Nip in the bud?
Nip in the bud?I purchased and planted a few Nero d’Avola vines last December and have been carefully taking care of them ever since. I read that in order for the vines to grow healthy root systems, I should remove the first buds. I am a bit wary, however, as I was under the impression that plants needed their leaves in order to strengthen their roots. How should I proceed?
Mike Gatt
Malta, Europe
Hey, finally a viticulture question for the Wine Wizard after all these years! I must also applaud you for choosing such a wonderful and unappreciated grape varietal. Though I have a natural habit of rooting for viticultural underdogs (which the more esoteric types from Italy certainly are in the United States) I do have to say I’ve tasted some pretty good Nero d’Avola wines and think you can expect good things from your budding vineyard. You’re right that the first priority for a baby vine is to grow a strong root system. You never want to force a year-old (or even a two-year-old) grape vine to bear any fruit at all – it needs to devote its energy to developing infrastructure, not wasting it on making grapes. In addition to taxing the system of a growing grapevine, the quality of fruit you’d get from the first year or two of a vine’s life wouldn’t be ideal for winemaking.
As your vine seems well away from that stage, however, you do want to carefully select the right new green growth to develop so don’t get rid of those first buds yet! Since grape clusters, if any, develop later in the spring time, you’ll be able to get rid of them by pinching off any flowers that bloom from your first shoots. But now, what to do with your first sprouts, which will turn into the strong trunk of the vine later. When the first two to four little green shoots with their tiny leaves start to bud out from your plant, select one that appears to be the strongest and straightest and tie it loosely (enough room to stick your finger between the stake, shoot and tape) with green plastic tie-tape to your training stake. Be sure to leave the other little shoots coming out of the ground for the moment. Sometimes the shoot you’ve selected will snap off in the tie-up process and you need to leave a couple of extras just in case.
Once your selected shoot appears to be successfully tied and is still growing, you can go ahead and snip off the shoots you didn’t select and carefully rub off any other little buds with your fingers. The leaves that grow on this selected shoot (but not any inflorescence, which will turn into clusters) are indeed needed for carbohydrate production and healthy growth of the plant’s green tissues. Other winemakers sometimes leave all the shoots on during the first year to maximize the carbohydrates and root growth. Next winter, when the green tissue lignifies and dies back, you can begin to prune your vine into the configuration that works for your vineyard and the trellis system. The most important thing is that you start by training your new shoot to be the strong trunk that’ll support the future fruiting zone and will function in tandem with your trellis and vineyard site. I know it’s hard to wait, but keeping your grapevine from fruiting in at least the first two years will make for a stronger vine and better fruit later on. (See WineMaker, June-July 2002 for more on caring for your young vineyard.)
Bringing up tannins
I have been making wine kits for three years and want to boost complexity and tannin levels. I have added some complexity by blending different kits and using French wood barrels, but I haven’t resolved the tannin issue. How can I add more tannin?
N. Miyares
Lansdale, Pennsylvania
The best source of tannin for quality wine is always the original grapes, and to a lesser extent, the oak barrels in which you store your wine. If you cannot either grow or obtain grapes that give you enough tannin for the style or wine type you’re trying to achieve, you certainly may experiment with some of the tannin preparations available through winery supply companies. Derived either from grape or oak tannin, they are marketed to and sometimes used by commercial winemakers with challenges like yours.
Though I’m not a tannin user in my own wines (being blessed with great California vineyards helps), from what I have been able to glean from the industry “grapevine,” it does seem like the current tannin products on the market are constantly changing and are increasingly being made with fine winemaking in mind. Much like non-coopered oak products, tannin preparations seem like they have increased in quality over the years and though never a complete replica of or substitute for the real thing, can deliver some benefits to a winemaker. I would strongly caution you to be conservative in your approach, however. A little added tannin can go a very long way; even though quality and solubility of these products have increased, they still are powerful molecules that can have a big sensory impact, perhaps a negative one, on a wine.
I suggest you start by doing a little research yourself, beginning with your local winemaking supply source and then branching onto the Internet. Suppliers like Laffort and Ferco and their U.S.-based distributors like Scott Labs (www.scottlab.com) and Gusmer (www.gusmerenterprises.com) carry product information about their offerings.
