guide to Making your Own Wine Recipe After you have had an opportunity to experiment with making your own wine ...
read more
Guide to Oaking your Wine Certain wines can certainly benefit from the addition of oak chips. Just a few of ...
read more
Guide to Temperature Storage of Wine After your wine has been bottled you will need to take careful steps to ...
read more
Guide to the Basics of Winemaking Before you begin your first batch of wine, it is a good idea to ...
read more
How to Start your Own Wine Journal Many years ago homemakers made a practice of keeping kitchen journals. A lot ...
read more
How to Get Started Making Wine at Home If you have given some thought to the idea of making wine ...
read more
Introduction to Wine Grape Growing While wine can certainly be made from a variety of different vegetable matters, most wines ...
read more
Making Rose Wines The interest in Rose wine has become markedly increased. At one time this type of wine tended ...
read more
Should you Stop the Fermentation Process? In some cases you may find it desirable to stop the fermentation process before ...
read more
Testing and Adjusting your Wine Two of the keys to making a great batch of wine are testing and making ...
read more
The Different Types of Wine One of the most common questions you may have when you begin considering making homemade ...
read more
The Importance of Cleanliness and Patience in Winemaking Winemaking can be an extremely satisfying activity and hobby with a wonderful ...
read more
The Importance of Racking The process of racking involves siphoning the wine away from the sediment. Sediment is primarily comprised ...
read more
The Most Common Problems in Winemaking Whether you are a beginning winemaker or you have been making wine for some ...
read more
Timing your Racking Racking is one of the most essential parts to making stellar wine. Generally, you will need to ...
read more
Tips for Making Wine from Scratch As you go along with the winemaking process there may come a time when ...
read more
Tips for Making Wine with Concentrates One of the decisions you will need to make before you start your next ...
read more
Tips for Making Wine with Fruits other than Grapes Most people commonly associate wines with grapes however, it is entirely ...
read more
Tips for Making Wine with Grapes As you contemplate the prospect of making your next batch of wine you will ...
read more
Troubleshooting Fermentation Problems As we all know, fermentation is one of the critical stages of winemaking. Without fermentation, it is ...
read more
A Look at the Steps of Making Wine If you are a true wine connoisseur, the next step in appreciating ...
read more
Your Choices: Decisions to Make when Making Wine One of the great advantages of making your own wine is that ...
read more
|
|
|
Disclaimer:
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in
the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not
warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate
due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site
is a common sense guide to Introduction to Wine Grape Growing . In practical advice websites,
like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made.
Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their
individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site
is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or
financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent
professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any
perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
|