Vineyard Consultants: Backyard Vines

  We winemakers are self-reliant. We like to be in charge of our own affairs and it can seem like a defeat to be forced to ask for help — whether it be from our spouses, our relatives or from a hired professional. There is power in self-reliance. It helps us persevere through difficulties. When we solve a problem ourselves it helps us react better in subsequent difficulties.     But what happens when we stubbornly try to plow through an issue in the vineyard where we lack expertise or the capacity to fix it? We lose an entire vintage at the worst, or have to compensate in some way that can compromise a vintage’s quality and expressiveness. The subject of this issue’s “Backyard Vines” is determining when we can solve an issue in the vineyard ourselves, and when it makes sense to call a consultant.      Part one, the greatest and worst free consultant in the world: the Internet (4-1-1) The advent of affordable access to the World Wide Web is an information revolution that makes the invention of