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Grape Growing
From site selection to maintaining your vines and getting the most out of each harvest, learn how to wine grapes in your own backyard vineyard.
Posts
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Article
Evaluating Young Wines
During a relatively slow period in the vineyard, now is a perfect time to start planning for the upcoming growing season. Tasting wines from
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Article
Trellising Explained
The ideal trellis system for one wine grower may not be the same for another. Learn about the most common trellis systems home winemakers ma
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Article
Vintage Postmortem
With harvest behind us and our wines safely fermenting or in bulk storage, it’s time to reflect on the past year’s struggles and triumph
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Vineyard Canopy Management
Summer in the vineyard means it is time to manage your vines’ canopy. Spraying, suckering, leaf removal, adjusting lateral shoots, and eve
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Mastering Pest Management
The hardest part of growing grapes may be keeping them healthy and on the vine until harvest. From fungal diseases to insect and animal cont
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Backyard Pruning: Tips from the Pros
Two amateurs who have won Best of Show medals for their estate-grown wines share advice for late-winter pruning and vineyard care.
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Pruning and Spring Care
After harvest is over may seem like a great time for the home viticulturist to sit back and take a deep breath. Just don’t take too long o
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Fall/Winter Tips in the Vineyard
Fall is the most critical time in the vineyard. Preparing for and executing harvest are paramount. So is the cleanup and vineyard care after
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Wine-wizard
Understanding Degree Days
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Master the Backyard Harvest
Wes Hagen lays out last-minute advice to maximize this make-or-break day as home viticulturists gear up for harvest.
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Summer Care in the Vineyard
The summer is a critical time in the home vineyard. Wes Hagen shares the physiological needs of mature vines in the summer and lays out a sc
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Winter Chills
When a harsh cold snap occurs in the middle of winter, there is little a grape grower can do in the moment . . . it’s all about being prep
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Technique
Experimenting With Deficit Irrigation
With ongoing drought concerns in many wine-growing regions, the practice of deficit irrigation is gaining traction, not only for using less
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Irrigation systems and strategies
Not all wine grape growers need to irrigate, but for those that do there are options available. Get a primer on what those strategies look l
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Water Works: Assessing irrigation needs
Not every location needs to irrigate their vines every year, but for those that do, advanced planning is key. Here is a walk through the fa
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Viticulture Tips
The 2023 growing season is just around the corner and it’s time to think about ways to improve your viticultural practices. Here are 10 ti
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Trellising And Choosing Vines: Designing a modern backyard vineyard
Once you have your site selected, soil figured out, as well as irrigation; it’s time to start planning things like row and vine spacing, w
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Technique
Site Planning and Prep: Designing a modern backyard vineyard
For anyone who plans on creating a small-to-moderate-sized backyard vineyard, this column should be mandatory reading. Because the best advi
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Article
DIY Netting Applicator
Vineyard netting is often critical to protect your grapes from birds and other predators; however, applying and removing it can be a real pa
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Technique
Dear Wes: A new vintage of backyard Q&As
The reader letters have been piling up, so Wes decides it’s come that time again to pick up the pen and share some of the most useful ques
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Wine-wizard
Sensing Ripeness in Grapes
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Wine-wizard
Uneven Ripening Of Grapes
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Technique
Making Lemonade: Vineyard fixes for underwhelming grapes
Not every harvest is going to be perfect. When the grapes come in at less than ideal numbers or with other “flaws,” make sure you’re w
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Technique
Dear Wes: I asked for questions and you listened!
Two attendees of the Backyard Grape Growing Online Boot Camp had some follow-up questions; one on their spray protocol, the other about com
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Article
Best Practices: Mythic vines make for mythic wines
Have you ever visited a vineyard and wondered, “How did they do that?!” You know the place, where all the vines seem to be in sync and h