|
|
|
Guest*Contributed*Articles
|
|
|
|
Growing Your Own Grapes For Fine Wine
The quality of the grapes you put into wine are the greatest factor of the quality of the wine made. Basically, doing a great job of growing grapes is essential to producing fine wine.
It All Begins with The Place
The first step to grape planting is planning. The most important planning phase for growing grapes that are of good quality is selecting the right area. One of the keys to a good spot is a lot of sunlight, spread equally across the grapevine. This provides your grapes to fill up with natural sugars, which will be essential for the output of alcohol in the course of the fermentation.
Choosing good soil is another important aspect of location choice. Your soil should not have stagnant water. So your soil should drain nicely. It is important to dig your planting holes deep to ensure the soil will be loosened for proper drainage. Also, avoid the common mistake of enriching your soil. You shouldn't use fertilizers at all, as these will only help the weeds. Compost must be used only when even weeds don't grow in the soil. Wine grapes need to be small, so it is essential to keep soil nutrients to the very least.
Your vines must be planted at least 6 feet apart. If you intend to have a large vineyard, 8 feet apart is a better choice. If you do your grape planting properly, one healthy grapevine should be able to produce a gallon of wine. But, even if you do all the things correctly, there is the possibility of losing part of your grape crop to disease, insects, and birds. This is a good reason to do more grape planting than seems necessary.
Tips on Growing Grapes
Needless to say, grape clusters are pretty heavy and hang from vines. So these vines are gonna need to have a trellis to grow around and use for support. During the first year of growth you should choose the strongest shoot from every vine to tie to the trellis for direction and support. String or any other soft material is a better choice than wire for tying, as wire can injure the shoot. The weaker shoots should be clipped. During inactive growth periods, you will need to prune the vines as well. When the vines begin growing again, typically during the spring, choose the toughest new vines out of the shoot to gently tie to the wires. These will be the vines that support the grape clusters that will be utilized to make wine.
Harvesting Your Grapes
A hydrometer will help you with harvest time. A wine making shop might offer a hydrometer. It is used to test the gravity levels of a liquid. The fundamental idea is that you want to make sure for the proper sugar content of your grapes just before harvesting them. Usually, a gravity of up to 1.105 is ideal, though it could be as low as 1.095 and still be fine for harvesting.
It might take years for your grape planting efforts to pay off, but it will be truly worth your time when it does.
Related Articles
Useful Resources
|
|
