Date: Special Issue - Backyard Vines
Frequently Asked Questions
MEMBERS ONLYQ & A Q Post Harvest Well, the growing season down here was hot and furious and I can’t believe it, but all of my backyard Zinfandel vines survived all the bugs and the heat and made some nice wine this year. We’re done pressing in early September and I can’t help but think there’s
Harvest and Beyond
MEMBERS ONLYRipeness & Wine Style As harvest nears and the grapes are getting ripe, we growers need to start making some decisions concerning the style of wine we want to create. The wine media often gets caught up in the enological debate of ripeness and wine style. So, in this section of this grape growing special
Vineyard Maintenance
MEMBERS ONLYPruning Your Backyard Vineyard Pruning grape vines during dormancy is a vital practice for keeping your vines in balance. Grape growers discovered thousands of years ago that cutting off up to 90 percent of the previous year’s growth from a dormant vine will limit the crop and vegetative growth of the vine in the following
Spring In The Vineyard
MEMBERS ONLYChoosing A Rootstock There was a time when grapevine vineyards were planted with only 18” (46-cm) cuttings from existing grapevines. A few buds went under the ground and few buds were left above the ground. Vines would root on their own and a vineyard was basically free to plant if you knew someone you could
Starting Your Own Vineyard
MEMBERS ONLYBuying Vineyard Land A high percentage of my consulting business comes from wine lovers wanting to buy vineyard property. The story is usually the same: about ten years from retirement, successful in business, getting tired of pushing paper in the rat race, they want to get back to an agricultural way of life to recapture
Annual Vineyard Growing Calendar
MEMBERS ONLYIn college I had a good friend from New Jersey who was convinced that Californians lacked depth of character because we didn’t have to live through harsh winters. Even though I disagree that you have to shovel snow or ice fish to reach your potential as a human being, I do agree that awareness of
First Year Vineyard Care
MEMBERS ONLYPlanting a vineyard takes time, effort and planning. But your work is not over once the vines are in the ground. In order to have usable grapes by your third year, you’ll need to carefully manage the growth of your vines. First Year Goals The first year of vine growth is meant to establish a
Choosing a Trellis System For Your Vineyard
MEMBERS ONLYIn the wild, Vitis vinifera sylvestris (the forest vine that makes wine) cannot support itself as it grows. By understanding the needs of a wild vine, it will quickly become apparent why we need to trellis cultivated grape vines. We’ll also understand how the shape of the trellis will impact vine yield, sun exposure, and
Planning your Backyard Vineyard
MEMBERS ONLYPlanting a home vineyard is a serious project that requires study, planning, a willingness to do agricultural labor and perhaps a small streak of insanity that comes with reaching a certain level of wine appreciation. In planning your vineyard, there are lots of considerations. The purpose of this article is to introduce these issues to
Buying Vineyard Land
MEMBERS ONLYA high percentage of my consulting business comes from wine lovers wanting to buy vineyard property. The story is usually the same: about ten years from retirement, successful in business, getting tired of pushing paper in the rat race, they want to get back to an agricultural way of life to recapture a lost piece